College basketball

2012 NCAA Tournament Bracket Predictions

/ Dennis Griffith / Leave a comment

You gotta love this time of year: March Madness.  The NCAA Basketball Tournament kicks off this week, with the play-in games tipping off this evening (Tuesday March 13).  Below is my initial bracket predictions, all the way through the Final Four.  I will post updates after each round with predictions reflecting those who actually play. (Yes, this mean I expect to be wrong sometimes.)

A printable bracket can be downloaded by clicking: 2012 NCAA Tourney

Play-in Games

  • Western Kentucky > Mississippi Valley State
  • Iona > BYU
  • Vermont > Lamar
  • Californina > South Florida

Round One

East Region

  • 1 Syracuse > 16 UNC-Asheville
  • 2 Ohio State > 15 Loyola-MD
  • 3 Florida State > 14 St Bonaventure
  • 4 Wisconsin > 13 Montana
  • 5 Vanderbilt > 12 Harvard
  • 6 Cincinnati > 11 Texas
  • 10 West Virginia > 7 Gonzaga
  • 9 Southern Mississippi > 8 Kansas State

South Region

  • 1 Kentucky > 16 Western Kentucky
  • 2 Duke > 15 Lehigh
  • 3 Baylor > 14 San Diego State
  • 4 Indiana > 13 New Mexico State
  • 12 Virginia Commonwealth > 5 Wichita State
  • 11 Colorado > 6 UNLV
  • 7 Notre Dame > 10 Xavier
  • 9 Connecticut > 8 Iowa State

Midwest Region

  • 1 North Carolina > 16 Vermont
  • 2 Kansas > 15 Detroit
  • 14 Belmont > 3 Georgetown
  • 13 Ohio > 4 Michigan
  • 5 Temple > 12 California
  • 11 North Carolina State > 6 San Diego State
  • 10 Purdue > 7 St Mary’s
  • 9 Alabama > 8 Creighton

West Region

  • 1 Michigan State > 16 Long Island Univ.
  • 2 Missouri > 15 Norfolk State
  • 3 Marquette > 14 Iona
  • 4 Louisville > 13 Davidson
  • 5 New Mexico > 12 Long Beach State
  • 6 Murray State > 11 Colorado State
  • 7 Florida > 10 Virginia
  • 8 Memphis > 9 St Louis

Continue reading →

2012 NIT Bracket Predictions

/ Dennis Griffith / Leave a comment

The NCAA has announced the pairings for the 2012 NIT Championship – the tournament featuring schools that couldn’t get into the Big Dance.  For better and for worse, my Tennessee Volunteers are among the NIT headliners.  It’s disappointing only in that they were so close to NCAA Tourney consideration. But in all honesty, I have been hoping the Vols would go to the NIT rather than NCAA anyway.  In the NCAA they are likely one-an-done; in the NIT they could be the ones cutting down the nets in Madison Square Garden in a couple weeks.

While I have not done this in the past, and probably few will care now, below is my initial bracket predictions for the NIT’s:

Round One

Region 1

Region 2

Region 3

Region 4

Here are the actual NIT brakcets from the NCAA: 2012 NIT.  Below are my initial predictions for the whole tournament.  I will update it after each round to reflect my new predictions with the teams that are actually still in contention.

Continue reading →

2010 NCAA Basketball Championships – South Region

/ Dennis Griffith / Leave a comment

 

 Here are my bracket predictions for the South Region of the 2010 NCAA Basketball Championship.  Where there are parentheses it simply indicates I predict the team I want to see win will be defeated.

First Round

  • Duke > Arkansas-Pine Bluff
  • Louisville > California
  • Texas A&M > Utah State
  • Purdue > Siena
  • Old Dominion > Notre Dame
  • Baylor > Sam Houston State
  • Richmond > St. Mary’s
  • Villanova > Robert Morris

Second Round

  • Duke > Louisville (Lousiville)
  • Texas A&M > Purdue
  • Baylor > Old Dominion
  • Villanova > Richmond

Third Round – Sweet 16

  • Duke > Texas A&M
  • Villanova > Baylor (Toss Up)

Fourth Round – Elite 8

  • Villanova > Duke

2010 NCAA Basketball Championships – West Region

/ Dennis Griffith / Leave a comment

Here are my bracket predictions for the West Region of the 2010 NCAA Basketball Championship.  Where there are parentheses it simply indicates I predict the team I want to see win will be defeated.

