Riding on to San Antonio

Seeing as how my stellar bracket picks from last week have about as much relevance to the actual Sweet 16 as WMD's had with the war in Iraq, here's picks for the teams that are actually playing.

Thursday Games

#3 Xavier over #7 WVU: Last weekend WVU had the advantage of being able to wear down a tired Duke team in the second half. They won't be able to do that with a rested Xavier team that is one of the best defensive teams in the nation, if not the whole country.

#1 UNC over #4 WSU: Washington State is playing great ball right now and have got to be riding high after their win over the Leprechauns in the second round, but UNC is too much for them.

#1 UCLA over #12 Western Kentucky: 3 times in the past couple weeks UCLA has needed a horrible call to win a close game. There was the phantom foul call against Stanford, the no-call followed by the illegal game-winning shot against California, and another no-call against Texas A&M last weekend. Sooner or later their luck will run out and they will be on the wrong side of a bad call. Fortunately for the Bruins, this game won't be close enough for it to matter.

#3 Louisvillle over #2 Tennessee: Tennessee had a legitimate argument for a #1 seed, and instead got screwed with a #2 seed in the hardest bracket of the year. Put them in the Midwest or the South region and they're probably a lock for the Final 4. Louisville started the year slow due to some key injuries, but are playing hot right now. They'll have to slow down a potent Tennessee offense to get a win tonight.

Friday Games

#10 Davidson over #3 Wisconsin: Going out on a bit of limb here, but I'm a sucker for Cinderella stories. This should be a low scoring affair, but if Curry and Jason Richards can get through the stingy Badger defense they'll have a good shot at winning this game. Wisconsin has won both their tourney games easily though whereas Davidson has had to win two tight ones. If they keep this one close I think they have the advantage. Getting through Kansas for a Final Four berth will probably be a different story.

#2 Texas over #3 Stanford: This should be a great game to watch as DJ Augustin and AJ Abrams from Texas take on the Lopez twins from Stanford. When in doubt, pick the team with lower educational standards.

#1 Kansas over #12 Villanova: Villanova has had a great run, and Kansas is in a dead heat with Memphis in the race to see which #1 seed falls first. I've got my cinderella in Davidson, and I'm sticking with it.

#5 Michigan State over #1 Memphis: Memphis' free throw shooting nearly cost them the game against Mississippi St. If Neitzel shows up for the Spartans like he did against Pitt last weekend, Memphis will be in trouble.

Regional Finals

#1 UCLA over #3 Xavier: Anything less than their third straight trip to the Final Four will be a huge disappointment for UCLA, and even with the karma they've got going against them from the bad calls, I've got to give the advantage to Kevin Love and Darren Collison

#1 UNC over #3 Louisville: I don't really see any team still alive in the East or Midwest that can keep UNC out of the Championship game.

#1 Kansas over #10 Davidson: I really hope this matchup happens. If Davidson gets past Wisconsin they're going to be riding with as much confidence as anybody. Unless you're a KU student or grad, theres no way you won't be rooting for Davidson. Can they pull out a George Mason and ride the wave into the Final Four. I wish I could say yes.

#2 Texas over #5 Michigan State: Texas will be working with damn near a home crowd as they won't have to travel outside the state of Texas for the rest of the tourney. Texas also goes a little deeper and I don't know how far Neitzel can carry the Michigan State team.