NCAA

The Final Four is in di Annapolis (That’s A Turrible Headline, Chuck)

Kentucky.  Wisconsin.  Michigan State.  Duke.

These are the teams that have made it to this year’s Final Four in Indianapolis’s Lucas Oil Stadium, which seems to host all major sport events nowadays.  Of the remaining four, three were Number One seeds and all represent one of the “big 6” conferences, but that isn’t to say this year’s March Madness was anything but Madness. After Kentucky’s complete undressing of trash-talking West Virginia in the Sweet 16, all four Elite Eight the Elite Eight games were tight, giving Vegas gamblers continuous stress, and causing lots of money to exchange hands in the final seconds even of already-decided games. But even we non-Vegas -level gamblers had it tough this season, as millions of brackets were busted early when Iowa State and Baylor were dropped in the first round. After the Round of 64, there was only perfect entry left on ESPN.com’s massive tournament, and its creator only had 15 minutes to fill out his bracket, and hadn’t watched a single college basketball game all year. Take that, Jay Bilas!

Here’s the benspn prediction for the national championship: Kentucky over Michigan State, 54 – 46, but the real winners have been the Capital One commercials starring Charles Barkley, Spike Lee, and Samuel L. Jackson.

That Time of Year

Yes, it’s that time of year again. The time where the number 1, 2, and 3 seeds in the NCAA tournament play much lower ranked teams in the first round, and, just like every year people think that the high seeds who don’t win by 40 have absolutely no chance of winning it all, even if they are the best team in the country, Florida. Florida is the Number One team in the NCAA right now, yet they played a very close game against Albany, and now people everywhere are saying they cannot win the tournament.

The statistics website fivethirtyeight.com says that since Florida didn’t play well against Albany it sets them up for an early exit from the NCAA tournament. Every year this happens and there are always statisticians who forget that history repeats itself. So in one year when the experts say ‘No way,’ to a good team after a tough first-round game, don’t believe it for a second.

Baracketology

The President, Barack Obama, has picked Michigan State to win the NCAA tournament. Michigan State has the second-best odds to win it all, after Florida, ahead of Louisville, according to Vegas oddsmakers, and many ESPN analysts have picked the Spartans to win it as well. As usual, Barack Obama goes with the politically safe choice.