March Madness: First Round Recap

Wow. Is this really happening again? I mean I swear, I DO know what I'm talking about. Yet, somehow, I barely break .500 in the first round. That's right, I'm 17-15. And of those 15 losses, I had 4 of them going to the sweet 16. Ugh, I'm pissed. That's borderline embarrassing. Kori, on the other hand, went 24-8. How ridiculous. I mean it's not anything spectacular but it's enough to give her a 7 point lead after round one. But let's not call it over yet folks. Since the points by round are 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, and 32 for the national champ, I'm still in this thing. My saving grace may be that Kori has lost three of her Elite 8 teams, and one Final 4 team. I made the most mistakes, but she made the bigger ones, so as putrid as my performance was, I'm still in this fight! So here is what it looks like for round two, where each win is worth two points:

Ohio State vs. George Mason: We both has OSU playing against Nova. I had the Buckeyes winning in this round, but Kori picked Villanova. Smells like a two point swing in my favor! Told you I'm still in it.

WVU vs. Kentucky: Well... I had Clemson playing Princeton this round so I don't even have a dog in this fight. Kori has this matchup right, but picked WVU to advance. I guess for my own sake, I must say, GO WILDCATS!

Marquette vs. Syracuse: We both had Xavier playing Syracuse. Kori picked Xavier to win this round, but I picked the Cuse. See... If a couple of these go my way I can really turn this thing around.

Washington vs. UNC: I had UNC playing Georgia, but either way we both like the Tar Heels to advance this round.

Duke vs. Michigan: We both have Duke vs. Tennessee here, but both have Duke advancing.

Arizona vs. Texas: Kori has this matchup correct and likes Texas to advance. I had Memphis playing Texas and picked Memphis in the upset. Ouch

Cincy vs. UCONN: Kori, once again, has this one right. Noticing a trend here? She likes Cincy to beat UCONN. Although I have UCONN playing Missouri here, I like UCONN to advance.

Temple vs. San Diego State: My goodness, is this seriously the first game on this entire side of the bracket where I correctly picked both teams? Yes, it is. Kori has SDSU vs. Penn State here, but either way, we both are taking the Aztecs.

Kansas vs. Illinois: Of course, Kori has this one right, and likes Kansas. I have the Jayhawks playing UNLV here, but do have them winning either way.

Richmond vs. Morehead St.: We both had Vandy playing against Louisville and Vandy winning. Guess we'll just call this one irrelevant.

Purdue vs. VCU: We both had the Boilers playing Georgetown here, but both took Purdue to advance.

Florida State vs. Notre Dame: Geez, another game where we only picked one of the winners. Both of us had ND playing TAMU here, but we both like the Irish to go to the Sweet 16.

Now for the Pitt bracket (in which Kori picked every game correctly, what a jerk)

Pitt vs. Butler: We both have this matchup and are taking the Panthers.

Kansas St. vs. Wiconsin: Again, we picked these ones correctly, and we both like K-State to roll the Badgers.

Gonzaga vs. BYU: I had St. Johns playing BYU, but Kori corrrectly picked the Zags. But this round, we both like the Fighting Jimmers to move on.

UCLA vs. Florida: What a great way to end the first round. I picked Michigan State to beat UCLA... and Florida. There goes one of my sweet 16 teams. DAMMIT! Kori has this one right, but likes UCLA to upset the boys from UF. GO GATORS! Don't judge me. Since I can't win it on my own, I have to cheer for her to lose.

So there it is. Kori throttled me in the first round, and as it stands right now, holds a 24-17 lead. Lucky for me those games aren't worth too much, and if a couple go my wayin the next round or two, I have a puncher's chance to make it a game. Of course I won't get my hopes up, because none of them seem to go my way. I didn't think it was possible for every two-point game that comes down to the buzzer to not go my way, but that's what happened. But even if the points do come out in my favor, it would seem that her basketball I.Q. is greater than mine. I mean she got 75% of her picks correct to my slightly greater than 50%. I feel stupid. See ya after next round, hopefully in a better mood.

NCAA Tourney Time: Let The Madness Begin

As a dozen or so of you, who actually read this, may remember, my wife and I decided to document our run through the March Madness 2010 bracket. The purpose of our little experiment was to see how two people from opposite ends of the sports spectrum would fare. Could one with no knowledge of college hoops, who had not watched a second of a game all season really pick 'em better than myself? In a word, yes. By the end of the whole thing, she had wiped the proverbial hardwood with me. So this year, I have to try to redeem, not only myself, but all of those who are certain that we know a whole hell of a lot more than those clowns that somehow always have a better bracket than we do. 2011 is my year!

