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**HKF** · 10-22-2003, 10:02 PM

Taking KUalum's idea, I will post first since I already did one. Couple of points before I start. Pod system is still in effect this year, but I hope it is gone soon. Regionals will be named after site, i.e. East Rutherford, NJ (for the East Regional now, I know it is stupid, just scrap the damn pods).

One Bid Conference has their teams in (). Same conference teams cannot meet till the Regional Finals, if you have two teams in the same half of the bracket do it over again, because there is a mistake somewhere.

Now on to the Bracket:
EAST REGION Regionals @ East Rutherford, NJ
FIRST ROUND
@Buffalo, NY
1. Connecticut vs. 16. Northeastern (A-East)
8. Oregon vs. 9. Maryland
@Denver, CO
5. Illinois vs. 12. Tulsa
4. Saint Joseph's vs. 13. Weber State (Big Sky)
@Columbus, OH
6. Auburn vs. 11. Providence
3. Cincinnati vs. 14. Oakland (MI) (Mid-Con)
@Raleigh, NC
7. Purdue vs. 10. Nevada
2. North Carolina vs. 15. Florida Atlantic (A-Sun)

WEST REGION Regionals @ Phoenix, AZ
FIRST ROUND
@Milwaukee, WI
1. Michigan State vs. 16. Quinnipiac (NEC)
8. Charlotte vs. 9. Southern California
@Columbus, OH
5. Texas vs. 12. Akron
4. Pittsburgh vs. 13. Princeton (IVY)
@Seattle, WA
6. Wake Forest vs. 11. Wichita State
3. Gonzaga vs. 14. Western Kentucky(Sun Belt)
@Denver, CO
7. Notre Dame vs. 10. BYU
2. Arizona vs. 15. Texas Southern(SWAC)

SOUTH REGION Regionals @ Atlanta, GA
FIRST ROUND
@Raleigh, NC
1. Duke vs. 16. Florida A&M (MEAC)
8. Oklahoma vs. 9. Mississippi State
@Orlando, FL
5. Dayton vs. 12. Pepperdine
4. Michigan vs. 13. Siena (MAAC)
@Orlando, FL
6. Marquette vs. 11. Bowling Green
3. Florida vs. 14. Chattanooga (SoCon)
@Kansas City, MO
7. West Virginia vs. 10. Illinois-Chicago (Horizon)
2. Kansas vs. 15. UC-Santa Barbara (Big West)

MIDWEST REGION Regionals @ St. Louis, MO
FIRST ROUND
@Kansas City, MO
1. Missouri vs. 16. Winthrop (Big South)/Stephen F. Austin (Southland)
8. Ohio State vs. 9. Louisville
@Seattle, WA
5. Kentucky vs. 12. SW Missouri State
4. Stanford vs. 13. Murray State (OVC)
@Milwaukee, WI
6. Xavier vs. 11. UAB
3. Wisconsin vs. 14. NC-Wilmington (CAA)
@Buffalo, NY
7. Florida State vs. 10. Utah
2. Syracuse vs. 15. Holy Cross (Patriot)

Multiple Bid Conferences:
ACC(5): Duke, UNC, Maryland, Wake Forest, Florida State
Big Ten(6): Michigan St., Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Purdue, Ohio St.
Big East(6): UConn, Syracuse, West Virginia, Pittsburgh, Providence, Notre Dame
SEC(4): Kentucky, Florida, Miss. State, Auburn
C-USA(5): Cincinnati, Louisville, Marquette, Charlotte, UAB
Pac-10(4): Arizona, Stanford, USC, Oregon
A-10(3): St. Joseph's, Xavier, Dayton
WAC(2): Nevada, Tulsa
MAC (2): Bowling Green, Akron
MWC(2): Utah, BYU
WCC(2): Gonzaga, Pepperdine
MVC(2): Wichita State, SW Missouri State

I was gonna make a bubble team list, but it is too early in the year for Bubble Teams so don't be mad that your team isn't on the preseason list, just let the season play out and it will change and if they play their way onto it, they will be on the brackets.

**xubrew** · 10-22-2003, 10:18 PM

mine will be up shortly. also, the site one which will be based souley off of the voting will be up before the official start of the season.

**HKF** · 10-22-2003, 11:21 PM

Now my preseason Bracket projections, as to who will advance to the Final Four.

