March Madness has always been the second greatest time of the year behind Christmas for me. I think I started watching the tournament in the 4th Grade and year after year, it never disappoints. 3 weeks of amazing basketball, Cinderella teams, and there is always one player that
makes a name for himself. Besides that, there are just some things that come from the tournament that you never forget, I can name a few for myself:
Marvin O'Connor, Adam Morrison crying,
J-Rich and Michigan State's Nike Shox, the 2004-2005
Fighting Illini (one of my favorite college teams of all-time),
Stephen Curry, Ali Farokhmanesh? and I can go on and on. I really cannot contain my excitement for tomorrow. Along with the excitement, this year's bracket is pretty difficult to breakdown and pick a winner. My team to watch is the Kentucky Wildcats, hoping he proves my bracket wrong, my player to watch is Dwight Hardy, and my Cinderella is Oakland. There are so many teams that can win it all and so many things that intrigue me so here are the big ones:
Cardiac Kemba & Crew: I've been on Kemba's nuts all season and that won't change now that the tourney is beginning. He's definitely going to put on a show because he seems to thrive on the
biggest stage. However, the rest of the UConn team worries me with their lack of experience (Jeremy Lamb, freshman & Alex Oriakhi, sophomore - 2nd & 3rd best players) and the entire team worries me especially when they play a team with a really good zone. They'll certainly be fun to watch and on my bracket they get eliminated in the Elite 8.
The Jimmer: Most of the time, I hate the white scorers in college basketball, unless they
play for Syracuse. Adam Morrison was an exception with his beautiful
porn stache and Jimmer Fredette is an exception as well. How can you not like the guy? He has "Jimmer range," he was a chubster when he was little, and he practiced
in a prison growing up. The only problem I have with Jimmer is his comparisons to Steph Curry. That is outrageous. Their skill sets are not even comparable. For Jimmer, he's got a lot on his shoulders and he'll need to score at least 30 a game for his team to advance especially with the loss of
Brandon Davies. I have BYU eliminated in the second round, but I don't mind watching more Jimmer, I'll definitely be tuning in when he plays.
Michigan State March: It almost seems like every other season, Michigan State is in the Final Four, and you can never bet against Tom Izzo. I've bought into it. I like their match-up against UCLA and potential match-up against Florida, and I actually have Michigan State losing in the Elite 8. The team has a lot of experience in Kalin Lucas, Draymond Green, and Durrell Summers, and a good mix of
younger players too. They've been pretty disappointing all season, ranked 2nd in the preseason and finishing the year with 14 loses. Maybe they'll start peaking now.
The Clock Doesn't Strike at Midnight (12): This is in reference to all the 12-seeds of the "dance." If you haven't picked a 12 to upset a 5, I suggest you do. 12-seeded Cornell not only won one game last year, but advanced to the Sweet 16 and in 2009, three 12-seeds won in the first round (Wisconsin, Western Kentucky, Arizona). This year, there's a chance that all four teams can win in the first round. I have two 12-seeds winning in the first round (Richmond & Clemson), I think Arizona is overrated and may lose, and Utah State is an experienced team with only 3 losses this year. Let's be honest, I'm no expert in picking the brackets (I had the 2007-2008
OJ Mayo-led Trojans in the Final Four...), but I'm pretty sure a 5-seed will lose. Choose wisely.
The Return of Kyrie: Kyrie Irving changes everything for this tournament if he can come back and be at least 80% of the player he was before his injury. With a healthy Kyrie Irving, in my opinion, Duke would be a clear cut favorite to win the whole thing. He's only played
8 games this season, but he's that good. He's also a thrill to watch. It pains me to say that too because I absolutely hate Duke. The problem here is that we'll have to wait and see Kyrie play this weekend to see how effective he will be and brackets are due tomorrow morning. I currently have Duke losing in the Sweet 16, but with Kyrie, who knows where Duke may finish...
As you can see, I'm pretty excited for tomorrow, I have my dancing shoes ready, and in the words of Bart Scott, I "
Can't Wait!" Enjoy the basketball tomorrow, all this weekend, and for the next three weekends. Enjoy Gus Johnson and enjoy
Bill Raftery. I'm curious about everyone else's brackets. Who you got? Here's my bracket:
