I am not a basketball fan, but I clicked through to "the bracket" at the NYTimes site and made my picks based on the standings. I chose only six "upsets," four in the first round. My only luxury, as I see it, is Duke getting to the final four. The championship will be Florida vs. North Carolina. The winner will be North Carolina!
After a very close game, # seed 6 Duke will probably beat # 4 Pittsburg in the second round. They will have to beat #2 seed UCLA and # 1 seed Kansas on the way to the showdown with Florida. They will most certainly lose then. Duke's last five games have been disappointing, and the only thing that makes them "favored" over Pitt is number of points scored against their opponents. In that stat, they have Pitt by an average 5 points. I see Duke 74, Pitt 69. The other games, though, are wishful thinking. :-)
My ususal scheme is: East beats West, South beats North, and University beats State. Tech is a long shot. :-)
It really doesn't mean anything since I am not a betting man. To all you fans out there -- have fun.
5 comments:
Oh well, who'd have thought DUKE would have fallen?
Well, I did say I was not a fan. Hondo, my one regular reader takes UCLA over Geogetown in the championship. His teams indeed won the first round (as expected). In fact, in the East and South (my default "winning" devisions) I did not miss a single pick. In fact, with the number 9's beating the number 8's I picked up three "upsets" out of my four. Those "wins" offset my three "losses."
But how about them Eagles! If I was really biased as my rule of thumb "system" holds I would have picked good ol' Winthrop, huh? My logic won out there, though. :-(
I mean, here was a SOUTHERN team against a NORTHEN team. And not only that, it was an UPSTATE SC team to boot. I guess if I WERE a betting man, AND had gone with my biases, I could be a bit richer now! :-)
Looking at the first round results, my choices still look good, though it looks like UCLA looks to have a good chance to advance at least to the final four (instead of Duke). Will they have what it takes to beat Florida, though?
And so, for all of you that put real money down - no, y'all ain't sinners :-) - good "luck" in your picks as well.
Go Tarheels!
I did terrible in the first round because I picked a bunch of upsets. Usually, there are several lower seeded teams who rise up and beat a higher seed, but not this year. I am already in last place in my bracket contest!
There's a silver lining to this though. Because of easy access to the internet, America has a real serious problem with kids gambling online. I see it big time in the schools, where it's not unheard of to hear of a student who has lost several thousand dollars playing online poker or betting on sports with an offshore sports book. My oldest son loves sports, and he helped me fill out my sheet. He was quite upset that we didn't pick all of them right. I told him that he should remember this lesson--that if you bet money on sports, you should expect to lose. I think he understands!
Maybe you can line up lunch with the eventual winner of your office pool. If you are reaaal nice to him, maybe he'll pay. That way you'll recoupe your five bucks. :-)
Aren't learning moments grand!
Hondo, it looks like your picks for the championship game might just get there. I would not have expected North Carolina to fall, but alas, your choice, Geogetown, takes that slot. Of course, they have to beat Ohio State and UCLA has to beat Florida, before your dream game can happen.
The chairman of our Deacon board in a Buckeye and I am sure he is ecstatic! Since Florida and Ohio Stare are the two teams I have left, I guess my bracket choices end short of the big dance.
I suspect that I will root for Ohio State since I am a Geogia Bulldog (though my dad is a Gator) the perennial foe of our neighbor to the south.
Well, I should have gone with my "method." South beats North. Congradulations Gators. Again.
My bracket got Florida to the championship, for what it's worth. Next time I will see how well my system comes out, regardless of the rankings. :-)
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