Do you have the cojones?

[feldspar]

Alright, what are your bracket-buster upsets, folks?

I've got Davidson and Winthrop in the Sweet 16.

[DukeWarhead]

Winthrop is the trendy pick, but no. They almost lost to my other alma mater, VMI, last week.
I still think Marquette is capable of beating many. That would be great to seem them knock out the 'Holes in the second round.
For some reason, I like Notre Dame, too, but I'm probably smoking the J on that one.

[Deslok]

Georgia Tech to the Elite 8(potential for them to be out after 1 game, or go this far, could be interesting)

I haven't decided, but a couple of first rounders that look interesting to me are Albany vs Virginia, and Oral Roberts vs Washington St.

Of course, there's also the possibility that Bill Self manages to implode again in the first round becoming the first 1 seed to lose in the first round ;)

[mehmattski]

I don't see a whole lot of early-round upsets this year- due to a lot of upsets in the minor/midmajor conference tournaments, the bottom of the bracket (13, 14, and 15 seeds) are fairly week this year, I feel. I think the surprises will come from middle seeds shocking top seeds deep into the tourney. Duke, for example, could string together another streak and I would not be shocked to see them in the Elite Eight. No one is talking about Texas A&M, a 3-seed with a top 10 offense and a top 10 defense.

If any, I think that Winthrop is really the only mid-major team I can see making the sweet 16. I think Butler and SIU go down to VT and Maryland, respectively.

It will be the year of the ACC, Big XII, and Big Ten asserting dominance over the rest of the country.

[hurleyfor3]

Yeah, O-Bob over Wazzu looks interesting. It's not too big a risk, either, because nobody's beating Georgetown in the bottom half of that bracket anyway.

Others: Long Beach over Tennessee (it's the sec, they're SUPPOSED to blow first-round games) and Albany over UVA (why can't we ever get fours as weak as UVa when we're a #1). Everyone likes Winthrop; so do I. Also George Washington over Vanderbilt. This doesn't look like a great year to be a six seed. Even the Tree can beat Loovul.

A two seed always goes down in the second round. Look for it to be Nevada over Memphis.

[Bob Green]

I have Villanova going to the Elite Eight and Vandy in the Sweet Sixteen. I also think Stanford beats Louisville in the 1st round.

In the infamous 5-12 matchups: ODU & Arkansas beat Butler & USC respectively.

My confidence is booming (the games haven't started :) )

Bob Green
Yokosuka, Japan

[mus074]

Long Beach to the Sweet 16 (7 seniors?!?!), Louisville over Tex A&M (in Rupp), Albany over UVa, G-dub over Vandy, Winthrop over ND (just cause its popular doesn't mean it won't happen), Davidson in the Sweet 16, Duke over Pitt and Ga Tech/UNLV over Wisconsin (just depends who gets to play them).

Specifically about Texas A&M and Louisville. I am in Louisville, so location bias is readily admitted. However, the people here just love the Cards and will buy up all those tickets the UK fans hoarded for top dollar. U of L has the high end fans now and lots of discretionary dollars. Its like Derby or Breeder's Cup tickets. It will be a very pro-U of L crowd.

The Cards themselves are coming on at the right time of year. They play a strong half court game, get good looks, and, even though they are young, have won several important games on the road (Marq and Pitt in the last few weeks), which is huge experience for NCAA time. Their eFG% has increased nicely lately with better passing, spacing and hitting the open looks. Stanford has lost 4 of 5 and hasn't won on the road since 2/3 at mediocre Cal, which is just the other side of the Bay. Lexington is a long way away and a 12:45 is before 10 am their time on the first day of the tourney. I bet their engines are not 100% at the tip.

Texas A&M is an enigma. AC Law is the dream lead man for any team looking to make a deep run. Senior guard who always wants and makes the winning shot. They play top notch offense (8th) and defense (8th). They share the ball extremely well and can shoot lights out. They are a very, very tough out. However, they have one glaring weakness: their statistical inconsistency (300) and luck (270) scream out upset. It looks eerily like unpredictable Kansas last year (244, 261). That doesn't mean they will get upset, I would just pick them to be the first one of the top 10 teams to do so.

I also think the San Antonia venue plays into it. A&M will want to get home and think its their ticket on to Atlanta. However, as much stock as they put in their home venue they will be worried about Louisville getting the same boost in Lexington.

I have waaay overthought this. Especially since my bracket in picking Louisville over A&M will look like the vast majority of my office pool who will spend 30 seconds filling it out. Anyway, that's my rationale.

[Jfrosh]

I have a certain #6 seed winning the whole thing.
:rolleyes: