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Washington
If there was any drama heading into the bracket
"reveal," it was who would join Illinois, UNC and Duke
as a No. 1 seed. The Huskies get the nod.
QUICKIE LIVE! 9-10 a.m.
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The Lead Item
Two Words For You:
POOL. PARTY.
Use the following Tourney Quickie
analysis anyway you want to, but with the standard
caveat that every Tournament article should use:
"All bracket discussion is for recreational purposes
only."
Riiiight: "Recreational" ...
Pod People
Geography winners:
Illinois: Indy? Chicago? Ha!
Okla St: Play in Okla City!
UNC/Duke: Start in Charlotte
And losers:
W. Forest: Sent to Cleveland
Oklahoma: Headed to Tucson
B.C.: Packing for Cleveland
Meanwhile: For the second straight year, using
city names instead of geographic regions causes more
annoyance than clarity. I'll refer to them by their
natural "directional" names.
Midwest (Chicago)
Bracket-picking advice:
Illini: Too easy? By far the weakest region.
Layer on top of that Illinois has to travel less than
your daily commute.
B.C. plummets: From a clear-cut No. 1 a few
weeks ago to a 4-seed stuck with Illinois in a Sweet
16 path.
Upset potential: Wacky things happen in
Boise. 3 Arizona faces nearby 14 Utah St; 2004 Sweet
16 darling UAB matches up with 6 LSU.
West (Albuquerque)
Bracket-picking advice:
Battle of the Northwest: A Washington-Gonzaga
regional final would be for state bragging rights; but
would any fans East of Spokane care?
Super-strong 4/5: How nasty is that GA
Tech-L'ville game projected for Sunday in Nashville?
Keep reading. Maybe only second
nastiest!
Upset potential: Anyone who watched West
Virginia in the Big East tournament is going to be a
sucker for their Cinderella chances.
East (Syracuse)
Bracket-picking advice:
Bracket porn: Stop -- just stop -- talking
about Roy Williams and UNC facing Kansas in the
regional final; UConn can gum that up.
Super-strong 4/5 II: Florida and Villanova were
both thought to be Elite Eight sleepers; now they
could play each other on the first Sunday.
Upset potential: C-USA felt the back of the
committee's hand; Charlotte will have trouble with
N.C. State.
South (Austin)
Bracket-picking advice:
More bracket porn: Yes, I know: Duke and
Kentucky are on a collision course for yet another
regional final. The committee loves ironic.
Utah vs. UTEP: It's just so fun to say.
Boringest. Game. Ever.
Upset potential: Michigan State always kills me
when I pick against them, but there's something about
those 28 wins for Old Dominion.
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CHECK OUT THE QUICKIE EVERY WEEKDAY MORNING! |
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| WHO'S GOT THE MOMENTUM ... |
Person who runs the office pool: More powerful than a CEO
Florida: Has won 7 in row, including 2 over rival Kentucky
Boise/Nashville: Sub-cities to watch this coming Sat/Sun |
| ... AND WHO'S GOT NO MO' |
Office productivity: In 2004, an estimated $1.5 bil lost
C-USA: Champion Louisville gets stuck in worst 4 spot
Notre Dame: Seriously, stop the griping. Just stop it |
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Upset Specials
Who do the 12-seeds play?!
South: (12) Old Dominion
Upset vs. Mich. St? Like it!
Other: 10 Iowa over 7 Cincy
Midwest: (12) UW-Milwaukee
Upset vs. Alabama? Like it!
Other: 11 UAB over 6 LSU
West: (12) G. Washington
Upset vs. Georgia Tech? Nope.
Other: 11 UCLA over 6 TX Tech
East: (12) New Mexico
Upset vs. Villanova? Nope.
Other: 11 N. Iowa over 6 Wisc
Upset upshot: Watch that 11-6 game.
Advantage to ...
Looking for ...
Guards? Take Illinois, Nova
Size? Gonzaga, Arizona
Depth? Kentucky, Florida
Experience? UConn, Syracuse
Momentum? Duke, Washington
Chip? Wake Forest, Kansas
Sleepers and Cindys
Jump on the Sweet 16 B'wagon:
West Virginia (toppling Wake)
Utah (toppling Oklahoma)
Old Dominion (toppling 'Cuse)
Be afraid. Be very afraid:
Villanova OR Florida. Yikes!
