Nimreitz

What are your initial impressions? Best opening round games? Best games if we're looking ahead? Any general thoughts and predictions are welcome.

__________________
Speaking about his use of the veto pen to eliminate wasteful spending, [McCain] declared, "I will veto every single beer [. . .]"

Obama '08! Because the stakes are too high.

HKF

Best opening round games:

Notre Dame vs. George Mason
Oklahoma vs. Saint Joseph's
Butler vs. South Alabama
UNLV vs. Kent State
Clemson vs. Villanova
Vanderbilt vs. Siena
USC vs. Kansas State
Gonzaga vs. Davidson
Miss. State vs. Oregon
Michigan State vs. Temple
Marquette vs. Kentucky
Miami (FL) vs. Saint Mary's
BYU vs. Texas A&M
Purdue vs. Baylor
Drake vs. Western Kentucky
Xavier vs. Georgia
WVU vs. Arizona

Every one of these games should be single digit games with five minutes to play IMO.

I would list the Belmont-Duke game, but I am not sure. Duke is playing in D.C. in a market that hates them (Big East and Maryland/G'Town fans) and Belmont is playing their 3rd tournament in a row. The first two years they played top 3 defensive teams in UCLA and Georgetown which shut their 3 point attack down. Duke is not as great defensively and has no meat on the interior. I think Belmont can keep it close, but the only times I can remember Duke losing in the first round are to really great mid-majors (1996 vs. #9 seed Eastern Michigan and last year vs. a VCU team that won 29 regular season games).

I expect Duke to win by 10-12, but Belmont to make a game of it.

__________________
My favorite NBA players: Kobe Bryant * Carmelo Anthony * Ben Gordon * Deron Williams * Joe Johnson * Kevin Martin * Tim Duncan * Kyle Lowry * Thad Young * Amare Stoudemire * Dwight Howard * Josh Smith * Brandon Roy * LaMarcus Aldridge * Rudy Gay * Al Horford * Brandan Wright * Craig Smith * Renaldo Balkman

2008-09 Favorite Rookies: Jerryd Bayless (POR), Roy Hibbert (IND), Greg Oden (POR), Jamont Gordon (undrafted), Chris Douglas-Roberts (NJN), Joe Alexander (MIL), Patrick Ewing, Jr. (SAC)

College Basketball: "Where 7-Foot Bigs Foul Out Happen"

Nimreitz

Personally, this is the most difficult bracket for me to pick ever. I think there are some very good teams this year on the 4-8 lines that could make life miserable for the higher seeds. Here are a couple things:

1) The 8/9 game. With the exception of the aimless Hoosiers, the 8 seeds in each game look much better than the 9 seeds. Statistically, an 8/9 has very little shot at knocking off a 1, and if I remember correctly, the 9 seed is the only underdog that wins its first round game more than it loses. So one bracket trick is to take all 9's in the first round game, get the upset bonus points, and then bounce all of them in the second round. Well this year, I just can't do that. I think BYU is better than TAMU, I think Mississippi State is far better than Oregon, and I think UNLV is better than Kent State (in fact, I think the Runnin Rebs could knock off Kansas). Very interesting, although I do think TAMU and Kent have decent shots in the first round, so maybe I'll stick with the strategy (except for Miss. State).

2) Wisconsin vs. USC/Kansas State (probably USC) is going to be a very interesting game. I can't take my homer glasses off here (I'm actually in homer "the sky is falling" mode), so I want to solicit some opinions. Should be a great second round match up though.

3) Davidson vs. Gonzaga. That's just awesome. Should be a great one, and my professional bracketeer advice is to take Davidson because of the upset point.

4) George Mason is in the 5/12 game. Come on!

5) Butler might have a legit gripe with the 7 seed, but assuming they beat South Alabama, we should have an interesting game between them and Tennessee. They'll take the Vols out of their comfort zone with a slower pace, and they were great last year in the Tournament. Remember they got bounced by Florida because of Florida's great front line; that will not be the reason Tennessee beats them this year.

6) From a semi-homer's perspective, the bracket sets up remarkably favorably for Marquette. UK and Stanford just don't seem like teams that can disrupt Marquette whereas both UK and Stanford are exactly the type of teams that Marquette can cause all kinds of havoc for. I think Texas shouldn't have much of a problem with them though.

7) I was wrong about Butler last year, and I'm probably wrong about this, but I adore Western Kentucky as a 12 seed over 5 seed Drake.

8) Sticking in the West, I think this is the best bracket for upsets. Purdue or Baylor look like they can knock off Xavier (I think it'll be Purdue, and do NOT underestimate the young Boilers). Duke is also in some trouble in the second round. I think West Virginia should get past Arizona (in a great game), but Duke can't feel supremely confident against either UWV or Arizona. I think the Mountaineers knock them off and set up West Virginia vs. Purdue for a trip to the Elite 8 to play UCLA.

9) I'm having a HELL of a time picking between Clemson and Villanova, but whoever wins that, I think has a great shot against Vandy in the second round.

10)

My first run through the bracket has my Final Four as: Louisville, Georgetown, Memphis, and UCLA. UCLA over Louisville for the title. Not confident about that pick, but as much as I like Louisville, I just cannot in good conscience take someone over UCLA in the Final; they just have the most talent.

