NCAA Tournament Picks 2016 | Who Will Make it to The Final Game?

Well, here we are, another edition of the March Madness, also known as the greatest four days in sports, is upon us. Here is a summary of what my bracket looks like. Will we see an upset that takes out most of the brackets in the first round? Will things go according to plan? 

In round one, I have all four number one seeds advancing as well as all four number two seeds. The lowest seed I have winning in round one, is 14^th seeded Stephen F. Austin in the East Region. I have them defeating West Virginia in round one. In round two, believe it or not, I have them defeating Michigan and advancing to the Sweet 16. In addition to that, I have a pair of 13 seeds in the Sweet 16. First we have Hawaii out of the South Region. I really like this Hawaii team. They are anchored by three veteran guards in Roderick Bobbitt, Aaron Valdez, and Quincy Smith. Their leading scorer is their big man; 6'11” forward Stefan Jankovic at 15.7 points per game. In round one, I have Hawaii defeating the California Golden Bears. In round two, I have them defeating the South Dakota State Jackrabbits, after they themselves dispatch of 5^th seeded Maryland in round one. Once a national championship and number one seed favorite, the Terrapins are going backwards at the wrong time. The other 13^th seed is out of the Midwest Region, the Iona Gaels. In round one I have Iona defeating 4^th seeded Iowa State, and in round two I have them defeating 5^th seeded Purdue. Not all four number one seeds make it to the second weekend in my bracket. In round two, the 9^th Providence Friars stun the North Carolina Tar Heels in my bracket.

As we move into the second weekend, the seasons of all three of my mid-major underdogs come to a close. I have Hawaii getting bounced by Kansas, Iona getting beat by Virginia, and Stephen F. Austin getting dispatched of by Xavier, all in the Sweet 16. I have Seton Hall, the 6^th seed in the Midwest, upsetting Michigan State in the Sweet 16, a trendy pick for the national champion by many. In the Elite 8 I have Miami defeating Kansas, Oregon defeating Oklahoma, Virginia defeating Seton Hall, and Xavier defeating Providence to get to the Final Four.

In the Final Four, in my first match up, I have Miami going against Oregon. The Ducks will win this game by a score of 83-75. In the other Final Four match up, I have Virginia going against North Carolina. That will be the classic “Tortoise vs. Hare” match up, with the hare winning 76-70. In the National Championship game Oregon will defeat Virginia by the score of 74-63. Can you say "quack quack"?

Badgers 2014 Not Too Impressive So Far | Big Ten Looking Sloppy Overall

The Badgers came into the 2014 season with high hopes and a new quarterback. Through the first two games of the season, I’m not impressed with this team, period. Joel Stave was the starter for the Badgers for the last two seasons. However that doesn’t mean he played well. He started out okay as the season began a year ago, and got worse as the season progressed to the point of which the bowl game against South Carolina was one of the worst performances by a quarterback I have ever seen in my 28 years I’ve spent on this planet. Simply put, Stave just looked outmatched at every turn for 60 minutes. This led to a quarterback change this off season in Madison. Out steps Joel Stave, in steps South Carolina transfer Tanner McEvoy. To tell you the truth, McEvoy has not looked that much better running this offense. Unless he improves, it looks like the Badgers will need to find yet another quarterback. In fact, I would say it is time for them to expend some out of State recruiting resources into find a solid quarterback.

As far as the rest of this team is concerned, I’m not impressed with the rest of you all either. I was not impressed with the defensive meltdown against LSU to open the season. I was not impressed with the fact that they had a one score lead entering the third quarter, at home, against Western Illinois. That was a team they should have buried by halftime if they were as good as their ranking says they are.

The Badgers have a game upcoming this Saturday at home against Bowling Green. The line has the Badgers as 27 point favorites, but with the way this season has started, I am not sure if it should be that high. I think they will win, but the final score may be much closer than that, say 34-20.

Big Ten Looking Bad So Far

Here is the good news for the Badgers, the rest of the Big Ten hasn’t looked that much better either. Michigan State’s defense blew a lead against Oregon and lost, although that is no big deal. Ohio State lost at home to Virginia Tech who turned around and lost last Saturday to East Carolina. The Badgers are still the favorites to come out of their own division to play in the Big Ten title game, so they could coast all the way there with all sorts of problems and not have to do anything about them. I will tell you this, no Big Ten team will be in the playoff this year.