Bracket musings (since you haven't heard enough of them lately)

Well now that I've finally filled out my bracket, I can unleash my thoughts on the NCAA tournament. Rather than make my picks based on gut feeling and trying to predict every single upset, this year I decided to be ultra conservative with my bracket picks. In my elite eight, I have four #1 seeds, two #2 seeds and two #3 seeds. I feel pretty solid about predicting Oklahoma to beat Kentucky in the final. I think Hollis Price is the second coming of Mateen Cleaves, and he has more heart than any other player in the tournament. Along with Price, and an experienced coach in Kelvin Sampson, it's Oklahoma's underrated frontcourt of Brown, Ere and Bookout that will lead the Sooners to the national title.

For my other Final Four picks, I was tempted to pick Florida (a month ago they were my pick to win the title) but I don't think their players have enough intensity, so I'm picking Texas out of the South. I have been agonizing over whether to pick Arizona or Duke in the West. My head tells me to pick the Cats because they're so good on paper. But I went with Duke, just because of their three-point shooting, which can be absolutely overpowering. Redick and Ewing are shooting lights out right now and I just don't see Coach K letting the Devils lose. Also, I see hidden flaws in Arizona as a team. First of all, there is the glaring fact that two players quit the team at separate times during the season. Something must be wrong with your program when two guys decide to bolt while you're potentially a few months from a national title. This also leaves the Wildcats with two less bench players. Secondly, there was that candy-theft incident earlier this season. That type of bush-league shit just does not happen on championship teams. Arizona comes into this tournament under a bad sign, which is why they won't even make the Final Four.

As for potential upsets in the first weekend, if I weren't using my "conservative pansy" strategy, I'd have picked Penn over Okla. St, Tulsa over Dayton, and Butler over MSU. But I'd also watch out for Oregon over Kentucky and I was reallllly tempted to pick Gonzaga over Arizona. Well, now you know what I think. I'm probably wrong. Bring on the madness!