East Region:
First Round
1. Connecticut over 16. Northeastern (blowout)
8. Oregon over 9. Maryland (close game, good TV)
5. Illinois over 12. Tulsa (down to the wire, but no upset)
4. Saint Joseph's over 13. Weber State (tempted to pick an upset, but I won't because of Nelson and West, and if you look at the location, Denver has that high evelation which plays into Weber State's hands)
11. Providence over 6. Auburn (not an upset, unless you look at the seeds)
14. Oakland(MI) over 3. Cincinnati (pro-Ohio State crowd, roots for the Bearcats to go down in first big upset of the tournament)10. Nevada over 7. Purdue (Kirk Snyder might be the best player in this region though Okafor, Gordon and Felton might have some say in that)
2. North Carolina over 15. Florida Atlantic (close for a half, but Felton and company show the Owls they aren't Alabama in 2002.)
Second Round
1. Connecticut over 8. Oregon (Jackson gets shutdown and Okafor dominates Ducks soft interior.)
4. Saint Joseph's over 5. Illinois (Nelson is better than Dee Brown, but Delonte West is the key for them winning this game, Hawks and UConn in Jersey, that is gonna be good.)
11. Providence over 14. Oakland (MI) (Mike Helms doesn't have the same shooting game he had against the Bearcats. Ryan Gomes is officially a star NOW.)
2. North Carolina over 10. Nevada (this is why they brought in Roy Williams, if Matt Doherty were the coach, they lose this game.)
Regional Semifinals
1. Connecticut over 4. Saint Joseph's (close game, but Ben Gordon is the best lead guard in America and Okafor is the difference in a high 80's kind of game)
2. North Carolina over 11. Providence (Donnie McGrath, who I love is good, but not good enough for Felton. If Sean May gets in foul trouble against Ryan Gomes, the game could swing Providence's way. This should be a great game.)
Elite Eight
1. Connecticut over 2. North Carolina (Too many big people for UNC to win this game. Good one for about 35 minutes, UConn pulls away)

West Region:
First Round
1. Michigan State over 16. Quinnipiac (blowout central, hope they switch to a more competitive game during the tournament)
8. Charlotte over 9. Southern Cal (3-point shooting wins this game for Charlotte, another close game)
12. Akron over 5. Texas (Texas, who has benefitted twice from the pod system gets screwed this time. Playing Akron in Columbus, Ohio. Akron behind their 3 super scorers (Tarver, Hollingsworth and Peterson pull the upset.
4. Pittsburgh over 13. Princeton (Pitt's defense is just too strong for the IVY league.)
11. Wichita State over 6. Wake Forest (MVC shows that they play some great bball and knock off Skip Prosser and the boys, who continues his losing before the Sweet 16, as he has done every single year(Xavier and Wake))
3. Gonzaga over 14. Western Kentucky (WKU isn't beating the Zags in Seattle, the Zags are marching on once again)
10. BYU over 7. Notre Dame (BYU is actually a deeper team than Notre Dame and Araujo should be hard for Torin Francis to stop. This is Chris Thomas' last game before going pro)
2. Arizona over 15. Texas Southern (they keep it close for the 1st half, but Arizona and it's athletes just overwhelm them in the 2nd half.)
Second Round
1. Michigan State over 8. Charlotte (Charlotte has the potential to keep this one close, but they have never been very physical under Lutz, plus the Spartans have a much better backcourt)
4. Pittsburgh over 12. Akron (the hometown favorite will struggle with this defensive juggernaut. Jaron Brown and Julius Page will lock up Akron's scorers on the perimeter)
3. Gonzaga over 11. Wichita State (Zags keep rolling along, onto Phoenix)
10. BYU over 2. Arizona (losing all that depth finally hurts Arizona. No Bynum, Lattimore, Dunn or Ebi really makes Arizona struggle in what will be an Anti-Zona crowd in Seattle)
Regional Semifinals
4. Pittsburgh over 1. Michigan State (didn't get their under Howland, but Carl Krauser is flat out a better scorer and penetrator than Brandin Knight, this experienced team beats up the Spartans and goes to the Elite Eight)
3. Gonzaga over 10. BYU (Zags will beat BYU as Turiaf and Violette are too much for Araujo and Cougs.)
Elite Eight
4. Pittsburgh over 3. Gonzaga (for the second time in 6 years Zags make the Elite Eight but they won't be going past this round as Pitt with all their big bodies and their superior guard play goes to the Final Four, watch out for the name Ed Turner, he might be their best player and he is a 6th man).

