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Mar 15, 2004 Out of all the major pro, college, men’s, and women’s sports, the most anticipated event eventually turns out to be March Madness every year. Sure, the Super Bowl has tons of hype and so does the World Series, but when the men’s and women’s brackets are cracked out, tons of people, fans or not, race to fill them out. What makes this year so different? Nothing, except for the fact that the talent pool is so evenly spread out that nobody knows who is really going to ‘win it all.’ That’s where I come in--I’ll look at this year’s men’s bracket, in particular, and try to give you a better look at how everything is going to shake down. The St. Louis Region--(It would be so much simpler if the regions were named regularly, but that would be too easy.) This region, which features Kentucky as the number one seed, Gonzaga at the two seed, and Georgia Tech as the three seed, appears to be the weakest of the four regions. Most think this region is a cake walk for Kentucky, but one team has the potential to screw up every bracket in America--Georgia Tech. Georgia Tech plays Northern Iowa in the first round, which is as easy as the tournament can get. They will either play Boston College or Utah in the second round, and they match up well against both of those teams. If they do make it to the Sweet 16 and beat Gonzaga (who will most likely be there), it will be a good matchup against Kentucky. B.J. Elder, Isma'il Mohammad, and Jarrett Jack are great contributors, and they might knock off the Wildcats if the chance presents itself. My Region Pick--Georgia Tech. Sleepers--University of Illinois-Chicago over Kansas and Nevada over Michigan State. The East Rutherford Region--St. Joseph’s has the number one seed in this region, and despite the controversy of it, the team does deserve the number one seed. They lost only once this year; what does a team have to do to earn respect? However, Oklahoma State is a huge threat at the number two seed. That’s really predictable, but it’s true. Oklahoma State has a really good team as does Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh, St. Joe’s, and Wake Forest are Oklahoma State’s biggest competition, but in the end Oklahoma State is just too well-rounded and will most likely take this region. Tony Allen and John Lucas are a solid 1-2 punch in the backcourt. My Region Pick--Oklahoma State. Sleepers--Manhattan over Florida and Richmond over Wisconsin. The Atlanta Region--On paper this region is by far the toughest of the four. Duke, Arizona, Illinois, North Carolina, Texas, and Mississippi State compose the difficult competition. Even Louisville, although they struggled during the season, is potent enough to disrupt the bracket flow. The most intriguing possible matchup, though, is Duke versus Arizona in the second round. Arizona is one of the most athletic and talented teams in the entire tournament. Salim Stoudamire, Channing Frye, Mustafa Shakur, Hassan Adams, and Andre Iguodala form a scary starting five, and although I think Duke will narrowly beat them if this matchup occurs, Arizona could be the biggest team to watch. My regional final has Duke against Mississippi State, but this region is too difficult for a sure pick. J.J. Redick, Chris Duhon, Luol Deng, and company might prove to be too much, though. My Region Pick--Duke. Sleepers--Louisville over Xavier and possibly over Mississippi State. The Phoenix Region--Stanford is the number one seed in this region and UConn is the number two seed. There are numerous opportunities for upsets in this region. However, number one will most likely meet number two in the regional final. Stanford has an exceptional defense and does well from the free throw line as a team, and UConn (if fully healthy) has the potential to win it all. Emeka Okafor, Ben Gordon, Charlie Villanueva and the rest of the Huskies are extremely dangerous, but they need to be healthy to go far. This matchup between Stanford and UConn appears to be a no-brainer, but all the other games are up in the air. Expect the results to be messy in the Phoenix Region. My Region Pick--UConn. Sleepers--Southern Illinois over Alabama, UTEP over Maryland, Western Michigan over Vanderbilt, and Dayton over DePaul. So, from my picks my Final Four has UConn, Duke, Oklahoma State, and Georgia Tech heading to San Antonio. UConn will play Oklahoma State in the championship game with UConn taking the crown. UConn needs Okafor to be healthy, but this is a long tournament. UConn has already proved they can play without him (the Big East tournament), but by the time they reach the Final Four, Okafor will be needed. So there it is--a region by region breakdown of this year’s Big Dance. This year has the aspirations of unpredictable results, but nonetheless, it should be a first-class championship run for whoever wins. ------------ About the author: Bob Herman is a high school junior who is the Sports Editor of his school newspaper. Email Bob: MrAwesome30@go.com Tell a friend about this site! ------------ |
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