__________________
Speaking about his use of the veto pen to eliminate wasteful spending, [McCain] declared, "I will veto every single beer [. . .]"

Obama '08! Because the stakes are too high.

HKF

Do not sleep on UConn. They have the guards and Thabeet in the middle. Kent State is a better team than you're giving them credit for.

__________________
My favorite NBA players: Kobe Bryant * Carmelo Anthony * Ben Gordon * Deron Williams * Joe Johnson * Kevin Martin * Tim Duncan * Kyle Lowry * Thad Young * Amare Stoudemire * Dwight Howard * Josh Smith * Brandon Roy * LaMarcus Aldridge * Rudy Gay * Al Horford * Brandan Wright * Craig Smith * Renaldo Balkman

2008-09 Favorite Rookies: Jerryd Bayless (POR), Roy Hibbert (IND), Greg Oden (POR), Jamont Gordon (undrafted), Chris Douglas-Roberts (NJN), Joe Alexander (MIL), Patrick Ewing, Jr. (SAC)

College Basketball: "Where 7-Foot Bigs Foul Out Happen"

HKF

I have no clue if I should take USC or Kansas State. Kansas State is playing a game one state over in a city (Omaha) that hates the Big 12 (except Nebraska). Not sure who will win, it's a pick'em. I will give Wisconsin a Sweet Sixteen by default.

__________________
My favorite NBA players: Kobe Bryant * Carmelo Anthony * Ben Gordon * Deron Williams * Joe Johnson * Kevin Martin * Tim Duncan * Kyle Lowry * Thad Young * Amare Stoudemire * Dwight Howard * Josh Smith * Brandon Roy * LaMarcus Aldridge * Rudy Gay * Al Horford * Brandan Wright * Craig Smith * Renaldo Balkman

2008-09 Favorite Rookies: Jerryd Bayless (POR), Roy Hibbert (IND), Greg Oden (POR), Jamont Gordon (undrafted), Chris Douglas-Roberts (NJN), Joe Alexander (MIL), Patrick Ewing, Jr. (SAC)

College Basketball: "Where 7-Foot Bigs Foul Out Happen"

B-Easy

Something tells me Notre Dame won't make it out of the first round against George Mason. I'm not counting out Winthrop against Washington St either, but with out Terrell Martin it's going to be tough.

-Butler/S. Alabama I think is going to be a sleeper game, I'm expecting a GREAT one between those two teams.

-UCLA has a cake walk out of the #1 seeds to the Final 4.

-The 6/11 match-up to watch will be Kentucky and Marquette.

-Overall, the first two rounds are going to be intense. There are some teams I think we may seeing after Thursday/Friday, that not many expect (Winthrop, George Mason, Davidson.)

-Miami vs. St. Mary's is going to be a good one.

__________________
The Michael Beasley fanclub!

|B-Easy|#1|Reef Da Chief|Wade2Matrix|BeasTley|KingOfTheHeatians|HEATLUNATIC|-mihkel-|Vivaldi
|ChrisRichards|bball2223|MB30|NewAgeBaller|Flash Is The Future|Blue Magic|fiElDy|LamarButler|

The Ricky Rubio fanclub...doubters need not apply! (began: 7/22/08)

|B-Easy|Porn_Player|argusa|

Nimreitz

I'm definitely not sleeping on UConn, I just don't think they have what it takes to beat UCLA. Kevin Love should absolutely abuse Thabeet down low, and AJ Price can be totally taken out of the game by Collison and Westbrook.

__________________
Speaking about his use of the veto pen to eliminate wasteful spending, [McCain] declared, "I will veto every single beer [. . .]"

Obama '08! Because the stakes are too high.

Nimreitz

UNLV vs. Kansas. I really think this could happen, but I need to do a little more research about the 08 Rebs. Plus, I really do like Kansas, the Rebs are just a good team with a damn good coach.

EDIT: Digger just brought it up and I was thinking it too, Oklahoma vs. St. Joe's could be a good one. However, I just think Griffin and Longar should be able to do enough to get past the Eagles. On paper it looks good, but I'm not sure if OK is the best match up for St. Joe's, even if they are probably the weakest 6 seed.

__________________
Speaking about his use of the veto pen to eliminate wasteful spending, [McCain] declared, "I will veto every single beer [. . .]"

Obama '08! Because the stakes are too high.

HKF

It would be kind of funny if Xavier and WVU met in the Sweet Sixteen because Huggins would once again be facing his arch-nemesis in the Muskies. I wonder who they would root for in a WVU vs. Duke second round game.

__________________
My favorite NBA players: Kobe Bryant * Carmelo Anthony * Ben Gordon * Deron Williams * Joe Johnson * Kevin Martin * Tim Duncan * Kyle Lowry * Thad Young * Amare Stoudemire * Dwight Howard * Josh Smith * Brandon Roy * LaMarcus Aldridge * Rudy Gay * Al Horford * Brandan Wright * Craig Smith * Renaldo Balkman

2008-09 Favorite Rookies: Jerryd Bayless (POR), Roy Hibbert (IND), Greg Oden (POR), Jamont Gordon (undrafted), Chris Douglas-Roberts (NJN), Joe Alexander (MIL), Patrick Ewing, Jr. (SAC)

College Basketball: "Where 7-Foot Bigs Foul Out Happen"

TM

just punch love in the back. i like that game's PG matchup!