Well, it’s officially over…for me that is. My March Madness 2013 Brackets are as ugly as ugly can be. I’m sitting on 32 out of 48 correct or 32 and 16. The key culprits for my demise – #15 Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) and #13 LaSalle. FGCU is playing some of the best basketball in the tournament and is the lowest seed to ever advance to the Sweet 16. Oh, yeah, I had them advancing for sure! Out of the South, #15 FGCU began its first round by beating #2 Georgetown which is what totally demolished my Brackets. From there, they’ve won against another underdog of sorts, #7 San Diego St. which had eliminated #10 Oklahoma in their first round game.
LaSalle, in it’s own right, has beaten some pretty good teams too. And to think, LaSalle had a ‘Play-In’ game just to get into the Big Dance and look at them now. In the first round, they beat #4 Kansas St. to advance to the second round where they won against #12 Mississippi that had knocked of 5 Seed Wisconsin.
And in Sunday’s games, my UNC Tarheels had a Great first half. I sure wish that’s all they had to play because they came out in the second half flatter than a pancake and laid the proverbial egg. With a halftime score of 30-21, North Carolina gave up 49 second half points to #1 Seed Kansas while only scoring 28 themselves and losing 70-58. An ugly finish to the year but on a bright note; Coach Roy Williams won game #700 in their victory over 9 Seed Villanova. Not a National Title by any means but a victory of sorts. Oh, and 2 Seed Duke is still alive. (Who Cares).
Other upsets were #9 Wichita St. beating #1 Gonzaga and #10 Iowa St. sending #7 Notre Dame packing early in the West Region.
Now, on to the Sweet 16 and there are some great match-ups upcoming.
- #1 Louisville vs #12 Oregon in the Midwest
- #2 Duke vs #3 Michigan St., Midwest
- #9 Wichita St vs #13 LaSalle in the West
- #2 Ohio St. vs #6 Arizona, West
- #1 Kansas vs #4 Michigan in the South
- #3 Florida vs #15 Florida Gulf Coast Uni. (FGCU), South
- #1 Indiana vs #4 Syracuse in the East
- #2 Miami vs #3 Marquette
As you can see, there are still three #1’s still in it, three #2’s and three 3’s still fighting to advance deeper into the tournament. The lower seeds consist of a #15, underdog extraordinaire, Florida Gulf Coast University, a 13 Seed, LaSalle and a 12th Seed which is Oregon. This has turned out to be exactly what I gathered early on – non-traditionally unpredictable – but hasn’t it been a Great tournament thus far? I think so.
And if you’re like me, you had the right picks. It’s just the teams you selected didn’t live up to Your expectations. Hey, that’s not Your fault. You Made the Right picks. Next year, the teams you select just have to play better. J
At any rate, my Championship teams are still alive, #1 Louisville in the Midwest and #2 Miami in the East. Looking forward to this weekend already!
