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To complain about Kentucky, Arizona, Kent State or BYU is pointless. Thinking that for some reason luck may be on my side this year was...wait...Western Kentucky just hit a overtime buzzer-beater to knock off Drake. The office goes nuts, well not really, only Lisa and I have WKU, but at this point, we’ll take it.
See, just when I was ready to throw in the towel, something ridiculous happens, forcing hope into my slowly numbing veins. I found it hard to get up mentally for this year’s tournament. A 12-year drought of futility may have had a part in my indifference, or it could’ve been the $10 that cried out of my pocket like a wocket wanting to stay home. Being that $10 doesn’t go very far in my gas tank and logs even less mileage if my wife knows of its location somewhere on the left side of bureau, I figured why not?
There was no rationale to my picks except for one. Picking the first round is by far the toughest but the most intriguing. I went out on several limbs, picking a couple 11-seeds to win in hopes of catching lightning in a bottle. As you can tell by the second line, most of my lightning was more like static electricity — it stung for a moment but then you quickly forget about it. Even though I didn’t get a lot of my upsets through, I tried to protect myself by risking a little more on games where I didn’t have the winner advancing past the weekend.
Is this much of a strategy? Not really, but it did help me sleep a little easier following a 10-6 opening day. What I am hoping is that I get my share of teams in the Sweet 16, where the points count for more. Call it delusions of grandeur if you will. I prefer to recognize my philosophy as a calculated risk that offers a high reward. In other words, I’m just trying to enjoy the thrill of the hunt while not concentrating too much on actually having to clean my prey and eat it. I have never been deer hunting but I bet the day-long stay in a tree-stand is much more enjoyable when you actually get to shoot at something, even if you miss.
Rather than bore you with every single one of my forecasts, let’s go right to the meat and potatoes. In my bracket, I have UNC, UCLA, Texas and, drum roll please, Wisconsin. That’s right, the Badgers. Can you hear me now? I have no real reason other than...well...come to think of it...I don’t have one. Kansas and Georgetown both look like solid picks, but the fact Wisconsin won the Big 10 was somewhat compelling.
As for Carolina, I have the Tar Heels winning the national championship, beating UCLA, 88-78. Since UNC won the ACC tournament last Sunday, all I’ve heard is how overrated Tyler Hansbrough is and that there are so many other big men who are more talented. Hansbrough may not be the most physically gifted player in the history of basketball, but this kid is by far one of the hardest working, most competitive people to ever step foot on a 90-foot court. It’s a real shame when people look to find fault with someone just because they don’t like how they look, act or compete. Hansbrough is what is right with college basketball, and he has every eight to enjoy his collegiate career — hopefully for one more year.
UCLA offers quite an argument with two straight Final Four appearances and freshman Kevin Love. Kansas, Memphis, Texas and Tennessee are also sure to be in a lot of people’s final four picks. I just can’t imagine picking against Hansbrough and the Heels for a second straight year.
Losing a Hamilton would hurt, but a Carolina national championship would be priceless.
Staff Writer Eliot Duke can be reached at 472-9500, ext. 233,or at eliotduke@hotmail.com.