Phd. in Bracketology

The Plumlee brothers and Seth Curry

It is that time of the year again when terms such as Cinderella team, sleeper pick, sweet sixteen and elite eight are thrown around. Almost every male between the ages of 12 and 65 believe that they have a masters in bracketology. If you are thinking how on earth does a children's story, a teenage girls most important birthday and some sort of a made up science connect with each other then let me explain. At the end of the college basketball season just like any other sports season you have a championship tournament. In the NCAA Div. 1 it is a field of 68 teams that play a single elimination tournament until there is a champion to be crowned. Just like any other science there are a number of terms that one most know before completely understanding what is bracketology.

Backetology-The science of picking the NCAA  basketball championship tournament correctly or to near perfection as possible.

The Big Dance- Slang term used for the tournament and the field of 68.

Cinderella Pick- A team that is picked to make it deep in the tournament, “Cinderella crashes the big dance”

Sweet Sixteen- The final 16 teams left in the tournament.

Dickey V

Elite Eight- The final 8 teams left in the tournament.

Final Four- The last 4 teams left, this is a pretty big step in a basketball program

Sleeper pick- a team that is picked to win a couple games but is not expected to make a run as deep as a Cinderella

Dickey V- The voice of this great science.

This madness is known as March Madness, of course you very rarely have all the number 1 seeds in the final 4 or all the 1 and 2 seeds making up the elite 8. 2008 was the last year that all number 1 seeds made it to the final 4. If we take a look at last season the number 11 seeded Virginia Commonwealth was the Cinderella that crashed the big dance making it to the final 4. Of course you can never forget about the thrilling finishes of what seems to be every game.

After all this you realize that it is almost pointless to analyze everyone and just go with the gut pick. So here are my picks.

South Region
Kentucky                      UConn                   UConn
UConn
Witchita State              Witchita State                                    Duke
Indiana
UNLV                           UNLV                      Duke
Baylor
Notre Dame               Duke
Duke

West Region
Michigan State         Memphis
Memphis                                                    Long Beach State
Long Beach State   Long Beach State
Louisville                                                                                         Murray State
Murray State           Murray State
Marquette                                                  Murray State
Virginia                    Virginia
Missouri

East Region
Syracuse               Syracuse
Kansas State                                            Syracuse
Harvard                 Wisconsin
Wisconsin                                                                                       Syracuse
Cincinnati              Cincinnati
Florida State                                             West Virginia    
West Virginia        West Virginia
Ohio State

Midwest Region
North Carolina     North Carolina
Creighton                                                  North Carolina
South Florida      South Florida
Michigan                                                                                         North Carolina
N.C. State           N.C. State
Georgetown                                              Kansas
St.Marys             Kansas
Kansas

Final Four
Duke over Murray State
Syracuse over North Carolina
Duke winning the championship over Syracuse

Yes I know there are a number of upsets that I picked, you just sometimes just have to go with the gut feeling, everyone knows that there will be upsets you just have to which one of them seems to out there that it just might actually be worth the pick. I am sure you noticed that I have #6 Murray State coming out of the West over #12 Long Beach State, I just don’t see Missouri making it and Long Beach has had one of the highest strength of schedules.
I have also decided to pick the NIT, CBI and the CIT.

NIT Final 4
Seton Hall over Arizona
Tennessee over Dayton
Seton Hall winning a title for the senior Herb Pope

CBI Final 4
Pitt over Butler
Oregon State over Washington in a PAC 12 match up
Pitt wins the title in an effort to end a forgettable season on a high note

CIT Final 4
Robert Morris over Manhattan
Drake over Kent State
Drake taking the title