NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament, Crit’s March Madness Musings and other pearls you want to know

Let’s be clear here, the first two days of the 64 team NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball tournament are the best two days of reality television for the pure sports fan. That’s saying a ton because, as you well know, we here at Picks4Players love the NFL, each and every Sunday, but make no mistake, this Thursday and Friday from 12:20 pm EST or 9:20 PST (you lucky b*stards out West) until the conclusion of play at the end of a long day, College Basketball reigns supreme.

The first round games are littered with potential upsets every year. The number of kids who are putting on a uniform for the last time, playing their last truly competitive game far outweighs the number of kids we’ll ever see move on to the NBA. Seeing these kids selling out and giving every thing they’ve got for their team in what could be there ’shining moment’ is beautiful and all too realistic. The genuine emotion on both ends of the spectrum make for the most captivating and compelling reality TV there is, and it’s on all day long. That’s right, all day long.

As far as the 2009 Field of 64, this is going to be an outstanding tourney because every single team is beatable. Connecticut looked unbeatable for a good portion of the season, but with the loss of Jerome Dyson, they have come back down to earth. North Carolina should crush Radford in their opener, but Ty Lawson’s toe will not be healthy at any point in this tourney and at some point along the way it will cost them. My prediction is that UNC goes down in the second round to Trent Johnson’s LSU Tigers. In fact look for Trent to take LSU to the Sweet 16 and once again be the subject of ridiculous speculation about every major job opening in the country. While only being at LSU for one season, the rumors will swirl about Trent jumping ship for a higher profile program, but look for Coach Johnson to sit tight for a year or two so he can follow through on his commitment to the administration and his recruits at LSU.

My Elite 8 consists of Louisville, West Virginia, Connecticut, Missouri, Pitt, Villanova, Gonzaga, and Oklahoma. While Bob Huggins’ West Virginia team will make a great run, Louisville will advance, beat Connecticut in the semi-finals and face Gonzaga in the finals. The Zags are deep. The Zags are talented. All five starters are capable of scoring 20 points on any given night and Picks4Players feels that it is Gonzaga’s time to shine. The Louisville vs. Gonzaga final will be fun to watch. Pitino’s pressure defenses will definitely force some turnovers, but it will also allow Gonzaga to get a lot of easy baskets in transition as they carve up the pressure at times. While we don’t know yet what the spread will be, I’d lean heavily toward the OVER as both teams will thrive in the fast paced playing environment.

If you’re looking for upsets in the first round, Picks4Players likes the following underdogs to rise up and shock the nation: First and foremost we here at P4P love #13 seed in the East, Portland State to smack Xavier today in the first round. Strong guard play is so important in the tournament and Xavier will surely overlook Portland State point guard 5′ 6″ stud Jeremiah Dominguez. That will be a costly mistake for the Musketeers as Dominguez coupled with all world scorer Dominic Waters will have Portland State giving Xavier all it can handle today. Look for Waters to explode today for more than 30 points with a beautiful array of threes, runners, and floaters in the lane, and he’ll probably go 9-10 from the line. He’s a special talent that reminds this Crit of another great scorer, current Celtic Eddie House. Other upset specials we like in the first round include Maryland over Cal. This game is at 2:50 EST, that’s 11:50 am in California. The Bears will sleep walk through the first half before finally getting acclimated late in the game and making a surge with a barrage of threes, but it will be too little too late. USC on the other hand is peaking at the right time and the travel to the Midwest bracket won’t bother them at all. Who knows which BC team will show up, is it the team that beat North Carolina or the team that then came home and lost to Harvard? I’m looking for BC to lay an egg and for USC to advance. Other first round upsets should include #11 seed Utah State over #6 seed Marquette, #12 seed Wisconsin over a spent #5 Florida State squad, #10 seed Michigan over #7 seed Clemson, #10 seed Minnesota over #7 seed Texas, and the #9 seed Siena Saints in a mild upset over # 8 Ohio State.

The Picks4Players selection for the NCAA National champion for 2009 will be Louisville who will beat Gonzaga in the Tournament Final 91-84. So our recommendation would be Louisville and the OVER.

Enjoy the next few days of College Basketball. For the true sports fan this is pure joy.

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