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.