They're Playin Basketball!

My bracket is virtually destroyed but I'm not giving up on this tournament. In that spirit lets get into tonite's games. Despite the fact that I watch about as much regular season college basketball as I do curling, I'm going to try my best to break down these games.

Butler vs. Syracuse

Syracuse is my pick to win it all and I'm not about to bail out now. They were basically my only Final Four team that played up to expectations in the first round. I like Butler. The Bulldogs had a great season, going 30-4 (the same record as Syracuse). The only reason I picked against Butler in the first round was to support Muench's Miners. Despite Butler's strong showing I'll take Syracuse to keep rolling here.



Washington vs. West Virginia

Saw a piece on ESPN this morning about Washington feeling it was disrespected all season and thats what drove the Huskies opening weekend showing. The truth is that Washington should have disrespected after losing to Texas Tech. I've been on a roll in the EAST Region (the only division I've done well in) and I'll stick to my original pick - West Virginia. Huggy Bear and DeSean Butler will get it done.

Xavier vs. Kansas State

Kansas State has already won a game against the Musketeers and although revenge is a great motivator I can't go against the Wildcats here. Jacob Pullen played amazing against BYU and if KSU starts to slip I'm pretty sure Frank Martin will threaten to eat their children. Go Wildcats.



Cornell vs. Kentucky

This game is the one everyone is talking about. White vs. Black. Smart kids vs. Dumb kids. Athletes vs. the Uncordinated. I honestly can't understand why ESPN feels the need to interject race to hype a game that's not even on their network. Making this game about white and black or intelligence is bullshit. I think its not only insulting to Kentucky but its insulting to Cornell. If Kentucky was at a disadvantage because their players are less intelligent then there would have been more than Ivy League team in the Sweet 16 in the past 17 years. And if Cornell was disadvantaged because they had less talented athletes they wouldn't have made it past Temple or Wisconsin. The truth is these are both great teams. But Kentucky is going to win because the Wildcats may be the best team in the country.