The 2008 NCAA Tournament

[Connemara]

Post your brackets/predictions!

 

[kwilkinson]

UNC over Stanford in the Final!
Facebook bracket has the final 4 of UNC, Wisconsin, UCLA, and Stanford


ESPN Bracket ID: Wilkinson1.

 

[kwiteaboy]

Mason over ND!

 

[Brian278]

I like UCLA to win it all, there's nothing they don't have. I think the #1 seeds a definitely a notch better than the #2 seeds (with the possible exception of Texas, who will go as far as Augustin takes them). Georgetown could do some damage as well.

 

[kwilkinson]

Originally Posted by Brian278

I like UCLA to win it all, there's nothing they don't have. I think the #1 seeds a definitely a notch better than the #2 seeds (with the possible exception of Texas, who will go as far as Augustin takes them). Georgetown could do some damage as well.

UCLA-- watched the game against Stanford.

They had a white guy (he may have been half mexican, or some other nationality), but I didn't catch his name. He was pretty tall, I'd say between 6'7" and 6'10", heavier, 260-275. I really enjoyed watching that kid play. He could take it inside, shoot it outside, defend, and looked deceptively quick for his size. Great all around player, from the game I saw at least.

 

[countdemoney]

F*ck'em Bucky!

Love that D!

That said, I too am looking for the Bruins to win it all.

And I'm rooting for anyone who plays Duke (with apologies to Jimmy).

 

[Brian278]

Originally Posted by kwilkinson

UCLA-- watched the game against Stanford.

They had a white guy (he may have been half mexican, or some other nationality), but I didn't catch his name. He was pretty tall, I'd say between 6'7" and 6'10", heavier, 260-275. I really enjoyed watching that kid play. He could take it inside, shoot it outside, defend, and looked deceptively quick for his size. Great all around player, from the game I saw at least.

Perhaps you mean Kevin Love, the Pac 10 player of the year (as a freshman)?

 

[kwilkinson]

Originally Posted by Brian278

Perhaps you mean Kevin Love, the Pac 10 player of the year (as a freshman)?

Yes sir, that was him. Didn't realize he was a freshman, that's even more impressive!

Sadly, I've been way too busy this year to catch many NCAA games. The first one I saw in entirety was Duke-UNC a few weeks back.

Excited for the tourney this year though, it ought to be a good one.
I'd love to see Wisconsin and Memphis play... their two styles would clash into a great game.

 

[Tokyo Slim]

I
A: don't like basketball

and

B: don't really follow college sports at all.

Nevertheless, I find myself roped into picking an ungodly number of games every year, pick, pretty much based upon an arbitrary set of favorite/underdog rules, and better than half the time I am in the top three.

Here's my shocking predictions for this year:
Duke goes out in the 1st round.
UConn over UNC in the final (in OT)
I don't care either way. Go Zags!

This might be a good year, or it might be an off year for me. Don't put any money on it.

 

[countdemoney]

Originally Posted by Tokyo Slim

This might be a good year, or it might be an off year for me. Don't put any money on it.

This is where you are supposed to vehemently exclaim, "Always bet on Tokyo Slim!"

Perhaps not as cool sounding as the Wesley Snipes version, but you should run with it nonetheless.

UConn strikes me as being boom or bust in this tourney as well.

 

[Tokyo Slim]

Always bet on yellow.

 

[visionology]

I am a diehard Uconn fan but they are too hit or miss to go far. When they show up to play they are great but half the time they look asleep. Also Thabeet, while a great blocker, really sucks on the offensive end and I think that will hurt. Dyson, coming back from the suspension has disrupted the team as well and they are out of sync. Watching their game vs. West Virginia was painful.

 

[Tokyo Slim]

Originally Posted by visionology

I am a diehard Uconn fan but they are too hit or miss to go far. When they show up to play they are great but half the time they look asleep. Also Thabeet, while a great blocker, really sucks on the offensive end and I think that will hurt. Dyson, coming back from the suspension has disrupted the team as well and they are out of sync. Watching their game vs. West Virginia was painful.

I think you know way too much about this **** to be talking to me.

I picked Uconn almost at random. I have a vague hierarchy of states/teams that annoy me... which I cross reference with their tourney seeding. UNC annoys me moderately, but they are also pretty much favored to win. Duke annoys me greatly, probably more than any other team in the bracket... and for no real reason at all.

Uconn is one of the few teams that i neither hate, nor are a complete longshot in the standings. which is why they are going to win.

Makes perfect sense to me.

 

[lawyerdad]

Originally Posted by Brian278

I like UCLA to win it all, there's nothing they don't have. I think the #1 seeds a definitely a notch better than the #2 seeds (with the possible exception of Texas, who will go as far as Augustin takes them). Georgetown could do some damage as well.
I'm a UCLA fan and season ticket holder, and I think they have a good shot. However, they do have a weakness -- outside shooting. They will face a challenge against high scoring teams that play strong interior defense and pack it in defensively. Josh Shipp, who is the one guy capable of creating his own shot from three-point range, has been in a terrible slump the latter part of the season -- I think his 3-point percentage dropped from 40-plus percent to something like 28%, and you can now see him hesitate on shots he previously would have fired up. Michael Roll, who had been their designated long-range bomber, is out for the season with an injury. Darren Collison is a fantastic three-point shooter when he is left open, but he is six feet even and has more of a set shot. He's not a jump shooter from that range. Russell Westbrook (the 2-guard) can get shots for himself and hits some 3's, but he's not yet a reliable shooter from that range. Compounding the problem is the fact that their two top power forwards -- Mbah aMoute and Aboya cannot consistently hit open mid-range jumpers, making it easier for teams to collapse on Love.

Originally Posted by kwilkinson

UCLA-- watched the game against Stanford.

They had a white guy (he may have been half mexican, or some other nationality), but I didn't catch his name. He was pretty tall, I'd say between 6'7" and 6'10", heavier, 260-275. I really enjoyed watching that kid play. He could take it inside, shoot it outside, defend, and looked deceptively quick for his size. Great all around player, from the game I saw at least.

Originally Posted by kwilkinson

Yes sir, that was him. Didn't realize he was a freshman, that's even more impressive!

.
Love is great. From your comment that he might be half-Mexican, I thought you might mean Lorenzo Mata-Real, who is their back-up center (starting center on last year's Final Four team). He's not nearly as polished offensively as Love -- kind of a Kurt Rambis type -- but a good defender and shot-blocker, great banger/rebounder/screen setter, and a lot of fun to watch. But if he had an offensive game, it definitely must have been Love. Love may have trouble at the next level -- he's closer to 6'8" than the 6'10" they list him at and has no hops -- but he's a phenomenal college player -- one of the best passing big men you'll see.

 

[visionology]

Originally Posted by Tokyo Slim

I think you know way too much about this **** to be talking to me.

I picked Uconn almost at random. I have a vague hierarchy of states/teams that annoy me... which I cross reference with their tourney seeding. UNC annoys me moderately, but they are also pretty much favored to win. Duke annoys me greatly, probably more than any other team in the bracket... and for no real reason at all.

Uconn is one of the few teams that i neither hate, nor are a complete longshot in the standings. which is why they are going to win.

Makes perfect sense to me.

Seems like how my mom used to pick the brackets, either teams she likes or ones that she likes the name. In annoyance made teams play worse NC and Duke would never win.