NCAA Tourney Preview

Well, the NCAA Tourney kicks off in just a few minutes now and with all bracket challenges locked, here is my pick by pick preview of the entire tournament. Please note that I have never ever won (or even came close to winning) a bracket challenge and this year will be no different. Feel free to ridicule my picks in the comments or to my face or via email or in the respective bracket pool on yahoo/cbs/espn. These are my picks from my Yahoo! bracket challenge as these were my first gut reaction picks based on my extensive knowledge.

East:
1 UNC over 16 Mount St. Marys - No brainer
9 Arkansas over 8 Indiana - Too much turmoil with replacement coach, but this could come back to bite me in the ass
5 Notre Dame over 12 George Mason - These aren't your 2006 GMU Patriots and this ain't your 2007 Irish
4 Washington State over 13 Wintrhop - I just don't see any 13 seeds winning this year for some reason and especially not in this game as WSU is too strong on defense
11 St. Joseph's over 6 Oklahoma - OU has too many injuries and St. Joe's finished the season strong in a solid A-10 conference
3 Louisville over 14 Boise State - This ain't football and Ian Johnson ain't proposing to his cheerleader girlfriend again
7 Butler over 10 South Alabama - I hate when the committee puts two good mid-major conference teams together because they can then use it as an excuse that X team can't even beat a mid-major, so we don't need to put them in the field next year, so what I am saying is that this was a coin flip
2 Tennessee over 15 American - Tennessee = really good

UNC over Tennessee to reach Final Four, but I have waffled on this over and over

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Midwest:
1 Kansas over 16 Portland State - No first round upset as Bill Self figures out how to coach in the tourney
8 UNLV over 9 Kent State - A virtual coin flip, but UNLV has won better games than Kent State has
12 Villanova over 5 Clemson - Scottie Reynolds will go crazy from three and Clemson will be spent after a great ACC run
4 Vanderbilt over 13 Siena - Vandy has enough firepower to withstand the Saints and move along on their way to the Sweet 16
6 USC over 11 Kansas State - USC has won at Pauley Pavilion and K State is (a) inconsistent in general and (b) not the same team away from home
3 Wisconsin over 14 Cal State Fullerton - If this were the College World Series, then I might go with CSF, but Wisconsin is way too strong to lose in the first round even though I have the Badgers bowing out in round 2
10 Davidson over 7 Gonzaga - Got to go with who is hot and Davidson is scorching, plus Gonzaga is sooo 2006
2 Georgetown over 15 Maryland - Baltimore County - JT III won't let his Hoyas lose this early

Kansas over Georgetown to reach Final Four

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1 Memphis over 16 UT-Arlington - Memphis will not reach the Final Four, but they are not losing to a 16 seed
9 Oregon over 8 Mississippi State - These 8/9 matchups are really tricky and my philosophy when you have really no idea and the coin lands on its edge, go with the 9 seed
5 Michigan State over 12 Temple - This could be the classic 5/12 upset, but MSU is not inconsistent enough to lose to a Temple team that but for the A-10 tourney wasn't even on Lunardi's radar all season
4 Pittsburgh over 13 Oral Roberts - Pitt is inconsistent, but ORU was a 16 seed a few years ago and like their fate then, so shall be their fate herein
6 Marquette over 11 Kentucky - So many of these 3, 4, 5, and 6 seeds are extremely inconsistent, but I have seen Kentucky play this season and my Coogs wiped the floor with them, plus UK is still without freshman Patrick Patterson
3 Stanford over 14 Cornell - Lopez Brothers = 'nuff said
10 St. Mary's over 7 Miami (FL) - St. Mary's has looked good all season (I love those WCC games on weeknights that don't end til after midnight) and Miami just doesn't strike me as a strong 7 seed
2 Texas over 15 Austin Peay - DJ Augustin will do what Kevin Durant couldn't last year and get this Longhorn team to the Final Four (did I jinx them? I hope I jinxed them. Sorry Keller ;))

Texas over Pittsburgh to reach Final Four (and yes, I will be watching the South Regional's Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight games at Reliant Stadium with some decent seats - it pays to be a UH season ticket holder)

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West:
1 UCLA over 16 Mississippi Valley State - Eventual champ UCLA will make it three straight trips to the Final Four and will finally win it all this year
9 Texas A&M over 8 BYU - I have watched A&M play multiple times this season and their defense is solid and the MWC was somewhat overrated this season
5 Drake over 12 Western Kentucky - Another match-up of good mid majors, but Drake has been so solid all season that I think they have the ability to beat UCONN and get to the Sweet 16
4 Connecticut over 13 San Diego - Why does this seem to be the 13 over 4 upset that people are expecting? Despite their showing in the Big East Tournament, Calhoun will have these guys prepped for the Toreros, but not enough to beat Drake over the weekend
6 Purdue over 11 Baylor - Baylor should not be in the tournament, but the BCS conference bump probably got them in over Davidson and Illinois State. Baylor had a stretch in the middle of the season where they looked good, but once they played better teams, they folded like a wet paper towel
3 Xavier over 14 Georgia - Nice little run by the Bulldogs in the SEC Tournament, but this team won only 4 games in a very weak SEC, while Xavier ran through a strong A-10, losing only twice.
10 Arizona over 7 West Virginia - WVU has been strong as of late, but Zona has so much talent that it is a shame Lute Olson is not coaching here or else they would've been a 3 or 4 seed at worst and the Wildcats will beat Duke and Xavier to get to the Elite 8
2 Duke over 15 Belmont - Duke can beat anybody in the country and Belmont is in the country, but they are too reliant on the three to make it past Zona in the round of 32

UCLA over Arizona to reach the Final Four

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Final Four:
Tennessee over Kansas - I think Bill Self gets to the Final Four, but I will take Bruce Pearl here
UCLA over Texas - UCLA takes the rematch despite Texas having some home court advantage playing in San Antonio (and having played the South Regional in Houston)

UCLA over Tennessee - UCLA is just so strong on both sides of the ball that I do not see them being challenged much in this tournament if they play to their abilities