I was 15-1 in my NCAA picks yesterday, missing only Mich St - Marquette. There's a reasonable chance I'll go 1-15 today, as the only pick I made that was based on any sort of knowledge was Dook going down to VCU; someone had emailed me that VCU is athletic and Eric Maynor is a tough point guard, and having watched a lot of Dook games this year, that was all I needed to hear.

When McBob chucked the ball crosscourt to nobody with 6 minutes left I turned to Sydney and said that's the signal, it's losing time. And it was.

Then I watched all three Carolina games -- the blowout against an outmanned opponent, the sleepwalk against an inspired underdog, and the beatdown of a tired team. I liked the lineup when Ginyard was on the floor in the second half, and I liked Terry's performance down the stretch, but if this team nods off again like it did yesterday, its season could end in a hurry.

Comments

[Debra]

I was 14-2 yesterday. I gave Duke one more round (stupid me) and made a sentimental pick of Gonzaga upsetting Indiana. Like you, I'm not especially sanguine about my picks today.

[jc]

Ed, who do you have in the Final Four? To win it all?

[Ed Cone]

I don't have my sheet in front of me, but I think I went all high seeds. I picked Carolina to win not because I think they will but because I want them to.

I'm not at all a scientific selector, I don't even take an hour and a few beers like the hero of this column, I just breeze through the sheet once, making tough choices based on things like, "hmm, Xavier, cool name what with that X, you shall advance."

My sole semi-intelligent criterion is conference strength -- my observation after 30 years of watching closely is that conference teams often rise and fall together in the tourney, so I tend to pick winners from leagues that seem strong relative to others.

I have won probably more than my share of pools over the years.

[sydney]

How bout them S tar heels! haha get like their stars! heh heh I'm funny and bored in Science with a sub..heh heh...bye

[jc]

Dicky V is still sticking with the Heels, if that means anything.

I havent really kept up with any brackets other than UNC's. They should win the East but Roy's teams have a history of losing to lesser teams in the tourney. The Heels have been very inconsistent with FT shooting and that is critical in winning close NCAA games. Just ask coach K.

[Jeffrey Sykes]

Ed:

Who will guard Kevin Durant for 40 minutes? Terry? Ginyard?

Be afraid. Very afraid.

[Roch101]

I'm 15 and 1 so far too. The 1 being Duke ... sigh.

[mick]

The East is stacked and Texas is legit as is Gtown. My guess is The Heels, if fortunate enough to play Texas, will look to "contain" rather than shut down Durant then just try to beat the other 4 Horns.

Calling Dr Frank. A good showing but "be careful what you wish for" there big fella.

[Patrick Eakes]

14-2 on both sheets

Duke and Texas Tech on one, Duke and ODU on the other

[DrFrankLives]

Mick, thanks for the props to my wildcats. we play that game again five times, we win 2 of them. That was a heck of a game. Maryland played well. They had to to beat Davidson.

I would have like to see that game if Thomas Sander had not gotten hurt taking that charge in the early first half. He was not himself the rest of the game, and he usually takes some of the scoring load off Curry.

Had we been seeded properly, and played Butler instead of Maryland, we'd still be dancing.

That said, we faded down the stretch and took some dumb three pointers when it wasn;t necessary. Mistakes of a young team. The second youngest team in the country.

I'm fairly certain nobody wants to play us next year.

[Debra]

I'm down one already on day 2 -- Georgia Tech lost to UNLV.