The Method Behind My March Madness 2012

Due to my being away in Orlando for the past few days without an Internet connection, I'll keep my post about this year's March Madness tournament brief.

With the release of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament bracket this past Sunday, everyone's got their picks for who'll be the last ones dancing on the court April 2. From the experts at ESPN to practically any office pool, there are 147,573,952,589,676,412,928 possible combinations of filling out a unique bracket between 68 teams. Whether you play it competitively or just for kicks, there's bound to be some measure you take in deciding who'll advance how far, who'll be upset, who'll be this year's Cinderella story, and who'll cut down the nets in New Orleans at the end.

Last year, I gave a detailed account behind my picks and who I saw going where and how far. Obviously, picking against Butler and VCU in their first game of the NCAA Tournament didn't bode well for me. Heck, I didn't think VCU would get out of the play-in game, much less all the way to the Final Four. However, I at least had the foresight to see eventual champion UConn into the Final Four, and I correctly predicted a few upsets, including Richmond (12) over Vanderbilt (5) and Florida State (10) over Texas A&M (7) in the "second" round.

This year, I hope to improve upon my NCAA Tournament selections. My full bracket is available down below, and this year, in higher quality! Long story short, I pick Kentucky, Ohio State, Missouri, and North Carolina to go to this year's Final Four. I like Kentucky and North Carolina to play in the championship game, and I see Kentucky winning it all 63-59, and finally giving head coach John Calipari his first Division I title.

Let's make it happen!

Hot Dogs: UConn Basketball Wins Men's National Title

For a scrappy group of young men from Storrs, Connecticut, the University of Connecticut (UConn) Huskies were itching to get into the Final Four and win the national championship from day one.

They had every reason to.

UConn had a disappointing 2009-10 campaign, going 18-16 overall and 7-11 in the Big East Conference before losing in the second round of the National Invitational Tournament to the Virginia Tech Hokies. Just the year before, in 2008-09, the Huskies were playing in the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament, where they lost to the eventual runner-up Michigan State Spartans 82-73.

A fall from grace like that was due for a triumphant return at redemption.

The Method Behind My March Madness 2011

With the release of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament bracket yesterday, everyone's got their picks for who'll be the last ones dancing on the court April 4. From the experts at ESPN to practically any office pool, there are 147,573,952,589,676,412,928 possible combinations of filling out a unique bracket between 68 teams. Whether you play it competitively or just for kicks, there's bound to be some measure you take in deciding who'll advance how far, who'll be upset, who'll be this year's Cinderella story, and who'll cut down the nets in Houston at the end. If you've come this far (i.e., visited my blog), I bet you're at least curious about who I have making it through this year. Don't worry, I'm probably as clueless as you when it comes to picking against evenly matched teams and rely on gut instinct. Read on to see my selections and my reasoning behind the majority of them, and drop a line if you agree, disagree, or never want me in Vegas with you at the same time.