NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Challenge

[dlgood]

As I did each of the last two years, once again, I'll be hosting a free - for pride only - NCAA Men's Basketball Bracket on ESPN.com. Let's find out if we'll get someone new, or if it'll be threepeat by two-time winner, sistakaren.

For those wishing to participate follow these easy steps:

1. Go to ESPN's Tournament Challenge page
2. If you do not have a free, ESPN Games ID, create an ID.
3. Join the group LJ Bracket Challenge and create an entry
4. Mock me and my crazy picks.

Note: The team listed as Control Bracket is simply an entry I've added in which the favored seed (not the Vegas favorite) was selected to win every game. For the purposes of seeing how our upsets deviate from expectations.

Repeating:
Group Name: LJ Bracket Challenge
Password: 123456

Comments

[angelbuffy0.livejournal.com]

Okay I did it but I know I have no chance of being even a blip on the radar.

But hey it killed a few minutes.

[sistakaren.livejournal.com]

ARRGH! I'm still so confused about who I"m going to pick to win it all! Damn you Pittsburgh for poking out Allan Ray's eye! DAMN YOU!!!!

[hjcallipygian.livejournal.com]

Heh. I decided to eschew logic in favor of my alma matter. I mean, why not, right?

Did you see Bill Simmons's article on picking brackets? He got his mom and wife to do one each, it's amusing.

[dlgood.livejournal.com]

Oh, that's right. I forgot to hound you too! I have Florida going to a regional final. They could buck trends and win games.

Haven't read Simmons yet, although it's almost always interesting to see what novices pick. On his Radio Show, one of his expert's is "Phil's Mom" (Phil being some guy who worked for him once...) and she has George Mason winning it all...

[hjcallipygian.livejournal.com]

Florida won the SEC tournament, so they either have good tourney mojo going or they all ready used up all their mojo. Should be interesting.

If you had to pick one team to win it all, who would you choose?

[dlgood.livejournal.com]

Duke is the chalk pick, but Connecticut is the overall favorite. And I probably have to pick them, just like every prognosticator under the sun is...

Florida looks like they are peaking. The downside is that, under Billy Donovan, Florida has generally performed poorly in the tournament. Except for the 2000 team that made the Final Four. And that team was really young, just like this one. So maybe they can do it...

[hjcallipygian.livejournal.com]

Oh, and because I'm just entirely too into the NFL for my own good: what do you think of the Redskins off-season signings so far? Who do you want them to draft?

I desperately want the Jaguars to draft that awesome tight end. I mean, it's not like he'll fall that far, but I'd be willing to trade Garrard to get him. Except that no one seems to need a QB anymore. Urg. Maybe a first and a third to trade up?

[dlgood.livejournal.com]

Who do I want the skins to draft? I think that all they've got left is a 2nd rounder. Which, I would expect, they'd use either on a corner or a lineman. (Offense or Defense, doesn't really matter, they need depth at both...)

Most of the signings, I think, are reasonably okay. What really matters is how fast Jason Campbell is ready to play. Because I would be shocked if Brunell is both upright and effective for an entire season.

And Jacksonville could do well with Vernon Davis. He's awesome, and Maryland tended to do very well in games where they could actually get him the ball. I have no idea how the draft will go and whether he'll drop to them. Where do they pick?

[hjcallipygian.livejournal.com]

OMG Jacksonville drafts 28th. How does a wild-card team end up drafting eighth!? So not fair. Damn 12-4 record over-inflated easy schedule crap...

I think that Jason Campbell will be ready to play fairly early, really. He got the Carson Palmer year-off treatment, but he's a better athlete who played longer and more years in college, and likely against a more difficult schedule. Personally, I think he'll end up being the best QB of his draft class. Y'all did well.

Washington has the 22nd pick, but that list doesn't include any trades or anything.

[dlgood.livejournal.com]

Washington's 22nd overall pick went to Denver for Jason Campbell, along with last year's 3rd rounder and this year's 4th. Our 3rd rounder and next year's 4th go to San Francisco for signing restricted free agent Brandon Lloyd.

Trades and free agent signings. That's where our draft picks go.

[hjcallipygian.livejournal.com]

Do you think that Lloyd is worth it? I mean, he did okay out in San Francisco, but any receiver can rack up some yards when the defense goes into prevent schemes because they're up by twenty-one in the second quarter. Plus, I think that the 'Skins might have the shortest receiving corps in the NFL behind New England.

[dlgood.livejournal.com]

I have no idea if Lloyd is worth it. I remember him looking fantastic at Illinois, but that was college. But if any coach can work with a corps of smurfs at the reciever position, it's Gibbs. When the Redskins won Super Bowl XVII, Art Monk was injured - and they didn't field a single reciever taller than 5'9".