My 2010 NCAA Bracket Predictions

This posting contains sports content, that may bore some. Also, click here, if you'd like to learn more about this subject or just want to read something more interesting.

Above, you can see a blurry some what crooked image of my 2010 NCAA men's basketball tournament bracket. Basically, it's my predictions for what teams I think are going to win and advance in the tournament.

Now, I'm not a college basketball junky, but I think I've entered some type of March Madness pool or another for the last seven or eight years. I've never spent more than $10 to play. And I've never won. I think I finished third one year and maybe got 20 bucks out of the deal. So, needless to say I'm not an expert at this. I tend to go with my gut on my picks and don't spend a ton a time looking at the stats. I know people who will spend hours and hours pouring through information trying to pick a winning bracket. It's really a crap shoot. They say you have a better chance at winning the lottery than selecting a all the games correctly in a bracket.

For the most part, it seems like you pick a few upsets in the first round and then advance a combination 1, 2 ,3, 4 seeds to the elite 8. And then a combination of 1, 2 and 3 seeds to the final four depending on who you feel good about. You could just take all four number one seeds to the final four, but that rarely happens. So, I usually do a couple number ones and a two or three. (What I just wrote makes total sense to me in my head, but upon reading it back it may be the least coherent paragraph I've ever written on this blog. And that's saying a lot. Bare with me.)

A few things about my selections.

-To be honest, I'm not feeling good about this years bracket. I did fairly well last year, so I'm expecting my bracket to get busted by about 4:00 on Friday.

-Like a lot of people, I have Kansas winning it all. They just seem to be the best team in the country this year.

-I have three number 1 seeds (Kansas, Syracuse, Duke) and a number 2 (West Virginia) in the final four. Conventional wisdom says this is too many number 1 seeds in the final four. I think Duke is the least likely to make it to the final four of the ones I picked, but I don't know who's likely to upset them, so I left them. I think Kansas and Syracuse have a strong shot at the final four. And I just feel good about West Virginia getting on a role. But, what the hell do I really know?

-I have BYU making some noise and getting on a role all the way to the elite 8. That may be a dumb pick.

-I'm being a homer and have the Huskies getting two wins in the tournament and making it to the Sweet 16. I just can't root against UW, even if it is far fetched.

-I think Gonzaga is in trouble and have them getting knocked out in their first game.

-Other than a few other minor upsets, I played it kind of safe.

So, that's it. We'll see how it goes. The first 16 games are Thursday, with another 16 on Friday. So, by the end of Friday, I should have a good idea if I'm still in it. I'll blog a few updates about how my bracket fares. The sooner I'm eliminated the sooner it's back to sweet randomness and mutant strawberry postings. You decide if that is good or bad.

Oh, and Happy St. Patricks Day.