South Region:
First Round
1. Duke over 16. Florida A&M (another blowout, Dukies roll)
8. Oklahoma over 9. Mississippi State (good game, but MSU could of really used Austin or Outlaw this year)
12. Pepperdine over 5. Dayton (if you go up and down the rosters this isn't an upset either. The Waves have 4 players in McGowan, Montgomery, Acker and Johnson who would start for Dayton if they played for them, upset in seeding only)
4. Michigan over 13. Siena (Daniel Horton is unstoppable in this game and the Bigs of Michigan make this one a laugher)
6. Marquette over 11. Bowling Green (very good match-up, but Diener, Novak and Merritt are too much for the Falcons)
3. Florida over 14. Chattanooga (Mocs keep it close but they lose this game because of great guard play by Roberson and Walsh)
7. West Virginia over 10. Illinois-Chicago (close game, but Schifino and Pittsnogle are too much for the Flames)
2. Kansas over 15. UCSB (for the 2nd year in a row a Kansas team struggles with a team from the Big West)
Second Round
1. Duke over 8. Oklahoma (Andrew Lavender isn't ready to win a game like this for the Sooners and Alexander aint Hollis Price and Bookout aint Aaron McGhee)
12. Pepperdine over 4. Michigan (High scoring game, but that great Pepperdine backcourt makes it difficult for Michigan to win this game)
3. Florida over 6. Marquette (another close game that could go either way, this game hinges on if Drejer is a better player than Steve Novak, we'll see.)
2. Kansas over 7. West Virginia (Kansas dispatches of the Mountaineers with relative ease)
Regional Semifinals
1. Duke over 12. Pepperdine (the Waves dream ends here, but they played Valiantly and along with Gonzaga continue to raise the profile of the WCC)
3. Florida over 2. Kansas (I'm saying Florida finally plays up to it's potential and knocks off Kansas. Anthony Roberson and David Lee lead the way)
Elite Eight
1. Duke over 3. Florida (ESPN Classic type game with lots of up and down play, but this one should be close, but I going with the experience of the Blue Devils and Coach K.)

Midwest Region:
Playin Game
Stephen F. Austin over Winthrop (Austin returns everyone from a surprise 23 win team last year and might not even be in this game, but their conference is so bad they might. They beat Winthrop)
First Round
1. Missouri over 16. Stephen F. Austin (Paulding and Johnson by themselves are enough to win this game, but Mizzou has a lot of players, watch out.)
8. Ohio State over 9. Louisville (Cardinals don't really have any big people, and Ohio State will throw them at them in bunches, JJ Sullinger might be the best player you haven't heard of)
5. Kentucky over 12. SMS (SW Missouri State) (the game should be pretty close, but Kentucky is a senior laden team that has been through this before and they have Tubby.)
4. Stanford over 13. Murray State (Stanford wins these kind of games, but Murray has a deep team that should at least be game to try and pull and upset.)
11. UAB over 6. Xavier (this Xavier team will miss West and UAB is poised to make a huge move with the return of 8 of their top 9 players from last year. Mo Finley shoots them to the 2nd round)
3. Wisconsin over 14. NC-Wilmington (Wisconsin is much better than Wilmington and that was before they played them in Milwaukee. This won't be closer than 12 points)
7. Florida State over 10. Utah (Leonard Hamilton's team should be peaking come tournament time and Utah isn't ready to win this game after losing so much from last year. Just them getting here is a big deal for this season)
2. Syracuse over 15. Holy Cross (Billy Edelin is the best player on this team and not Hakim Warrick, he should lead the Cuse to an easy win over the Crusaders)
Second Round
1. Missouri over 8. Ohio State (tempted to pick an upset, because they seem to always underachieve, but they have so much talent it is hard for me to do it, YET)
5. Kentucky over 4. Stanford (defense wins this game, and Stanford hasn't been the same since the Collins twins left, they might lose their 1st round game)
3. Wisconsin over 11. UAB (Wisconsin should win this game and it should be very high scoring and close for about 30 minutes. Finally everyone will realize that this team doesn't want to play slow down basketball, that was Dick Bennett this is Bo Ryan. They are gonna run 'n' gun.)
2. Syracuse over 7. Florida State (close game, down to the wire. It says here that McNamera and Edelin make too many big plays in the backcourt to lose this game)
Regional Semifinals
1. Missouri over 5. Kentucky (Mizzou's talent is too strong even for this senior laden Kentucky team. Arthur Johnson, Linas Kleiza and Travon Bryant will dominate the interior)
3. Wisconsin over 2. Syracuse (Wisconsin has the shooters to beat the 2-3 zone and the passing to do it also. Another good game, but Badgers move on in St. Louis.)
Elite Eight
1. Missouri over 3. Wisconsin (again this team has some strong fire power and even Wisconsin can't stop them. Paulding will be the Region MVP.)

2004 FINAL FOUR @San Antonio, TX
1. Connecticut Huskies vs. 4. Pittsburgh Panthers
1. Duke Blue Devils vs. 1. Missouri Tigers

Now I am not picking a champion, but that is my final four. I hope you enjoyed reading my upset picks. Everytime I do this usually two or three of them actually do pull it off. Should be a great season.

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