Ga Tech OR Louisville. Yikes!
UAB in a Sweet 16 repeat.
Looking Down the Road
Useless phrase (but fun): The Tourney
gods have always shown a sense of humor (or at least
irony) in its potential matchups.
Here are some of this year's most tantalizing possible Regional
Finals:
East: UNC-Kansas
Spoilers: Nova, UConn
South: Duke-Kentucky
Spoilers: 'Cuse, Oklahoma
West: Washington-Gonzaga
Spoilers: Wake, L'ville, WVA
Midwest: Illinois-So. Ill.
Spoilers: OK St, Arizona
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Snubs
And that's the last you'll hear about:
Memphis (thanks, Darius Washington!) ... DePaul
(thanks, UAB!) ... big-school trifecta (Maryland,
Indiana, Notre Dame) ... and legitimately gripe-worthy
Buffalo.
No sympathy: They all had their chances throughout the
season to avoid this fate. Enjoy that NIT,
fellas.
Insta-Gut Picks
Taking my cue from the long-time
bracket wisdom that your "insta-gut" Tourney picks are
your most reliable:
Midwest (Chicago):
Out of 1st Rd: ILL, NV, UW-Milw., BC, Zona,
UAB, SIU, OK St
Out of 32: ILL, BC, Zona, OK St
Out of 16: ILL, OK St
Region Champ: Illinois
West (Albuquerque):
Out of 1st Rd: Wash, Pacific, Ga Tech, L'ville,
Zaga, UCLA, WVA, Wake
Out of 32: Wash, L'ville, WVA, Zaga
Out of 16: Wash, Zaga
Region Champ: Gonzaga
East (Syracuse):
Out of 1st Rd: UNC, Minn, Nova, Fla, KU, NoIA,
NC St, UConn
Out of 32: UNC, Fla, UConn, KU
Out of 16: Fla, UConn
Region Champ: UConn
South (Austin):
Out of 1st Rd: Duke, Stan, ODU, Cuse, KY,
Cincy, Okla, Utah
Out of 32: Duke, Cuse, KY, Utah
Out of 16: Cuse, KY
Region Champ: Syracuse
Final Four:
Illinois d. Gonzaga
UConn d. Syracuse
Champ: UConn
Quickie Challenge!
Here's your Dance invite to be part of
the first-ever Daily Quickie Tournament
Challenge group!
Group: Daily Quickie Readers
Password to join: None needed
See Q It Up for a link, and join me in the Morning
Quickie every weekday from 9-10 a.m. ET on
SportsNation to discuss/mock/gripe.
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Taking four No. 1 seeds in your bracket:
Come on: Don't be a dud! (And it's not going to happen
anyway.)
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Today on ESPN.com
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| Quickie Live! |
| Quickie Challenge! |
| Daily Quickie |
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| Ranking Potential Sub-Regionals |  Nashville
| Fla-Nova; Ga Tech-L'ville
|  Boise
| Wash-Pitt; Zona-UAB/LSU
|  Worcester
| UConn-NC St; MI St/Cuse
|  Indianapolis
| Illinois-Texas; Kentucky-Cincy
|  Oklahoma City
| | OK St-So Ill; Kansas-Wisco? |
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Even MORE bracket-picking advice:
The ACC gets the glory, but remember the Big East has
won the last two titles.
Remember the lesson of Arizona '97: You don't need mo
entering the Tourney to make a run.
Player/name to watch: WVA sensation Kevin Pittsnogle,
who scored 59 in the Big East Tourney before being
held to 2 by Syracuse. He'll be back!
Don't pick a school because any of the following went
there: (a) you, (b) your mom, (c) your fiancée, (d)
your boss or (e) all of the above.
Do pick at least one 12-over-5; it's bracket-picking
law. I gave you two good choices.
Don't overthink the first-round matchups where you
don't have the team getting past the second round;
it's just not worth your agita.
Do remember to break out the ALT-TAB function on your
computer, flipping between your online bracket form
and, say, a dummy spreadsheet.
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