In 30 minutes, March Madness will begin, and the ticking clock on my anguished futility will start its relentless countdown. I have tried to forestall it with 9 different brackets and an appeal to multiverse theory, but the fact remains, by the end of today, I will already have overpredicted 3 or 4 upsets and missed the 1 or 2 that actually happened. By Sunday evening no doubt, there will be gaps in my Elite 8 and Final Four. Let's hope, in fact, that they are gaps and not yawning abysses.
In the meantime, I hope to enjoy the journey. In terms of my "perfect" bracket, I've got 4 upsets today: Dayton over Ohio St., Western Michigan over Syracuse, Delaware over Michigan St., and Manhattan over Louisville. If any one of those happens, I will be a happy camper.
The first 4 games:
(6) Ohio St. vs. (11) Dayton
Why can Dayton win this game? I have 2 complementary theories. One - the Big 10 wasn't as great as everyone thinks, while the A10 was better than expected. By my calculations, Dayton is a pretty strong 11 seed. And Ohio State may struggle to score 60 points today, since their offense is, let's just say, inconsistent. Go Flyers!
(2) Wisconsin vs. (15) American
In none of my nine brackets did I even consider this upset. Ruh-Roh. As a coach, Bo Ryan does have a history of underperforming in March, but this would be an epic upset. While I would love the higgledy-piggledy this could cause, I really can't see it happening.
(8) Colorado vs. (9) Pitt
Still don't see how Colorado is an 8 seed, and can't see anything but a classic Pitt defensive beatdown here - say 67-45. That may be my ACC bias coming through, due to my unconditional love of this year's Virginia Cavaliers. But if Colorado wins this game, I will renounce Verdukianism and never celebrate Merlinpeen again. I will, however, continue to believe in the healing power of root beer.
(5) Cincinnati vs. (12) Harvard
I know, trendy upset pick here. But I don't think Harvard has seen a team as tough and defensively-minded as Cincinnati. Plus I think Sean Kilpatrick abuses the Crimson and goes for 30. Cincinnati wins, 71-51.
See you at halftime.
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