Bracket Racket 2008
UPDATED MARCH 16,
2008
Only one bracket this year, here on the
final day. Not going to waste
time with a lot of chatter, here’s the bracket in all of its glory:
THE BRACKET:
through games of 3/15/2008
Teams in bold
underlined have earned automatic berths to the NCAA Tournament
Teams in italics are
teams that are on the final bubble
CHARLOTTE REGION
#1 North Carolina vs. #16 Coppin State/Mt. St. Mary’s play-in winner (Raleigh,
N.C.)
#8 West Virginia
vs. #9 UNLV (Raleigh, N.C.)
#5 Vanderbilt vs. #12 George
Mason (Denver)
#4 Butler
vs. #13 Oral Roberts (Denver)
#6 USC vs. #11 Temple
(Tampa)
#3 Georgetown vs. #14 Georgia (Tampa)
#7 Oklahoma vs. #10
Kent St. (true 9 seed) (Omaha)
#2 Wisconsin
vs. #15 Portland St. (Omaha)
DETROIT REGION
#1 Kansas vs. #16 Austin Peay
(Omaha)
#8 St. Mary’s (CA) vs. #9 Arizona
(true 9 seed) (Omaha)
#5 Clemson vs. #12 Western
Kentucky (Tampa)
#4 Pittsburgh
vs. #13 San Diego (Tampa)
#6 Marquette vs. #11 South Alabama (Washington, DC)
#3 Xavier vs. #14 Cal St. Fullerton
(Washington, DC)
#7 Washington
St. vs. #10 Texas
A&M (Birmingham)
#2 Tennessee vs. #15 UMBC (Birmingham)
HOUSTON REGION
#1 Memphis
vs. #16 Mississippi Valley
St.
(Little Rock)
#8 Kentucky vs. #9 Miami-Fla. (Little Rock)
#5 Purdue vs. #12 Baylor (Washington,
D.C.)
#4 Connecticut
vs. #13 Cornell (Washington, D.C.)
#6 Gonzaga (true 7 seed) vs. #11 St. Joseph’s (Anaheim)
#3 Stanford vs. #14 Boise
St. (Anaheim)
#7 Indiana (true 6 seed) vs.
#10 Davidson (Little Rock)
#2 Texas vs. #15 Belmont
(Little Rock)
PHOENIX REGION
#1 UCLA vs. #16 Texas-Arlington
(Anaheim)
#8 Brigham Young vs. #9 Arkansas
(Anaheim)
#5 Notre Dame vs. #12 Virginia Tech (Denver)
#4 Drake
vs. #13 Siena (Denver)
#6 Michigan St.
vs. #11 Kansas St. (Birmingham)
#3 Louisville vs. #14 Winthrop (Birmingham)
#7 Mississippi State vs. #10 Arizona
St. (Raleigh)
#2 Duke vs. #15 American
(Raleigh)
Georgia
just stole a bid from…Illinois
State, I say. It was close with me between Virginia Tech
and Illinois State, as I think the ACC is deserving
of at least 5 bids this year, while the MVC is deserving of at least 2. Ultimately, I leaned towards Virginia Tech
with my final selection based on the result in each team’s final game. Va Tech lost to the
#1 team in the entire field, North Carolina,
by 2, while Illinois
State lost to Drake, a
good team but not a team in the same ballpark as UNC, by 30 points. When the margin is so thin, such a large
difference at the very end of the year resounds loudly.