The brackets are filled, and the games are starting; Madness has begun. Now that everything is all locked up, why not see how your picks stack up against the Herald Sports staff?
Herald Sports editors Jordan Schelling, Adam Holt, Max Henson, Mike Fiammetta, Sam Maxwell and Sports alum and current Managing Editor Michael Bleach all filled out brackets in the nature of friendly competition and for bragging rights. Seriously.
So here’s how we see things going down.
Final Four
Much like most experts, all but one of the six Herald Sports brackets see Kansas cutting down the nets come April. Schelling went out on a limb, projecting Duke to win it all while North Carolina watches from the NIT*. The Jayhawks earned the No. 1 overall seed for a reason — they’re the best team in the field. The Evan Turner-led Ohio State Buckeyes and Georgetown Hoyas are the most common picks to face KU in the Elite Eight.
That’s where the consensus ends though.
(*Schelling’s pick of Duke to win it all was so surprising to the rest of the Herald Sports staff that they figured it must have been a mistake. It was not, however, as he think the Dukies have their best squad since 2001).
Three of the six see Syracuse making it to the Final Four out of the West region, despite the probability the Orange will be missing center Arinze Onuaku for two games or so due to injury. Adam has trendy pick Kansas State meeting the Jayhawks, while Jordan and Michael went bold with their picks.
Jordan has No. 7 seed Brigham Young taking out K-State, Minnesota and Syracuse en route to Indianapolis. Geographic advantages were a heavy factor in some of his picks, and the fact the West regional final will be in Salt Lake City must give the Cougars the edge over the Orange. Bleach likes the odds of No. 5 seed Butler upsetting Syracuse in the Sweet 16, then taking out BYU in the Elite Eight.
Out East, half the pool has potential NBA lottery picks John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins plowing their way into the title game, with No. 1 seed Kentucky reaching the Final Four. Max feels a little safer with West Virginia, the No. 2 seed. Jordan must have been influenced by Adam’s column yesterday, as both have Wisconsin as one of the last four squads standing, 10 years after its most recent appearance.
Duke gets the nod in the South from half the pool, while Sam and Mike like No. 3 Baylor to take out the Blue Devils. Bleach is on his own with No. 2 seed Villanova making the Final Four for the second year in a row.
Baylor is a common pick on SI.com and ESPN to emerge from the South. But half of Herald Sports thinks this is finally the year Duke takes advantage of its own talent and a weak region to make it back to the Final Four, and is willing to forget last year’s blowout loss to Villanova and that crushing defeat at the hands of VCU three years back.
In the end, it’s Kansas winning, either over Duke or Kentucky. Either way, there should be a lot of star power in the championship, with Kansas’ Sherron Collins and Cole Aldrich facing either Cousins and Wall or Duke’s Jon Scheyer and Kyle Singler.
Here’s a recap of everyone’s Final Four picks:
Jordan: Kansas, Brigham Young, Wisconsin, Duke
Adam: Kansas, Kansas State, Wisconsin, Duke
Max: Kansas, Syracuse, West Virginia, Duke
Mike: Kansas, Syracuse, Kentucky, Baylor
Sam: Kansas, Syracuse, Kentucky, Baylor
Bleach: Kansas, Butler, Kentucky, Villanova
Upsets Aplenty
Bracket-busting upsets are the highlight of the first weekend, and the pool was in agreement on some double digit seeds winning their opening games — and more.
Despite a UW-related hatred for Minnesota, the Gophers were picked in all six brackets to get past No. 6 seed Xavier in the West. Jordan even has them getting to the Sweet 16.
Only Sam and Adam think “Kramer swallows” just too much without Robbie Hummel, as the other four have Purdue making it past No. 13 Siena. Siena did bounce Ohio State out of the tournament last year, and the veteran Saints are a trendy upset pick among mainstream sports experts.
Other consensus upsets included No. 11 San Diego State over No. 6 Tennessee in the Midwest and aside from Bleach, No. 12 UTEP was a hot pick to beat No. 5 seed Butler in the West.
Correction: The original version of this story had Schelling selecting Kansas over Duke in the championship. In his actual bracket, Schelling selected Duke. We regret the error, though Schelling may regret it more if he’s wrong.
