Starting with the East Region, I was 7-for-8 in the first round, but Butler over Tennessee in the round of 32 didn't quite pan out. I like Pitino in the tournament and had the North Carolina-Lousville matchup in the regional final, with UNC winning.
Big on the strength of the Big East, I had Georgetown coming out of the Midwest. Big mistake thanks to Elite Eight upstart Davidson. As for the first-round upsets, I picked Davidson, Kansas St. and Villanova, but Siena took out one of my Sweet 16 teams in Vanderbilt.
I had most of the South right, except that I had Texas beating Memphis in the Elite Eight. I had UCLA coming out of the West, as well as picking Western Kentucky over Drake, West Virginia over Duke and Xavier in the Elite Eight.
My original Final Four was UNC, UCLA, Texas and Georgetown with UNC beating UCLA in the title game. Hard to stray from my pick now, but with all four No. 1 seeds in the Final Four I wouldn't be surprised to see any of these teams take down the trophy.
As noted in the Lamron Editors' Blog (shameless plug, I know), I lit my bracket on fire when my title pick, Georgetown, was upset by Davidson in the second round. Fortunately, I can still look back at the online, uncharred version of my ill-fated picks.
Some notable elements: I only predicted one correct Final Four team (UCLA); a squad whose prowess I was yapping about to anyone who would listen (Pittsburgh) didn't make it out of round two; and a team I was confident would make the Sweet 16 (USC) got blown out in the first round. Good thing I'm editing the sports section, right?
Thank the Lord, then, for my non-trendy upset picks. There didn't seem to be a whole lot of pre-tournament No. 13 Siena-over-No. 4 Vanderbilt-in-round-one chatter. Ditto for No. 12 Villanova making the Sweet 16, and No. 12 Western Kentucky taking out Drake.
On that note, I'll go with Memphis to surprise the three blue-blood programs and cut down the nets on Monday.
My bracket was a complete mess this year. One embarrassing mistake I made was predicting Georgia to make the Sweet 16. There was some buzz surrounding them after they came out of nowhere to sweep through the SEC tournament. I thought Georgia's momentum could carry over and get them past the first two rounds. I was completely wrong.
The biggest surprise for me this year was Davidson. I had them beating Gonzaga in the first round, but then I had them losing to Georgetown in the following round. They came within a few points of a Final Four appearance, and I have to give them credit for that.
Even though my bracket is littered with incorrect picks, I did get all of the Final Four teams right. Kansas and UCLA have been solid so far, but I think it will come down to North Carolina and Memphis. The Tar Heels definitely have more experience going deep in the tournament like this, but I have been so awestruck by Memphis all year, and after seeing them tear through Texas last week, I'm glad I picked them to win it all.