2012 NCAA Tournament Picks:
South | West | East | Midwest | Final Four 2012 NCAA Tournament Home
2012 NCAA Tournament Bracket Breakdowns:
East | West | Midwest | South
2012 NCAA Tournament Resources:
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2012 NCAA Tournament: East Bracket Picks
2012 NCAA Tournament: East Bracket First Round
No. 1 Syracuse vs. No. 16 UNC-Asheville
UNC-Asheville is the best out of all the 16-seeds, but that’s like pointing to a fat girl and saying that she’s hotter than the other fat girls.
2012 NCAA Tournament Pick: No. 1 Syracuse
No. 8 Kansas State vs. No. 9 Southern Miss
I’m not sure how Southern Miss and its No. 128 defense is a nine-seed. I only have seven teams in this entire field being worse than them.
2012 NCAA Tournament Pick: No. 8 Kansas State
No. 5 Vanderbilt vs. No. 12 Harvard
I pretty much agree with what everyone on ESPN’s Bracketology said about Vanderbilt. The Commodores are a really talented team, and it seems like they’ve finally gotten over the hump by defeating Kentucky in the SEC Championship. Harvard is a solid team, but no 12-5 upset is happening here.
2012 NCAA Tournament Pick: No. 5 Vanderbilt
No. 4 Wisconsin vs. No. 13 Montana
Wisconsin tends to play ugly games sometimes, but Bo Ryan wins these opening-round games. The Badgers should be able to defeat Montana by double digits.
2012 NCAA Tournament Pick: No. 4 Wisconsin
No. 6 Cincinnati vs. No. 11 Texas
Cincinnati finished the season on a strong note, and I expect them to continue playing well in the NCAA Tournament. Of course, the Bearcats don’t have much of a challenge in this matchup. Rick Barnes’ teams usually crap the bed in the Big Dance, and this might be his worst squad in quite a while.
2012 NCAA Tournament Pick: No. 6 Cincinnati
No. 3 Florida State vs. No. 14 St. Bonaventure
Was there actually a saint named Bonaventure? If so, who names their kid Bonaventure? These questions are much more intriguing than this actual matchup.
2012 NCAA Tournament Pick: No. 3 Florida State
No. 7 Gonzaga vs. No. 10 West Virginia
Mark Few must have slept with someone’s sister on the Selection Committee. How are they, as a seven-seed, asked to travel all the way to Pittsburgh in the opening round to play what is essentially a home game for West Virginia? The Zags are the better team, but this location dynamic could be too much for them to overcome.
2012 NCAA Tournament Pick: No. 10 West Virginia
No. 2 Ohio State vs. No. 15 Loyola-Maryland
I had no idea Loyola was in Maryland. I guess you learn something new every day.
2012 NCAA Tournament Pick: No. 2 Ohio State
2012 NCAA Tournament: East Bracket Second Round
No. 1 Syracuse vs. No. 8 Kansas State
Syracuse is the weakest of the No. 1 seeds, but it won’t be tripped up in the second round. Kansas State has a freshman point guard, which is usually really bad news come tournament time (unless he happens to be a stud like Derrick Rose).
2012 NCAA Tournament Pick: No. 1 Syracuse
No. 4 Wisconsin vs. No. 5 Vanderbilt
Bo Ryan always wins in the first round, but he often has trouble getting out of the opening weekend because his team has issues scoring. The Badgers are 23rd in offensive efficiency, but average only 63 points per game. Vanderbilt is better overall.
2012 NCAA Tournament Pick: No. 5 Vanderbilt
No. 3 Florida State vs. No. 6 Cincinnati
Florida State is on fire. The Seminoles’ defense is amazing, and I figure they’ll shut down the Bearcats, though a Cincinnati victory wouldn’t completely surprise me. Florida State’s wins against Duke and North Carolina were impressive on paper, but you can put an asterisk next to each of those victories. More on this later.
2012 NCAA Tournament Pick: No. 3 Florida State
No. 2 Ohio State vs. No. 10 West Virginia
I have West Virginia winning its first-round matchup only because of the location. The Mountaineers aren’t a good team. They’re 70th in defense; they have a losing road record; and they’ve dropped five of their previous eight games. The Buckeyes won’t have much trouble in this contest.
2012 NCAA Tournament Pick: No. 2 Ohio State
2012 NCAA Tournament: East Bracket Sweet 16
No. 1 Syracuse vs. No. 5 Vanderbilt
This matchup is really close. I have Syracuse and Vanderbilt as the seventh- and eighth-best teams in the NCAA Tournament, respectively. As much as I want to pick the Commodores to pull the upset, I’m going to pencil the Orange Men into the Elite Eight. I mentioned this earlier – when a matchup is really tight in the second and third rounds, I’ll always pick the squad that has the better chance of being there. Syracuse obviously won’t lose to UNC-Asheville, and Kansas State won’t offer much of a challenge either. Vanderbilt, meanwhile, could easily trip up against a solid Wisconsin squad.
Update: I’m going with Vanderbilt in the wake of Fab Melo’s suspension.
2012 NCAA Tournament Pick: No. 5 Vanderbilt
No. 2 Ohio State vs. No. 3 Florida State
I mentioned the asterisk. Florida State has impressed everyone by knocking off Duke and North Carolina, but both of those schools were each missing a key contributor. The Blue Devils didn’t have Ryan Kelly, while the Tar Heels had John Henson out of the lineup. I don’t want to take much away from the Seminoles because I love what Leonard Hamilton has done down there, but their ACC Conference title has everyone thinking that they are better than they really are.
2012 NCAA Tournament Pick: No. 2 Ohio State
2012 NCAA Tournament: East Bracket Elite Eight
No. 2 Ohio State vs. No. 5 Vanderbilt
I have the Buckeyes as the better team in this matchup. They have the superior offense (7 vs. 14) and defense (1 vs. 15). Syracuse doesn’t have a go-to player in crunch time, and it has feasted on overrated Big East squads. The Orange Men haven’t been able to put away Connecticut, Rutgers and South Florida. Ohio State consequently has a better point differential despite having a worse record.
2012 NCAA Tournament Pick: No. 2 Ohio State
2012 NCAA Tournament Picks:
South | West | East | Midwest | Final Four 2012 NCAA Tournament Home
2012 NCAA Tournament Bracket Breakdowns:
East | West | Midwest | South
2012 NCAA Tournament Resources:
Computer Rankings
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