Sportsyball: Bracketology Edition
Bracketology: Yes, it's time for the annual exercise in futility that is filling out a bracket in the month of March. It's strange, the amount of happiness that can be derived from filling out a simple bracket and making your picks- knowing, nay expecting that many of them will be wrong and your bracket will lie in ruins before the end of the first weekend. This was my first year actually looking at ESPN's little team vs team comparisons which helped me make a pick here or there. So, without further ado- let's get down to it with the South Region:
UVA over UMBC
Creighton over Kansas State (could go either way, but I have peeps in Omaha, so solidarity!)
Kentucky over Davidson (so tempted to go the other way here, b/c I am no Calipari fan, but just can't do it.)
Arizona over Buffalo (every tournament needs a villain, why not Zona?)
Loyola-Chicago over Miami (my upset special of the South)
Tennessee over Wright State
Nevada over Texas
Cincy over Georgia State
UVA gets past Creighton
Zona over Kentucky in the Battle of the Wildcats
Tennessee over Loyola
Cincy over Nevada
Which sets up UVA versus Tennessee in the regional final, with UVA going to the Final Four.
The East Region:
Nova over Radford
VaTech over Bama
West Va over Murray State
Wichita State over Marshall (but I'm unsure about this one)
St. Bonaventure over Florida (Bonnies for the Upset!)
Texas Tech over SFA
Butler over Arkansas
Purdue over CSU Fullerton
Nova over VaTech
Wichita State over WestVa
St. Bonaventure over Texas Tech (Cinderella, because why not?_
Purdue over Butler
Which sets up Villanova versus Purdue in the regional final, with Purdue going to the Final Four.
The West Region:
Xavier over the Play-In Game Winner
Mizzou over FSU
OSU over South Dakota State (so tempting to go the other way here. This one might burn me.)
Gonzaga over UNCG (gotta go with my 'Zags)
Houston over SDSU
Michigan over Montana
Providence over TAMU
UNC over Lipscomb
Xavier gets past Mizzou
Gonzaga gets past OSU
Michigan gets past Houston
UNC gets past Providence
Which sets up Michigan versus Xavier in the regional final, with Xavier going to the Final Four.
The Midwest Region:
Kansas over Penn
NC State over Seton Hall
Clemson over New Mexico State
Auburn over Charleston
TCU over Play-In Winner
Michigan State over Bucknell
Oklahoma over URI
Duke over Iona (but I do think it would be hilarious if this was the 15-2 upset)
Kansas over NC State
Auburn over Clemson
Sparty over TCU
Oklahoma over Duke (Trae Young is apparently good? and I hate Duke.)
Auburn beats Kansas (because Kansas always screws me somewhere and this year it's going to be against Auburn) and Michigan State gets past Oklahoma, which sets up Auburn and Sparty for the regional final with Sparty going to the Final Four.
Final Four: I have UVA vs Xavier and an all B1G match-up with Sparty vs. Purdue... I'm going with UVA vs Purdue in the Final and although I'd really like to think that Purdue can finally do it, I'm going with UVA here. I think they've been knocking on the door of a Final Four appearance for awhile now and I think this is the year they get it all done. As always, this Bracket will be a smoking ruin by Sunday, so I might as well enjoy it while I can.
Adopt-A-Team: Well, Defensa Y Justicia is turning into a solid mid-table performance so far this season, which makes me feel pretty good, especially given the fate of NEC Nijmegen last season. (Spoiler Alert: they were relegated.) Since we last checked in with them:
L to Argentinos Juniors
W over Chacharita Juniors
L to America de Cali (1st Round, Copa Sudamericana)
D to Tigre
W over Patronato
W over Atletico Tucuman
W over America de Cali (2nd Round, Copa Sudamericana- Defensa wins 3-1 on aggregate)
D to Belgrano
So, they're currently sitting at 12th in the table, which is pretty damn solid, all things considered. Down the stretch, they've got Talleres Cordoba (2nd in the table, probably an L or a D), River Plate (17th in the table, should be a W on paper, but who knows), Boca Juniors (1st in the table, probable L), Racing Club (6th in the table, could be some points to be had here), Independiente (3rd in the table, probable L), Rosario Central (15th in the table, could go either way), Newell's (23rd, should be a W) and Arsenal Sarandi (dead last in the table, so should be a W.) They've got some tough tests ahead of them, but they've had a good run of form for a couple of months now, so who knows what their potential really is, but I feel pretty confident in saying that they're not going to be relegated this year.
Arsenal: Beat AC Milan in the First Leg, beat Watford 3-0 and got Peter Cech his 200th Clean Sheet and has the second leg against AC Milan tomorrow. They've got Stoke City, Southampton, Newcastle, West Ham, Manchester United, Burnley and Huddersfield down the stretch in the League, plus whatever the Europa League throws at them. (Assuming, of course, they get past AC Milan tomorrow.) Right now, Top 4 looks like a stretch, but it sure would be nice to take the maximum points possible off of their remaining 7 games and see where they end up. My expectations, however, remain delightfully low. In a perfect world: 21 points from 7 games and winning the Europa League followed by Arsene Wenger taking a bow and exiting stage left would be quite nice. None of that will happen, so I'll just enjoy the rest of the season free of worry.
