The Thursday Evening Madness

First on Thursday Evening:
Northern Iowa vs. UNLV:
Again the Mid Major thing. Let's just say we were to take the two teams from this game and split them with the 8 vs. 9 game in the East which is Texas and Wake Forest. Wouldn't you rather watch a UNLV vs. Wake Forest and Northern Iowa vs. Texas? I know I would.

That said, UNLV is a pretty good team from the Mountain West Conference. But, they are good team at home. Northern Iowa finished in the Top 25 at the end of the conference season. They come from the always dangerous Missouri Valley Conference (see: Creighton, Bradley, Drake), and are a very experienced team. They will win this game and I would have them going further this year, except they got a terrible seed.
The Pick: Nothern Iowa


Kentucky vs. East Tennessee State:
If you don't pick all number 1 seeds in your bracket, you really have problems. Number 1 seeds have never lost (and they want to expand the field of 65...).
The Pick: Kentucky


Washington vs. Marquette:
The Big East is overrated. The Pac 10 is terrible. This game is a crap shoot. I'm taking Washington because they won the Pac 10 tourney, and they have Isaiah Thomas on their team.
The Pick: UDub

Georgetown vs. Ohio:
Ohio snuck into the tourney by winning the MAC tourney. The MAC doesn't really have a history of winning at all in the big dance, but Georgetown has been maddeningly (I think that's a word) inconsistent. Still, Greg Monroe, G'Town's center, may be the best player in the tourney.
The Pick: G'Town

Wake Forest vs. Texas:
The ACC was looking like they were only going to get 3 or 4 schools into the dance after non-conference play, and then conference play suddenly made these teams better? Texas was number 1 earlier this year and dropped out of the rankings. Damion James won't let Texas lose. He didn't skip going to the NBA so he could lose in the first round of the NCAA's.
The Pick: Texas

New Mexico vs. Montana:
Montana, from the Big Sky Conference, stands about as much chance of winning this game as I do of winning the Powerball. New Mexico's Darrington Hobson is a big guard that can do it all. The reason that the Lobos won at BYU and broke one of the longest home court winning streaks in the nation is because he blocked a layup straight on from one of BYU's big men. It was one of the better plays I have seen all year.
The Pick: New Mexico

Tennessee vs. San Diego State:
Tennessee beat #1 and #2 this year. And loss to multiple teams ranked in the 100's. SDSU got snubbed last year and probably should have been seeded higher. The 6 vs. 11 matchups are more intriguing this year to me than the 5 vs. 12. This is one reason why. I have no idea who is going to win this game. That said, why not pick the upset.
The Pick: SDSU

Kansas vs. Lehigh:
My pick to win it all. Kansas. They won't lose to this Patriot team league team and KState fans won't be making TShirts about Bucknell.
The Pick: Kansas