FWIW, Rowand is not giving any of the chalk teams a chance in the first round; every pick is an upset.

I just added a new wrinkle to my bracket: Marquette in the Elite 8. One of those 7 through 10 seeds seems to make a ridiculous run almost every year, and I think that's the best spot to have it in. They matchup up pretty well with UCLA, and I already had San Diego State as the other Sweet 16 team. That's actually a worse matchup for them than Indiana or Gonzaga because of Slaughter and Abukar inside, but their guard play is a lot stronger, and Novak is a bit of a mismatch.

i thought long and hard about marquette upsetting UCLA, it's definitely possible.

FWIW, Rowand is not giving any of the chalk teams a chance in the first round; every pick is an upset. 

lol, I have a ton of first round upsets this year. This tourny is so open I really expect there to be a ton of upsets. My bracket is a mess up to the sweet 16, then after that it settles down and gets boring.

This was one of the harder brackets I can remember filling out. There are quite a few teams that I wouldn't be surprised either way if they lost in the first round or made a run to the Final Four. That being said, here are my crazy upsets.

 

First Round

13 Iona over 4 LSU

11 SIU over 6 WVU

12 Utah State over 5 Washington

11 UW-Milw. over 6 Oklahoma

10 UNI over 7 Georgetown

 

Second Round

9 Bucknell over 1 Memphis

6 Indiana over 3 Gonzaga

6 Michigan St. over 3 UNC

7 Wichita St. over 2 Tennessee

 

After that I don't really have much. I've got Pittsburgh advancing to the Final Four from the Oakland bracket and Indiana beating UCLA to get to the Elite 8. Michigan State gets to the Elite 8 by beating Wichita St. BC beats Villanova to get to the Elite 8 but loses to Ohio St.

I have some of the same ones a lot of you guys do. Some may seem a little out there, but when picking the brackets I've always tended to go a little with my gut. Anything can happen in these games.

 

NC State over Cal

WV over Iowa

Bradley over Kansas

Indiana over Gonzaga (although, I'm a little tempted to put Xavier over Gonzaga in the first round)

Alabama over Marquette

Seton Hall over Witchita St

Seton Hall over Tenn

Montana over Nevada

UWM over Oklahoma

Boston College over Nova

A&M and Kent are the 12's to watch......A&M is talented and playing very well, and the Golden Flashes (who you will remember as the team that destroyed your bracket going to the elite 8 in 2002 with Antonio Gates) are a veteran team with the offensive firepower to score 60 points plus on Pittsburgh, and lord knows that's the kind of game Pittsburgh isn't a fan of.  Utah State and Montana will both get blown out IMO.

Utah State is better than you think. They are a very solid mid-major.

According to my bracket:

Aggies over Cuse

NC State over Cal

Bama over Marquette

Michigan State over NC (in the 2nd rd)

Washington over Ill (in the 2nd rd)

Seton Hall over Witchita State

Nevada over BC (in the 2nd rd)

Wisc Mil over Oklahoma

Northern Iowa over Gtown

 

Some of these picks may change.

Utah State is better than you think.  They are a very solid mid-major.

 

They are a solid mid major, but they got a bad draw. Their athletes aren't in the same galaxy as Washington's, and they are just going to get run right out of the gym.

A&M over the Orangemen. Mark it down.

Washington over Illinois, Jason? Can a 5 over a 4 really be called a "crazy upset"?

I haven't really finished my bracket yet but I am thinking...

 

Indiana over Gonzaga

SIU over WVU and Iowa

Wichita State over Tennessee

Wisc-Mil over Oklahoma

 

There will be more eventually.

Washington over Illinois, Jason?  Can a 5 over a 4 really be called a "crazy upset"?

Only posted it because I want Illini fans to know I'm picking Washington. Plus they are acting as if its a guaranteed win.

Only posted it because I want Illini fans to know I'm picking Washington.  Plus they are acting as if its a guaranteed win.

 

Who's they?

Who's they?

I'm no where near an Illini fan but I'll put myself on that list. There, I guaranteed Illinois will make the sweet 16.

I'm no where near an Illini fan but I'll put myself on that list.  There, I guaranteed Illinois will make the sweet 16.

 

I'm glad you're so confident. I've got a bad feeling about Washington.

Texas A&M over Syracuse

UW-Milwaukee over Oklahoma

San Diego St. over Indiana

Northern Iowa over Georgetown

Michigan St. in the elite eight

Nevada in the elite eight

I'm glad you're so confident.  I've got a bad feeling about Washington.

Well, I don't think Wash will get past USU to begin with but if they do, Illinois will beat them, no doubt in my mind.

Well, I don't think Wash will get past USU to begin with but if they do, Illinois will beat them, no doubt in my mind.

 

Monmouth's going to win it all.

Monmouth's going to win it all.

Duh.

Duh.

 

Rowand just told me he has 15 first round upsets.

Monmouth's going to win it all.

 

You can't stop John Bunch. You can only hope to contain him.

Rowand just told me he has 15 first round upsets.

If by 15 you mean 7, then yes, yes I do have 15.

Edited March 16, 200620 yr by Rowand44

Only posted it because I want Illini fans to know I'm picking Washington.  Plus they are acting as if its a guaranteed win.

 

Well I know your a bit of a west coast homer AND an Iowa fan, so I'll let it slide . But let me say this, IF Washington gets by Utah State, the Huskies would be the 6th best team in the Big 10 this year. Put that on the floor agianst Illinois, and I think the Huskies best shot would be to show up in Penn State road uni's.

 

With that said, the 2nd Huskies we will play won't be very fun, seeing as those Huskies are going to win the whole damned thing.

GW over the Blue Devils. Mark it down.

Im gonna go out on a limb and say history is made today. Oral Roberts over Memphis. Its gotta happen sometime.