The NCAA Tournament bracket is all set, and every one of the 64 teams from the mighty (Kansas) to the paltry (UC Santa Barbara Gauchos) are daydreaming about cutting down the nets in Indianapolis as national champions.
As for you and me, all this means is that we are gonna fill out brackets and then promptly pretend we never cared about them once our upset picks go to hell and the one upset we didn't pick screws up our bracket beyond recognition.
With that said, let's see what each region looks like and which teams I think will make their way to the Final Four.
Midwest: The Region of Death.
Final Four pick: Georgetown
Dark Horse: Maryland
Cinderella: Houston
Kansas, Georgetown and Ohio State are three teams that could easily be in the Final Four, but instead they will slaughter each other in the same side of the bracket. Add the presence of Maryland and 2008 runner-up Michigan State to the mix, and getting out of the Midwest will truly be something else. Whoever represents the Midwest in the Final Four will either be too banged up to win or be completely unstoppable.
West: Watch out for the Mid-Majors.
Final Four pick: Syracuse
Dark Horses: Xavier, Butler, BYU.
Cinderella: Murray St.
Syracuse seems to stand out from the pack here, but the mid-majors in BYU, Xavier and Butler will make strong runs and scare more than one powerhouse team. Pittsburgh will be its usual underachiever and will be ousted by Xavier in the second round.
The state of Florida will be represented briefly by the Florida Gators and Florida State. I don't believe either of them will make it past the second round.
East: Mountaineers to Glory
Final Four pick: West Virgnia
Dark Horse: Temple
Cinderella: Cornell
I am sick and tired of the ESPN experts fawning over Kentucky and John Wall, making it seem like it is an inevitability that they will face Kansas in the National Championship. Wall is just a freshman and he is no Carmelo Anthony,because he commits too many turnovers. I see him costing the Wildcats the game in the Elite Eight against West Virginia.
As for Temple, the Owls are a very well coached team that have won their conference three years in a row and have an experienced team that has been to three NCAA Tournaments in a row.
However, they haven't gotten out of the first round since 1999, and that opens the door for Cornell. The Big Red are Ivy League champs and a very dangerous 12 seed. Keep in mind that they only lost by five points to Kansas on the road a couple of months ago.
South: Duke's resurgence
Final Four Pick: Duke
Dark Horse: Baylor
Cinderella: Siena
This is perhaps the weakest of the four regions, and as such it is the most prone to crazy upsets. The only team that is safe in this region seems to be Duke, with the rest being vulnerable to being eliminated early on. Yes, even second seeded Villanova is in that group.
The Baylor Bears are my dark horse based on their outstanding performance in the Big 12, while I believe 13-seed Siena will beat a banged-up Purdue team and make a run to the Sweet 16.
Final Four: West Virginia will rule them all
The Mountaineers will handily beat Duke in the semis and then defeat Georgetown in the National Championship in a rematch of the Big East Championship game.
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