HawkSquawk NCAA tournament bracket

[AHF]

I dunno about Tennessee that much, but if GT had played smarter they could have beaten OSU (of course if they could they would). So Tennessee has a decent chance.

Kentucky looks like the major favourite to me now (especially with WV getting their PG hurt and out). I can't see any team beating the Wildcats. Cornell has like zero NBA players and KY has 3 or 4.

UK probably has 7 NBA players on this roster:

John Wall 2010 - 1st or 2nd overall pick

DeMarcus Cousins - 2010 - top 5 pick

Patrick Patterson - 2010 - Lottery Pick

Eric Bledsoe - 2010 First Round Pick/2011 Lottery Pick (Chad Ford is talking about him being possibly a 2010 lottery pick but I don't think his season has justified that)

Daniel Orton - 2010 First Round Pick/2011 Lottery Pick (Chad Ford has also talked about him getting close to the lottery for some GMs but he is too raw and should return to be a lottery pick next year)

Darius Miller - 2012 2nd Round/Late First Round Pick

DeAndre Liggins - 2012 2nd Round/Late First Round Pick

John Hood is too young and not in the NBA discussion at this point but he was a top 50 recruit and the other possibility down the line.

[NJHAWK]

I cant see Cal coaching a champion but they will walk to the final four without having played anybody. Thats not KY's fault by any means because all you can do is beat who's there. There arent many teams left who could beat them now but thats why they play the games. I thought after the way Memphis lost to Kansas that Cal was cursed, we will see.

[DJlaysitup]

Hmmm....this thing might be tightening up a little bit...of course I did pick Goergetown to win it all...but then again I have Butler in the final four and West Virginia in the title game (with Duke in the F4 too.). I certainly don't want to pull against the Kentucky Mercenaries...I mean Wildcats (no offense AHF )...but if WV were to knock them out I think I'm back in this game.

WV against a mid-major (that nobody else picked) in the finals would be just fine with me....(not likely tho)

Edited March 27, 2010 by DJlaysitup

[DJlaysitup]

I LOVE the position I'm in right now with my somewhat depleated bracket. The keys to winning bracket pools come down to

1) make sure you pick the right team to win the Championship

2) Get at least 3 of your teams in the Final 4 ( or pick both Championship game participants )

3) don't lose more than 50% of your Sweet 16 teams

Right now, I can say that I've done all 3 of those things, with the keys to my bracket being Syracuse winning it all, and Tennessee reaching the Final 4

Well north, taking into consideration that Syracuse winning it all is long gone...I still think you have a pretty good bracket. Few (if anybody) picked the Vols to go this far. Nearly everybody picked a #1 to win it all, only two left.

[DJlaysitup]

OK here's you Elite 8 (in no particular order)

(2) Kansas State against (5) Butler

(1) Kentucky against (2) West Virginia

(6) Tennesee against (5) Michigan State

(1) Duke against (3) Baylor

Honestly, I'd make Kentucky the favorite....but anybody could win this thing......except Duke, God won't allow that .

Edited March 27, 2010 by DJlaysitup

[mrhonline]

Ummm...did I read correctly that not one single bracket out of the 30 submitted for the 'Squawk correctly picked the winner?

[Diesel]

Ummm...did I read correctly that not one single bracket out of the 30 submitted for the 'Squawk correctly picked the winner?

Somebody picked Baylor (I think).

[NJHAWK]

I picked Xavier and dam if they could have pulled that double ot game out they would have had just as good a chance as anybody who is left. Butler playing at home could be huge for them. They have a dam good chance. I think Duke will get they're aysss handed to them tomorrow, at least I hope.

[NJHAWK]

Bye the way did Jay Bilas go to Kentucky or is that who he picked to win it? He was such a dam homer for them today it made me sick. He was acting like KY was in lead in the last 3 or 4 minutes and crying like a baby about the refs. You would think he was trying to honey dip that Judd woman. Speaking of her, she has become as annoying as Jack Nick, Diane Cannon and Spike Lee. I know she is an actress/singer although I can honestly say Ive never seen her in a movie but I dont watch many movies. Is she related at all to those Judds country singers from the 80's? I figured Calapari would choke but I never thought it would be vs Bobby Huggybear. Give that man a beer except wait till after he drives to the hotel room, lol.

Edited March 28, 2010 by NJHAWK

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Damn . . . if the Vols make it to the Final Four, we may actually have a shot to win this thing now.

Please beat Michigan St.

[NJHAWK]

Damn . . . if the Vols make it to the Final Four, we may actually have a shot to win this thing now.

Please beat Michigan St.

Butler will be a tough out in Indy. They play such good defense. There isnt one standout athlete on that team or as far as I know anybody with anything close to Mcdonalds all American talent BUT THEY WIN. They are well coached and play defense while sharing the ball on offense. Just a smart team and I really hope they win it all. I will root for the Vols tomorrow thogh because Im tired of seeing MSU and Izzo in the Final Four.

[DjGrizz]

I'll have 3 of 4 right for my bracket if Duke comes through tomorrow. Thank you Butler and WV :)

[NJHAWK]

You got to hand it to Huggy though. He just made the final four with a backup point guard and 4 Demarr Johnson clones.

[NJHAWK]

I hate the way Mich State just made the final four. It was a stripped ball with 1.8 seconds left. I mean come on and make a team EARN THE TRIP TO THE FINAL FOUR. Any call like that with that little time left gives a team the game. Give the ball to Mich State out of bounds on the stip and make them make a shot with 1.8 seconds. That guy was doubled and had nowhere to go and the TEnn player had mostly all ball. In the 1st half maybe thats a legit tic tac foul, with 1.8 seconds left and a final four trip on the line its a no call. I hate refs, hate them. They should be held accountable.

