NCAA 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 →

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

    • 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.”