The Madness

I know I said I would post about my vacation to Nevis, but it’s March Madness time here in the U.S. and I wanted to get my picks in for those of you who may need help with your brackets.  I’ve been doing this for years and so far have a perfect record of never having picked the winner or enough wins to cover my $5 entry into the office pool. Watch and learn.

The March Madness is a basketball tournament played at venues throughout the U.S. by teams of basketball players. The tournament bracket (literally: broken in fours, which is where the phrase Final Four comes from) is divided into four sections for different directions that players travel to get to the tournament. I have selected my winners for the 3rd Round which will then inform how the rest of the tournament plays (meaning “play”) out.

Here are my prognostications (NSFW).

MIDWEST:

• Kentucky is going to beat Hampton to advance because they are a #1 seed and the only reason I would even think of choosing Hampton is because my first fiance was from North Hampton, NH.
• Purdue will beat Cincinnati because I can’t think of why they wouldn’t.
• Even though Buffalo is a #12 seed they will win out over #5 W. Virginia because I have never been to WV.
• Maryland will move on over Valparaiso because I had a Terps Lacrosse tshirt in college.
• Butler over Texas because while I love many Texans, I don’t care for Texas.
• The Notre Dame v. Northeastern game is a tough call for me because I’m Catholic and once lived in Boston. Notre Dame. God wins.
• Indiana over Wichita because I saw “Hoosiers”.
• Kansas over New Mexico because I’ve never been to NM and spent the Bicentennial in Kansas with my aunt and her family.

WEST:

• I have picked Coastal Carolina over Wisconsin because my first husband had a friend who coached soccer at C.Carolina. This was a tough call picking between two popular Western states.
• Oregon will beat OK St. (they probably won’t but I have to pick Oregon, total bullshit).
• Arkansas over Wofford because Wofford? What?
• I am going with a Harvard upset over N. Carolina because I lived in Boston across the river from Cambridge.
• I have to go with Ole Miss over Xavier because I like the sound of Ole Miss.
• Baylor (who by the way will make it into the Final Four) is going to beat Georgia St. because my pal Amy from high school went to Baylor.
• Close call between #7 seed VCU and #10 seed Ohio St. but my best pal Lucy lives in Columbus, so Ohio St.
• Arizona will win out over Texas So. because Arizona is actually a Western state and again, Texas.

SOUTH:

• Duke will beat Robert Morris because they have a whole team and he is just one guy. I don’t even know why that game is being played.
• San Diego St. goes down to St. John’s because St. John’s has a college affiliate program with American Academy of Dramatic Arts where my daughter, Annie, will start school in September.
• Utah over SF Austin because Fletch goes to Utah in the movie of the same name and my siblings and I say, “You go to Utah, you STAY in Utah” a lot.
• Georgetown over Eastern Washington because Georgetown always seems to beat other teams, unless they lose.
• UCLA is going to beat SMU because my best pal Kitty’s daughter is a freshman there.
• Iowa St. over UAB because I think the UAB is actually a small country in the middle east and they should never have been allowed in the tournament anyway.
• Iowa will advance past Davidson to make matchies with Iowa St.
• Gonzaga will not only beat North Dakota State but advance to the Final Four, all because the guy in my office who organizes this bracket went to Gonzaga.

EAST:

• Lafayette over Villanova because Lafayette is a similar small liberal arts school to my alma mater Colgate.
• LSU beats NC State simply because it seems like something they would do.
• Wyoming moves on past N. Iowa because Iowa was getting a little greedy.
• Louisville will beat UC Irvine because they are Louisville, and they use bats which many people think isn’t fair but teams are allowed to use any equipment with their team name on it.
• Boise St. will win a close one over Providence even though I have been to both cities.
• I’m going with the numbers on the Oklahoma/Albany game. Oklahoma, a #3 seed, will show up in the Final Four.
• Georgia beats Michigan St. for no good reason at all.
• Huge upset….Belmont over Virginia because Annie likes a boy who got into Belmont.

So if you review all of that information and carry the 3, you will see that the 2015 NCAA Champion Basketball team winner will be Gonzaga.

You can take this to Vegas.