First Round

  • Syracuse > Vermont
  • Gonzaga > Florida State
  • UTEP > Butler
  • Vanderbilt > Murray State
  • Xavier > Minnesota
  • Pittsburgh > Oakland
  • Florida > BYU
  • Kansas State > North Texas

Second Round

  • Syracuse > Gonzaga
  • Vanderbilt > UTEP
  • Pittsburgh > Xavier
  • Kansas State > Florida (Florida)

Third Round – Sweet 16

  • Vanderbilt > Syracuse
  • Pittsburgh > Kansas State

Fourth Round – Elite 8

  • Pittsburgh > Vanderbilt

    • 2010 NCAA Basketball Championships – East Region

    / Dennis Griffith / Leave a comment

    Here are my bracket predictions for theEast Region of the 2010 NCAA Basketball Championship.  Where there are parentheses it simply indicates I predict the team I want to see win will be defeated.

    First Round

    • Kentucky > East Tennessee State (ETSU)
    • Wake Forest > Texas
    • Temple > Cornell
    • Wisconsin > Wofford
    • Marquette > Washington
    • New Mexico > Montana
    • Clemson > Missouri
    • West Virginia > Morgan State

    Second Round

    • Kentucky > Wake Forest
    • Temple > Wisconsin
    • New Mexico > Marquette
    • West Virgnia > Clemson

    Third Round – Sweet 16

    • Kentucky > Temple
    • West Virginia > New Mexico  (Toss Up)

    Fourth Round – Elite 8

  • Kentucky > West Virginia

    • 2010 NCAA Basketball Championships – Midwest Region

    / Dennis Griffith / Leave a comment

    Here is my prediction for the Midwest Region of the 2010 NCAA Basketball Championship.  Where there are parentheses it indicates the team I wanted to see win but I predict will be defeated.

    First Round

    • Kansas > Lehigh
    • UNLV > Northern Iowa
    • Michigan State > New Mexico State
    • Houston > Maryland
    • Tennessee > San Diego State
    • Oklahoma State > Georgia Tech
    • Ohio State > Cal – Santa Barbara

    Second Round 

    • Kansas > UNLV
    • Michigan State > Houston
    • Georgetown > Tennessee (Tennessee)
    • Oklahoma State > Ohio State

    Third Round – Sweet 16

    • Kansas > Michigan State
    • Georgetown > Oklahoma State (OSU)

    Fourth Round – Elite 8

  • Kansas > Georgetown (Georgetown)

    • Good Knight, Coach

    / Dennis Griffith / 2 Comments

    bob-knight.jpg  Hall of Fame basketball coach, Bob Knight, resigned from his post at Texas Tech yesterday morning, after 40+ years of coaching.  

    Knight, never lacking for a surrounding of controversy, was the winningest men’s basketball coach in history, having chalked-up  “W” #902 last Saturday.  (Tennessee’s Pat Summitt is the winningest basketball coach.)  He was crude, harsh, and domineering.  But he was also brilliant, and wherever he went (Army, Indiana, and Texas Tech) he won without even a hint of cheating on or off the court. His peers respected and liked him. His players went to class and graduated. The overwhelming majority of those who played for him respect him and remain loyal to him.  That says a lot to me.   

    The rhetorical question that circulates sports talk is: Would you want your son to play for Coach Knight?   

    Well, I understand that not everyone responds to his style.  But if my boys loved basketball, and he offered to coach them, I think they would benefit from playing for Coach Knight.  

    Coach John Wooden probably summed it up best: 

    “I don’t think there’s ever been a better teacher of the game of basketball than Bob. I don’t always approve of his methods, but his players for the most part are very loyal to him. I would say that no player that ever played for him would not say he did not come out a stronger person.”