SPORTZ NCAA TOURNAMENT BRACKET

                                      

In the grand tradition of sports...filling out the NCAA tournament bracket is among the most endearing.  We all sit there with our brackets and a pen....and try to rationalize why Lousiana-Lafayette will beat Louisville.  We pick our brackets....giving some extra love for our favorite team [ahem...UNC] or teams in the conference we are most familiar with watching [ahem...ACC].  We always pick that big upset and tell everyone around us that "Watch....I'm telling you this is my upset special!"  when, in reality, you've never seen that team play. 

We all watch ESPN or go online to see who picked what in their brackets.  "Well, this famous guy says this....so maybe I should feel that way too!"  Nope.  If he was an expert....he wouldn't need to write a column for a magazine.  He'd be swimming in the money he made in Vegas. 

That's the beauty of the NCAA Brackets.  No one really knows.  Sure, some have better and more educated guesses than others...but no one really knows.  I'd be willing to bet that no one will correctly pick the winner of all 64 games in this tournament before the thing kicks off tomorrow night. 

So...in the honor of that...here is my bracket.  Not to say it is right or wrong or even highly educated.  But, if I do well...I can always come back to this and say "see, I told ya!"  Let me start it by saying Oakland will beat Alabama A&M in the play-in game on Tuesday.

SYRACUSE REGION
SECOND ROUND:  North Carolina, Iowa State, Villanova, Florida, Wisconsin, Kansas, NC State and UConn. 
SWEET 16:  North Carolina, Florida, Kansas, UConn
ELITE 8:  North Carolina, UConn
FINAL FOUR:  North Carolina

                           

AUSTIN REGION
SECOND ROUND:  Duke, Stanford, Michigan State, Syracuse, Utah, Oklahoma, Iowa, Kentucky
SWEET 16:  Duke, Syracuse, Oklahoma, Kentucky
ELITE 8:  Syracuse, Kentucky
FINAL FOUR:  Syracuse

                              

CHICAGO REGION
SECOND ROUND:  Illinois, Nevada, Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Boston College, LSU, Arizona, Southern Illinois, Oklahoma State
SWEET 16:  Illinois, Boston College, Arizona, Oklahoma State
ELITE 8:  Illinois, Oklahoma State
FINAL FOUR:  Oklahoma State

                        

ALBUQUERQUE REGION
SECOND ROUND:  Washington, Pittsburgh, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Texas Tech, Gonzaga, Creighton, Wake Forest
SWEET 16:  Pittsburgh, Louisville, Gonzaga, Wake Forest
ELITE 8:  Pittsburgh, Wake Forest
FINAL FOUR:  Wake Forest
                           

ST. LOUIS REGION
TITLE GAME:  North Carolina, Oklahoma State
CHAMPIONS:  North Carolina