Edited March 28, 2010 by NJHAWK

[NJHAWK]

Cant decide who I hate more the refs or Duke. That call on the offensive foul turned the game around. It was clearly that big loaf on Dukes 5th foul and took a 4 point lead away from Baylor. Baylor killed themselves not boxing out though. I still dont get how a Duke player can throw elbows like Mutumbo, have 2 Duke players come to his aid and as soon as a Baylor guy comes in he gets hit with a horrible technical foul call. Well I do get it its called racism. Duke getting in isnt as big a sham as how Mich State got in but Im hopeing Butler ends both they're seasons.

Edited March 28, 2010 by NJHAWK

[NJHAWK]

I'll have 3 of 4 right for my bracket if Duke comes through tomorrow. Thank you Butler and WV :)

Thats incredible. I dont know how the hell you did that.

[DJlaysitup]

I'll have 3 of 4 right for my bracket if Duke comes through tomorrow. Thank you Butler and WV :)

I think I have 3 of 4 too. (Butler, WV, Duke)...of course I also have Kansas with Kansas winning it all over WV.

Not 100% sure though, I couldn't get in to the site to check my bracket from home for some reason...and it's blocked at work.

Who do you have winning between WV and Duke? I've got WV.

[coachx]

First time I have never managed to select 1 Final 4 team. Tough to pick them this year.

My last hop of getting a team in was if Baylor beat Duke.

Oh well..........10th out of 30 is not horrid. This has been one of the most entertaining Tourneys I have witnessed. No matter who I pick in my bracket I alwayse pull for the lower seeded team and they have tore it up this year.

Too bad the two #5 seeds have to square off. I would have loved seeing two #5's in the NC game even though Coach K and his Dukies would be the bigger story.

Whoever wins it this year would have done a heck of a job. This is probably the most suprising NCAA Tourney in history.

[AHF]

I cant see Cal coaching a champion but they will walk to the final four without having played anybody. Thats not KY's fault by any means because all you can do is beat who's there. There arent many teams left who could beat them now but thats why they play the games. I thought after the way Memphis lost to Kansas that Cal was cursed, we will see.

You are such a UK hater it is ridiculous. I used to think it was just Rondo but now you are complaining that the #2 overall seed getting matched up with the #5 overall seed? Really?

Syracuse was ranked fourth of the top seeds and sent to the West Region. That was a surprise for the Big East regular-season champions, who were considered a lock for a top spot, while Duke was expected to vie with West Virginia for the final No. 1 seed.

Duke (29-5)

RPI: 3

SOS: 8

Vs. top 25: 1-3

Vs. top 50: 8-4

Vs. top 100: 18-5

Vs. teams 200 or worse: 3-0

Road/Neutral court record: 12-5

Best wins: Maryland (24), Georgia Tech (33) twice

Worst losses: North Carolina State (98)

West Virginia (27-6)

RPI: 4

SOS: 3

Vs. top 25: 6-4

Vs. top 50: 9-5

Vs. top 100: 18-6

Vs. 200 or worse: 3-0

Road/neutral court: 15-4

Best wins: Georgetown (7) twice, at Villanova

Worst losses: Connecticut (64)

Kansas and UK get the top #2 seeds in the tournament in West Virginia and Ohio State who the committee said where the two teams considered as possible #1 over Duke and Syracuse and you complain about the ease of their draw? Give me a break. It is obvious the committee took care of some teams in this disasterous job of seeding. Duke should have had West Virginia in its region and Syracuse should have had Ohio State.

Now I am not blaming the WV loss on seeding because when you shoot 50% from the FT line and 0-20 from 3pt range (literally), you deserve to lose. However, the seeding was inexplicably put together in favor of the lower #1 seeds and against the top #1 seeds this season. Duke in particular drew a very kind selection from the committee and Kansas was particularly screwed over in their region.

Edited March 29, 2010 by AHF

[AHF]

On some of the other points:

* Yes, the refs were bad in the UK/WV game but that wasn't the decisive factor. Allowing so much contact in the paint and a plethora of moving screens on the perimeter played right into WV's hands so the complaints from Bilas (who is a Duke grad not a UK fan) were well justified but it was ultimately more about the shooting than anything else.

* Ashley Judd is the daughter of Wynona Judd and sister of Naomi Judd.

* Huggins did outperform Calipari in that game. He loses if UK shoots an average day from the field, but Calipari never recognized that an adjustment needed to be made to the 1-3-1 zone WV was employing and let the team take a 1 in the paint 4 on the perimeter approach to braking the zone which works well unless you brick open J after open J. Based on their season averages, UK should have made 10-11 3pters and 19-20 fts which would have amounted to 49 points on the low end and 53 points on the high end for 3pta/fta. UK totaled 28 points instead - a 21 to 25 points swing despite the fact that they were some of the most open shots UK saw all season. They are just too streaky a team from the perimeter to continue firing up jumpers (you saw "hot" UK earlier in the tournament when Eric Bledsoe shot a tournament record 8 3pters (on 9 attempts) in an earlier game). WV scored about 8 points over their expected production on those shots. Combined, it was roughly a 30 point swing. There is nothing to whine about for UK at this point because they had every chance and just bricked it; WV played better and deserved the win.