I love the NCAA men's college basketball tournament. But I don't really follow basketball outside of the Badgers, so I have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to March Madness brackets. You can read all kinds of analysis and watch lots of shows on the subject. I find all that pretty tedious, so I just go with my gut.
So, for your edification, here are my picks in the first round. I don't care about the rest of the tournament -- experience shows that after the first round things get pretty predictable. For the record, I'm picking Wichita State to win it all in part because nobody thinks they will, and in part because it's just time something nice happened to Wichita. Also, I like the song "Wichita Skyline" by Shawn Colvin.
The number one seeds -- Florida, Virginia, Arizona and Wichita State -- will all beat the number 16 seeds. A number one seed has never, ever lost in the first round. It was just reported this week that scientists may have discovered the origins of the Big Bang that started the universe. They could not go back far enough to find a 16 seed beating a one seed.
I also picked all the number twos to beat all the 15 seeds, with one exception. I selected UW-Milwaukee to beat Villanova, not because there's any evidence that this is likely to happen, but because I like Milwaukee and because I went to UWM for two years.
I have several other first round upsets.
Pittsburgh will beat Colorado. I've never been to Pittsburgh, but they are said to have the most beautiful Major League Baseball stadium in the country with PNC Park. On the other hand, Colorado has legalized marijuana. Close call, but I'm picking baseball over weed.
I'm picking George Washington to beat Memphis. I like Memphis. Really great barbeque. But I'm still stinging over all the money we spent in such a short amount of time when Dianne and I visited Graceland a year ago.
I've got St. Joseph's upsetting Connecticut. St. Joseph's is a Jesuit school and I like Pope Francis, the first Jesuit Pope. I'll be praying for their victory.
I have North Dakota State beating Oklahoma, because Fargo is one of my favorite movies.
I'm picking Nebraska to beat Baylor. The Cornhuskers beat the Badgers in the final game of the Big Ten season, and I want to feel like they lost to a worthy team.
That's it for the upsets. Otherwise I've got higher seeded teams being lower seeded teams. I was tempted to have Wofford beating Michigan, just because I want a team from a school named Wofford (you imagine nerdy kids wearing big horned-rimmed glasses with their top button buttoned on their shirts looking at the ground as they walk around campus) beating a school like Michigan. But I came to my senses.
Good luck on your brackets. It's the most wonderful time of the year!