UVA over UMBC
Creighton over Kansas State (could go either way, but I have peeps in Omaha, so solidarity!)
Kentucky over Davidson (so tempted to go the other way here, b/c I am no Calipari fan, but just can't do it.)
Arizona over Buffalo (every tournament needs a villain, why not Zona?)
Loyola-Chicago over Miami (my upset special of the South)
Tennessee over Wright State
Nevada over Texas
Cincy over Georgia State
UVA gets past Creighton
Zona over Kentucky in the Battle of the Wildcats
Tennessee over Loyola
Cincy over Nevada
Which sets up UVA versus Tennessee in the regional final, with UVA going to the Final Four.
The East Region:
Nova over Radford
VaTech over Bama
West Va over Murray State
Wichita State over Marshall (but I'm unsure about this one)
St. Bonaventure over Florida (Bonnies for the Upset!)
Texas Tech over SFA
Butler over Arkansas
Purdue over CSU Fullerton
Nova over VaTech
Wichita State over WestVa
St. Bonaventure over Texas Tech (Cinderella, because why not?_
Purdue over Butler
Which sets up Villanova versus Purdue in the regional final, with Purdue going to the Final Four.
The West Region:
Xavier over the Play-In Game Winner
Mizzou over FSU
OSU over South Dakota State (so tempting to go the other way here. This one might burn me.)
Gonzaga over UNCG (gotta go with my 'Zags)
Houston over SDSU
Michigan over Montana
Providence over TAMU
UNC over Lipscomb
Xavier gets past Mizzou
Gonzaga gets past OSU
Michigan gets past Houston
UNC gets past Providence
Which sets up Michigan versus Xavier in the regional final, with Xavier going to the Final Four.
The Midwest Region:
Kansas over Penn
NC State over Seton Hall
Clemson over New Mexico State
Auburn over Charleston
TCU over Play-In Winner
Michigan State over Bucknell
Oklahoma over URI
Duke over Iona (but I do think it would be hilarious if this was the 15-2 upset)
Kansas over NC State
Auburn over Clemson
Sparty over TCU
Oklahoma over Duke (Trae Young is apparently good? and I hate Duke.)
Auburn beats Kansas (because Kansas always screws me somewhere and this year it's going to be against Auburn) and Michigan State gets past Oklahoma, which sets up Auburn and Sparty for the regional final with Sparty going to the Final Four.
Final Four: I have UVA vs Xavier and an all B1G match-up with Sparty vs. Purdue... I'm going with UVA vs Purdue in the Final and although I'd really like to think that Purdue can finally do it, I'm going with UVA here. I think they've been knocking on the door of a Final Four appearance for awhile now and I think this is the year they get it all done. As always, this Bracket will be a smoking ruin by Sunday, so I might as well enjoy it while I can.
Adopt-A-Team: Well, Defensa Y Justicia is turning into a solid mid-table performance so far this season, which makes me feel pretty good, especially given the fate of NEC Nijmegen last season. (Spoiler Alert: they were relegated.) Since we last checked in with them:
L to Argentinos Juniors
W over Chacharita Juniors
L to America de Cali (1st Round, Copa Sudamericana)
D to Tigre
W over Patronato
W over Atletico Tucuman
W over America de Cali (2nd Round, Copa Sudamericana- Defensa wins 3-1 on aggregate)
D to Belgrano
So, they're currently sitting at 12th in the table, which is pretty damn solid, all things considered. Down the stretch, they've got Talleres Cordoba (2nd in the table, probably an L or a D), River Plate (17th in the table, should be a W on paper, but who knows), Boca Juniors (1st in the table, probable L), Racing Club (6th in the table, could be some points to be had here), Independiente (3rd in the table, probable L), Rosario Central (15th in the table, could go either way), Newell's (23rd, should be a W) and Arsenal Sarandi (dead last in the table, so should be a W.) They've got some tough tests ahead of them, but they've had a good run of form for a couple of months now, so who knows what their potential really is, but I feel pretty confident in saying that they're not going to be relegated this year.
Arsenal: Beat AC Milan in the First Leg, beat Watford 3-0 and got Peter Cech his 200th Clean Sheet and has the second leg against AC Milan tomorrow. They've got Stoke City, Southampton, Newcastle, West Ham, Manchester United, Burnley and Huddersfield down the stretch in the League, plus whatever the Europa League throws at them. (Assuming, of course, they get past AC Milan tomorrow.) Right now, Top 4 looks like a stretch, but it sure would be nice to take the maximum points possible off of their remaining 7 games and see where they end up. My expectations, however, remain delightfully low. In a perfect world: 21 points from 7 games and winning the Europa League followed by Arsene Wenger taking a bow and exiting stage left would be quite nice. None of that will happen, so I'll just enjoy the rest of the season free of worry.
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