Please sign in to complete your action
 
DONE!
Cheer and debate with
6,000,000+ fans!
My Team:
Charlotte
My Team:
Michael
My Team:
Britney
3/17/08
NCAA Tournament Predictions: East Bracket
First things first. Make sure you enter the FanIQ vs "Experts" Bracket Contest. It's only Monday afternoon, but you've already beaten Jay Bilas and Andy Katz. They both picked all #1 seeds to Final Four.

I realize you don't care, but I'm going to give you my picks anyway. I'm not willing to commit to my picks until I know the announcing schedule. The Gus factor most be taken into consideration. But here's where I'm at after having slept on a few games.

Best First Round Game: Butler vs South Alabama. ND-George Mason is intriguing, but I don't believe it will end up close. The aforementioned game will end on the final play.

Second Round matchup
I'm most looking forward to: Butler-Tennessee. Indiana-UNC is clearly going to be a great game, but I always enjoy those where styles contrast.

Upset Most Tempted to Pick
: Indiana over UNC, but I lack the cajones for now.

Bold Upset: Butler over Tennessee. I told you I'd pick the Vols to lose earlier, and I won't wuss out on that one.

Underrated Player You Need to Know: Pat Calathes, St. Joe's.

Here are my brief thoughts on the first round games:

1 North Carolina vs 16 Coppin State/Mount St. Mary's (Fri, 7:10) Every now and then a 16 seed will hang around for 10-15 minutes just to make sure you're paying attention. This will be 20-0 before you start watching. UNC has their flaws, but there's one thing I'll credit them with, they blow out the teams they're supposed to.

8 Indiana vs 9 Arkansas (Fri, 9:40) One of the most bizarre seedings of the tournament. Indiana lost three out of their last four but I would honestly rip up that stat. Teams with a big time guard and center obviously do well this time of the year. The Hogs aren't going to stop the Gordon and White in the mud. No chance. Indiana wins by 15.

5 Notre Dame vs 12 George Mason
(Thur, 9:50) Tempted to go with George Mason as the new George Mason with Will Thomas and Folarin Campbell returning to the dance. This is a 5/12 after all, but this Irish team is much better than last year's. One stat I like about ND is that they have an assist on 67% of their field goals, 5th best in the country. They're also 4th best in the country in shooting the three-ball and those two factors should outweigh any Cinderella-esque effort from a George Mason team that can't hit the three, nor a free throw. Irish.

4 Washington St. vs 13 Winthrop
(Thur, 7:20) Ouch. Wazzu was a much higher seed than I expected and I'm thinking Tony Bennett would have been more than happy to be a 6-seed in many brackets. No one wanted to get paired with Winthrop and for good reason, they're going to win. I like the Cougars defense but it's worth noting the Eagles play solid D as well and should force quite a few turnovers in trying to get WSU to play at their tempo. Upset: Winthrop.

6 Oklahoma vs 11 St. Joseph's
(Fri, 7:10) Not a huge fan of either team and geared to pick both to lose. Now I must decide which I dislike a little less than the other. I like St. Joe's ability to stop Blake Griffin, and even more so, senior Pat Calathes carrying the Hawks on his back for at least this game. Either way, this will be painful to watch. St. Joe's 45-44.

3 Louisville vs 14 Boise State
(Fri, 9:40) I'm not even going to pretend to know anything about Boise State  other than they try to play at a quick tempo as well. That bodes well for the Cardinals, who will struggle when someone tries to turn it into a slow, plodding half-court affair. Louisville by 25+.

7 Butler vs 10 South Alabama
(Fri, 2:45) Still can't figure out how Butler was given a 7-seed. 29-3 overall record, beating some quality teams in the process and have proven their worth in playing Florida last year as well as anyone else.  However, I didn't quickly pencil the Bullgdogs into the second round. South Alabama has the athleticism factor significantly in their favor (yes, nice way of saying Butler is too white). Tourney experience weighs out, though. Butler.

2 Tennessee vs 15 American
(Fri, 12:15) Hard to pick against America, but this isn't even worth breaking down. Vols.

The rest:
UNC over Indiana
Notre Dame over Winthrop
Louisville over St. Joe's
Butler over Tennessee

UNC over Notre Dame
Louisville over Butler

UNC over Louisville. Playing at home in Raleigh and Charlotte is too big a factor, as is a healthy Ty Lawson.

