Butler over Miss St? Penn over OK State? W Ky over Illinois? C mich over Creighton?

I really like Weber St. taking out Wisc.

A recent history of 5-12 matchups:

2002:
(12) Missouri 93 - (5) Miami-Florida 80
(5) Indiana 75 -(12) Utah 56
(12) Creighton 83 - (5) Florida 82
(12) Tulsa 71 - (5) Marquette 69

2001:
(5) Cincinnati 84 - (12) BYU 59
(5) Syracuse 79 - (12) Hawaii 69
(12) Utah State 77 - (5) Ohio State 68
(12) Gonzaga 86 - (5) Virginia 85

2000:
(5) Kentucky 85 - (12) St. Bonaventure-80 (OT)
(5)Texas 77 -(12)Indiana St. 61
(5)Florida 69 - (12)Butler-68 (OT)
(5)Connecticut 75 - (12)Utah St. 67

As for Weber State over Wisconsin - NOT! Ain't gonna happen -- Bo Ryan will have the team well-prepared. But please everyone go ahead and pick the upset. Will just give the rest of us a leg up!

I think the most vulnerable #5 seed is Notre Dame. They limped into the tournament after overachieving early in the year. And Wisconsin-Milwaukee will be a tough out.

I actually like Austin Peay over Louisville in the 1st round. And I could see Penn over Oklahoma State, Alabama over Indiana and San Diego over Stanford.

Mark it down.... Weber St. S. Ill Penn and Butler all advance.

Hmm DC I guess no one outside of Wisc wants to give us any respect. Wisconsin will be in the Sweet 16, the Big Ten tourney was an aberation. Illinois was the only upper seed to play well and that was because they had a chip on their shoulder. As for Cyd commenting on Wisconsin being a bad road team. Going over .500 in the big ten on the road is rather good its not like some loser conference. Yes Penn State was a bad loss bad considering Ohio made the Big Ten final I would not rate that a bad loss.

I do think Central Michigan will take care of Creighton--in fact, I have them in my office pool brackets. Despite Creighton being a higer seed, I don't think it really qualifies as an upset. Now if Vermont were to win.....go Catamounts!

~Adam

Steve and DC, I'm with you that Wisconsin will survive the 1st round. I think they will get to the Sweet 16 but I don't see them beating Kentucky. Like George says, Notre Dame is the #5 most likely to lose but I'm still picking them. I didn't go out on a limb at all--my biggest upset is Gonzaga over Cincinnati.

One thing the Irish have going for them is that their opening "pod" is in Indianapolis -- a mere few hours from South Bend. The faithful might be there in droves, giving them essentially home court advantage.

[ March 19, 2003, 06:29 AM: Message edited by: DCBucky ]

I picked ND and OK St. to take first round upsets. They are playing strong teams who finished well. Both the Irish and Cowboys finished their seasons very flat. A few weeks ago, they would have both been favored for higher seeds and strong tournaments. Momentum is so critical this time of year.

My 1st R upsets are:
12 Weber St over 5 Wisconsin
10 Alabama over 7 Indiana
9 Gonzaga over 8 Cincinnatti
12 Wis-Mil over 5 Notre Dame
11 Centeral-Mich over 6 Creighton
9 Purdue over 8 LSU
13 San Diego over 4 Stanford
10 colorado over 7Mich St
9 NCST overCali
11 Penn over 6 oklahoma St
Couldn't figure out how to do ESPN pool but here are just some of my predictions

Lakers: thanks for you Gonzaga pick. Go Zags!!!!!!! wink

While I agree that ND limped into their 5 slot,I was pretty impressed with their intensity and business-like approach as I watched them practice yesterday.I aso watched Ill,and while confidence is good,I sensed theirs bordering on cockiness.Maybe it's wishful thinking,but I see ND over Ill in the second round.Of course,that assumes neither is upset in round 1.

Since I wasn't able to get the Outsports pool to work,I'll list the "upsets" I was going to play.
1.Weber St (even though it's almost TOO popular) I like their "home court" advantage.
2 Tulsa over Dayton
3 S.Ill over Mizzou
4 Holy Cross over Marq
5 Cen Mich over Creighton,but don't really consider that an upset
6 BYU over Conn (maybe I'm crazy)
7 San Diego over Stanford
8 Penn (another "popular" choice over Okla St.
9 Auburn over St Joes,which has some injury concerns.

Hopefully,I won't go 0-9.All you guys who are picking Ala- aren't you the same ones who picked Utah to beat IU last year?Hope I don't have to eat these words,but won't you ever learn?

Looks like all the expert prognosticators on this board who picked Central Michigan over Creighton have reason to congratulate themselves now -- even if the Chippewas did turn a 26 point second half lead into a two-point nailbiter in the final minutes (which probably would have been the greatest comeback in college hoops history if Creighton had pulled it off) but whether you lose by one or 50, you're still going home....my two lower seeded upsets today were Southern Illinois over Mizzou (like I said, a one point loss is still a loss) and NC State over Cal (same goes for an OT loss, unfortunately).

As for Friday's games, I've got the following higher seeded teams losing in my bracket:
#9 Utah over #8 Oregon (I know, an 8 vs 9 seed is hardly an upset)
#9 Purdue over #8 LSU
#12 Butler over #5 Miss. State (I may be crazy but I'm actually very confident about this pick)

Even though I didn't have the "guts" to pick any of the top 4 seeds in any region to lose in the first round, I certainly wouldn't be disappointed to see a number of "cinderellas" (like Penn, Manhattan, and UNC-Asheville) pull off a "miracle" tomorrow, especially since not many of us apparently picked them to advance in our brackets.

[ March 20, 2003, 08:05 PM: Message edited by: gamecock ]

Wisconsin 81
Weber State 74

write it down...

Way to go TULSA!! (what the heck is a golden hurricane anyway?) Okla St. over Penn today. Go Pokes!!

Maybe it's a really heavy golden shower? eek!

This Auburn/St. Joe's matchup is one helluva game. It's what March Madness is all about!

and my Tigers won the game....when we were down 4 in the O/T....I thought it was all over....I guess we did belong in the tournament after all.

WAR DAMN EAGLE

As usual I picked some of the wrong upsets, it's amazing that anyone could get all the first rounders correct. I lost with Weber, Memphis, and Creighton to name a few. I also like to pick my home teams to make it out of the first round but was disappointed by both St.Joes and Penn. Maybe the next round will be salvation.

My first round bracket is busted; however, I'm still looking fairly good for the Sweet 16 so I'll hold out for hopes that I'll have a decent showing in the end.

OSU over Penn Way to go Cowboys!!

And JC, a golden hurricane is an orgy of heavy showers. wink