We’re just a few hours away from the first “real” game of the NCAA Tournament, and best card consolidation credit deal0 card credit interest ratebest card credit interest rate,best credit card interest ratecard chase credit studentcard citi credit studentapplication card citibank credit onlineaqua card credit ukapplication card credit mbnaapplication canadian card credit visaapplication bank card credit orchard? ?,direct merchant bank credit card application,bank credit card application0 apr for life credit card,0 apr credit card,0 fixed apr credit cardlow apr student credit card,low apr credit card uk,low apr credit cardbad credit credit card ukconsolidate credit card payment,consolidate credit card,card card consolidate consolidate credit credit debad credit card applicationcard credit credit get history no,no credit history credit card,card credit credit history no peoplelow fixed interest credit cardcard credit debt help saveairline credit card,asiana airline credit card,hawaiian airline credit cardjuniper bank credit cardcapital one credit card customer service,capital one credit card,pay capital one credit card billcredit card debt consolidation companyapplication approval card credit instantshell credit card account,shell credit card center,shell credit cardbad business card credit creditcard credit number validationmy premier credit card accountcredit card debt consolidate itcredit card free balance transfercard credit online processing service,credit card processing service,card credit merchant processing servicebad card credit debtbank card credit ge moneynon profit credit card debt help,need help with credit card debt,card credit debt helphsbc credit card,application card credit hsbc,card credit hsbc offshorecard credit machine wirelesscredit card services,credit card merchant services,credit card customer servicebalance card credit introductory transferbank card credit secureddebt reduction credit card consolidationfirst premier bank secured credit card,bank card credit premier,1st premier bank credit cardapplication bad card creditsecured visa credit cardbank of america credit card,america bank bill card credit pay,bank of america credit card loginvisa credit card application statusfree credit report no credit card,free cell phone no credit card needed,free credit cardvirginia credit card debt solution,credit card debt solutionapplication business card credit smallapply card credit discovervisa credit card offer,card credit offer visacard credit ge online services now I can present my official bracket. I can guarantee only one thing about my bracket this year: it will be wrong. There are trillions of possible combinations, so my main goal each year is to come up with something realistic and that I don’t mind rooting for. Below is the bracket in all its glory, with each team’s log5-based chances of reaching each round. My predicted winners are highlighted.
A few thoughts:
- My most “out there” pick according to log5 is Georgia over Xavier in the first round. It’s kind of a trendy pick, but Georgia will be fun to root for, and I wanted to pick either a 14 or a 13 to win a game.
- I actually will be rooting for Tennessee to do well, but it was too hard to pass up Butler, a fundamentally sound team that should match up as well as anyone against the athletic Vols.
- Indiana is a tough draw for UNC in the second round, if they get past Arkansas first. Their coaching troubles are well-documented, but they’re still an excellent team and deserved much better than an 8-seed. While I’m not sure they actually will win, I was picking against the Tar Heels anyway in the next round, so I thought I’d give Indiana a shot. The Hoosiers have the talent to hang with the #1 team in the country (actually Pomeroy’s #5 team). Tyler Hansbrough, whom I will call the second-best player in the country from this point forward in deference to UCLA’s superior freshman post player, will have his hands full in the East region against teams like Indiana, Washington State, and either Louisville or Tennessee. Plus, I like Duke, which means I have to pick on Carolina for something, right? On ESPN, 32% of brackets have them winning the national title, and their chances are nowhere close to that strong.
- Wisconsin’s not going to be breaking any scoring records in this tournament, but they’re a very good team, and I might have picked them for the Final Four were it not for Kansas.
- I had Pitt everywhere from out in the first round to reaching the Final Four. The Big East champs are a tough read, but I think their body of work for the season ultimately doesn’t support their status as a trendy second-weekend upset pick. On ESPN, 25% have them in the Elite Eight, and 10% in the Final Four.
- I really want to see a mid-major like Drake or Western Kentucky do well. Unfortunately, the committee decided to pair several of them in the first round, so only a few of them will get to advance. I think Drake is actually a good team, but so is WKU, and it’s tough enough to differentiate between them that I thought WKU looked like a good upset choice.
- Duke in the national championship game? They’re good enough to beat anyone, but the second round does have me a little nervous. Kyle Singler’s going to have to work inside rather than settle for perimeter jump shots. Still, there aren’t many teams that can put an entire team of 3-point shooters on the floor, and they’re not all going to stay cold. I think it’s justifiable. Maybe.
Have fun this weekend. I know I will. Check out these maps to see what games you’re getting over the next two days: Thursday and Friday.
jfwiii.net 
So apparently something wacky is going on if you read this in a feed reader. I’ll work on figuring it out, but not during the NCAA Tourney games that are on over the next couple of days.
Xavier out in Round 1? Ye of little faith.