Who do you have in the East?
9 comments
Vote!
Comment!
Your votes determine top comment
Top comment earns 300 Points!
474 days ago
0
VOTE:
 
+0
 
+0
 
+0
 
-0
I'm seriously considering Notre Dame over UNC.  Harangody vs Hansbrough will be as fun to watch as White vs Hansbrough.
 
474 days ago
0
VOTE:
 
+0
 
+0
 
+0
 
-0
(Edited 03/17/08 2:25PM by Janse)
I keep hearing that South Alabama has the tools to be a George Mason of 06. Plus teams seem to play well when they are given the impression that they don't belong there which is what all analyst are saying. I am actually tempted to choose South Alabama over Butler and Tennessee to lose in the Sweet Sixteen to Louisville.

Too many people want to take North Carolina out in the second round and up. Please do so, I want to win this thing.

Watching Best of Mike and Mike and Vitale has G'Town and Texas advancing to the Final Four now. Which as you know are both 2 seeds which contradicts your, Dick Vitale and Andy Katz. They both picked all #1 seeds to Final Four. Statement.
 
474 days ago
0
VOTE:
 
+0
 
+0
 
+0
 
-0
Wow, my bracket is identical to yours except I don't have Winthrop over WSU.  I nailed the upset pick with Winthrop last year, but supposedly their team this year isn't close to as good as they were when they beat ND, even though I'm as VERY far from as Wash St. believer.
 
474 days ago
0
VOTE:
 
+0
 
+0
 
+0
 
-0
Janse wrote:
I keep hearing that South Alabama has the tools to be a George Mason of 06. Plus teams seem to play well when they are given the impression that they don't belong there which is what all analyst are saying. I am actually tempted to choose South Alabama over Butler and Tennessee to lose in the Sweet Sixteen to Louisville.

Too many people want to take North Carolina out in the second round and up. Please do so, I want to win this thing.

Watching Best of Mike and Mike and Vitale has G'Town and Texas advancing to the Final Four now. Which as you know are both 2 seeds which contradicts your, Dick Vitale and Andy Katz. They both picked all #1 seeds to Final Four. Statement.
My bad ... it was Jay Bilas instead of Dicky V. Thanks for bringing that up.
 
474 days ago
0
VOTE:
 
+0
 
+0
 
+0
 
-0

The Winthrop/WSU match-up should be interesting.  Winthrop rebounds far better than WSU, but sucks at the free throw line.  Regardless of who wins, Notre Dame will easily beat the winner.

 
474 days ago
0
VOTE:
 
+0
 
+0
 
+0
 
-0
(Edited 03/17/08 5:29PM by barmarjeff)
I have the same, except Louisville beating Tennessee in the sweet sixteen.
 
 
Preview
HOTTEST ARTICLES
NCAABB GEAR
Loading...
MEET OUR FANS
Tonique
Doreen
 more
12,798,192+
ANSWER TODAY'S POLL
 more
PLAY NEVER-ENDING TRIVIA
Plastic
Cork
Rubber
Foam
 more

TAKE A QUIZ
 more

PREDICT THE SCORE
NFL
NBA
NHL
NCAABB
Soccer
 more
2,555,658+
CLINTONXXX7 gave a thumbs up (5/5) to the trivia question What is Tottenham's Home Stadium.
Just now!
nitingoswami7 gave a thumbs up (5/5) to the trivia question What is the Nationality of Wasim Akram???.
Just now!
drpnmahajan gave a thumbs up (5/5) to the trivia question What is the Highest score for Hayden In ODI?.
Just now!
RajKumar_Rajat gave a thumbs up (5/5) to the trivia question Who Am I?.
Just now!
CLINTONXXX7 gave a thumbs up (5/5) to the trivia question Who Am I?.
Just now!
mifzal_aqasya gave a thumbs up (5/5) to the trivia question who defeated roger federer in 2008's wimbledon final..??.
Just now!
nitingoswami7 gave a thumbs up (5/5) to the trivia question Who Am I?.
Just now!
susmit202 joined the Cricket league Fans of India.
Just now!
 

Join Today
About FanIQ
Terms of Use
Privacy Policy
DMCA Policy
Contact Us
Report A Bug
Help