Now those of you who know my wife will not find her means of picking her winners strange at all. It is a concoction of where the team is from, what colors they wear, what their mascot is, and the occasional tidbit she hears from clients at the Salon where she works. Oh and the fact that the team with the better ranking should win. Nothing wrong with keeping it simple.

This time I am developing a points system, 1 point for a correct first round pick, 2 for the second round, and so on. So here are our round one picks:

To start it off, we both picked all of the #1 seeds (Pitt, Ohio State, Duke, Kansas), even though Kori's bracket says "Ohio" I can only assume this means Ohio State. You see she is still having trouble grasping that Ohio/Ohio State, Florida/Florida State, and so on, are in fact two completely different schools. And when I explain this, I often get a response to the likes of "That's stupid." Be that as it may, we also both picked all of the #2 (North Carolina, Florida, San Diego State, Notre Dame) and #3 (Syracuse, UCONN, BYU, Purdue) seeds to advance, so to save time I will skip those.

8 Villanova vs. 9 George Mason: We both like Nova in this one. Kori, though, has dubbed them her "favorite team" strictly because "I like their name."

5 WVU vs. 12 UAB/Clemson: Kori is going with the 'Eers but I am taking Clemson to win the play-in game and then upset our hillbilly neighbors to the west.

4 Kentucky vs. 13 Princeton: Kori picked every team call the Wildcats so this one is no different. I have been saying watch out for Princeton, and I had to stick to my guns. Didn't know they would be playing a good Kentucky team, but I can't jump off the Ivy League band wagon now. Tigers in the upset.

6 Xavier vs. 11 Marquette: Love the Big East but we are both taking Xavier. Kori undoubtedly picked this team because it starts with "X".

7 Washington vs. 10 Georgia: Kori likes Washington in this one, but I am going with the Bulldogs. Face it, the Pac 10 was pretty weak this year.

8 Michigan vs. 9 Tennessee: With Bruce Pearl the Vols are a different team, and coaching matters in the tourney. Even though I am certain that none of that actually entered the wife's mind, we both like the Vols.

5 Arizona vs. 12 Memphis: Typical underrated vs. overrated game. I'm taking Memphis to surprise some people. Kori went with Zona.

4 Texas vs. 13 Oakland: We're both taking the favorites in this one.

6 Cincinnati vs. 11 Missouri: Cinci has a good record but lost to most of the strong Big East Teams, and Missouri got knocked around in a tough Big 12 conference. I think Mizzou is better than their record and like them to upset the Bearcats. Kori picked Cinci because they are "closer to home".

7 Temple vs. 10 Penn State: Classic "follow your head not your heart" game. I followed this rule, Kori did not. She likes PSU but I'm taking the Owls.

8 UNLV vs. 9 Illinois: Another split decision as Kori is taking the Illini and I'm going with the Rebels

5 Vanderbilt vs. 12 Richmond: I thought long and hard about taking the Spiders to upset here, but after deliberation I settled on Vandy, as did Kori, because if you remember from last year she hates spiders.

4 Louisville vs. 13 Morehead St.: We are both taking the Cardinals to avoid the upset.

6 Georgetown vs. 11 USC/VCU: We are both taking Georgetown to take down the play-in winner.

7 Texas A&M vs. 10 Florida State: This is another game that I really thought about, but in the end I like the Aggies, as does the wife.

8 Butler vs. 9 Old Dominion: Two bracket busters from last year, but I think Butler has the edge. Kori likes Butler as well because, "They have that coach that looks like he's 12". Hey, she's right.

5 Kansas State vs. 12 Utah State: K-State seems to be a big time tournament team and I see them being a tough out this year. And as I stated before, Kori picked every team named the Wildcats.

4 Wisconsin vs. 13 Belmont: Although Wisco is usually a poor tourney team, we don't see them blowing this first rounder. Badgers for both of us.

6 St. John's vs. 11 Gonzaga: I like the Big East Squad in this one so I'm taking the Johnnie's. This is another fun name, so you know Kori picked Gonzaga.

7 UCLA vs. 10 Michigan State: Kori likes the Bruins but I think the Spartans are getting hot at the right time. Plus they have Izzo who is a great tourney coach.

So there are your picks for round one. I will get back to you with how we fared when the first round commences. Will I bring the pride back to those of us who know what we are talking about? Or will Kori once again prove that sometimes oblivious is better than educated? It all depends on how the ball bounces.