Look at it. Isn’t it beautiful? Your NCAA Tournament bracket, that is. Through a combination of meticulous research and good old fashioned gut feeling, you’ve neatly typed or carefully penned or penciled in your winners, and, come hell or Sam Houston St., this is your March.
Your one shining moment, only without benefit of Jim Nantz narration.
Fast-forwarding to late Friday night, your bracket isn’t looking so hot. The magic wand waved by the lower seeds has taken its toll, either leaving an unattractive family of inked check marks or some kind of scribbled anger coding that only you have the misfortune of understanding.
Not to go all Hindenburg on you, but, “Oh, the humanity!”
Furthermore, the more brackets you’ve filled out, the more irritated you’ve become. Based on first-round action alone, your family, the people at work, those at your health club or weekly coffee clutch now realize your hoops IQ is equal to that of a sleeve of golf balls.
Been there and about to go there again. A few weeks back, I projected Kansas, Duke, Purdue and Ohio State as my Final Four choices. This came prior to Robbie Hummel’s season-ending injury and Sunday’s announcement that Kansas and Ohio State are the top two seeds in the same regional.
Even though the Buckeyes earned No. 2 billing in the Midwest Regional, I now believe OSU, not the Jayhawks, winds up at Lucas Oil Stadium the first weekend of April. Out west, Syracuse is the No. 1 seed, but the Orange hit full-stride a couple weeks back and haven’t played well of late.
Having said that, this could be the year the Butler Bulldogs, the No. 5 seed (they deserved a 3 or 4) in the West Region, make that long-awaited run to the Elite Eight. Overall, though, Kansas State takes out the Butler-Syracuse winner and heads to Indy.
The East Region is headlined by Kentucky, but I’m not reserving space on that bandwagon unless I can be seated next to Ashley Judd. The Wildcats are too young in too many critical positions, which means the deer-in-the-headlights gaze is a real possibility in, say, a second-rounder against Texas or a Sweet 16 matchup against a disciplined, offensively methodical squad like Wisconsin.
With John Calipari’s penchant for leaving footprints on the NCAA Rulebook, even if Kentucky wins the national title, chances are they’ll be taking down the banner in a couple of years anyway. This region is a dud, but I have to make a pick, so give me West Virginia. And though Duke isn’t the Duke of old, the Fighting Krzyzewskis should have enough to cut the nets in the South Region.
In the Final Four, Ohio State over Kansas State and Duke knocks out Bob Huggins’ Mountaineers. In the title game, Coach K’s Blue Devils return to the sport’s summit, making the offseason months pure bliss for Duke homers like Dick Vitale.
Don’t worry. The red Sharpie has been pulled from the drawer and is ready to pounce. And if recent history is any indication, I may need a new one a week from now.
• Mike Beas is a freelance writer/columnist and Kokomo native who resides in Carmel. He may be reached by e-mail at mbeas@att.net.
