Writing the Pine

Finally, some predictions and my official Final Four predictions:

1. Siena will make the Elite Eight. Duke is in the easiest bracket but the Blue Devils will be upended in the Sweet 16 by the Saints.  Good reigns over evil yet again.

2. UTEP will make the Sweet 16. UTEP actually has a lot of talent and has a chance to make a serious run in the tournament.  I’m saying they’ll make the third round but they could take down Syracuse in the Sweet 16 too.  I just don’t have the balls to say they’ll do it.

3. Cornell will make the Sweet 16. But I’m not stupid enough to think they’ll beat Kentucky.

4. Evan Turner (Ohio State) and Ekpe Udoh (Baylor Bears) will post triple-doubles in first-round victories. I wish I could bet on this.

5. My list of lower seeds that will advance to the Round of 32: San Diego State, Georgia Tech, Florida State, UTEP, Cornell, Washington, Louisville, and Siena.

6. Final Four - Kansas, Pittsburgh, Kentucky, and Baylor

7. Championship Game – Kansas v. Kentucky.  It’s the game everybody wants to see and they’ll have relatively easy semifinal games to set it up.

8. National Champion – Kansas Jayhawks – Experience defeats youth yet again as the loaded Jayhawks take down the supremely talented Wildcats in what will be an extremely entertaining game (and be eerily similar to the Kansas/Memphis title game).  Kansas wins by a feather.