It took 6 1/2 hours, but I finally got from Fort Lauderdale International Airport to Little Rock, Arkansas for this weekend's NCAA Tournament. Tomorrow, I'll get a chance to talk players and coaches here at the tournament.
But for now, I wanted to share with you my bracket -- my picks for the Final Four, my surprise upsets and more. Tell me who you got in the Final Four and winning it all?
FIRST ROUND UPSETS (I got the higher seeds advancing everywhere else)
East: No. 11 St. Joseph's over No. 6 Oklahoma.
Midwest: No. 14 Cal-State Fullerton over No. 3 Wisconsin
South: No. 11 Kentucky over No. 6 Marquette.
West: No. 9 Texas A&M over No. 8 BYU; No. 11 Baylor over No. 6 Purdue
SECOND ROUND UPSETS
East: No. 5 Notre Dame over No. 4 Washington State
Midwest: No. 5 Clemson over No. 4 Vanderbilt
South: No. 5 Michigan State over No. 4 Pittsburgh.
West: No. 7 West Virginia over No. 2 Duke.
SWEET 16 UPSETS
East: No. 6 USC over No. 2 Georgetown
South: No. 3 Stanford over No. 2 Texas
West: No. 4 Connecticut over No. 1 UCLA; No. 7 West Virginia over No. 3 Xavier
ELITE EIGHT UPSETS
None
FINAL FOUR
North Carolina beats Kansas
Memphis beats Connecticut
Championship: North Carolina beats Memphis
i've got k-state making a splash. melo kept cuse quiet a couple years ago, and they won it all. have them losing to clemson in the elite 8 matchup. unc and ucla are 2 of the other final 4 teams. my last final four team is stanford beating pitt after pitt exposes memphis. other upsets are arizona making it to the elite 8 (losing to UCLA) after beating duke and xavier. i also have winthrop making the sweet 16 after beating george mason, who upsets ND.
i was tempted to have miami upset texas, but i just don't think they can do it. i think st. mary's will give them a handful, but UM should pull through if McAttack can keep cool and take smart shots. GO CANES, though!
Oh yeah, first!
Posted by: AZCaneDude | March 20, 2008 at 02:19 AM
Damn Manny......I went to Marquette and I hope you are wrong. Solid picks though my man.
Posted by: ChicagoCane | March 20, 2008 at 07:56 AM
the guy on the local radio up in DC has Miami going to the Final Four. It's from the John Riggins show. He's getting teased as the automatic loser of the tourney bet the guys have on that show because of his Miami pick. I want to be biased but I think Texas will blow us out the water unless Graham can stay out of foul trouble. We'd need Graham in there a lot since Texas would bully Anthony King down low.
Posted by: Esteban | March 20, 2008 at 08:25 AM
Georgetown wins!
Posted by: IndianapolisCane | March 20, 2008 at 08:27 AM
Manny thanks for all the info last night, we really appreciate having you take the time.
Have a great weekend and safe trip home
peace
Posted by: solarcane | March 20, 2008 at 08:53 AM
Miami has a tougher job against Saint Mary's then people are thinking. Miami can definitely pull it out though! And if so, Miami can beat Texas by shutting down Augustin, Texas is a headless monster when he is off his game. Easier said then done, but can be done! Its all about defense, and defense is all about the "U"! GO CANES!
Posted by: canesman | March 20, 2008 at 09:18 AM
My Final Four:
UNC
UCLA
Pitt
Kansas
I say Duke losses every game until I'm right! Ill never for get coach Krap complaining about our fans....please!
Posted by: canesman | March 20, 2008 at 09:24 AM
Final 4...
North Carolina
Kansas
Memphis
UCLA
Championship: North Carolina over UCLA
Posted by: IT ALL ABOUT THE U | March 20, 2008 at 09:34 AM
I'm in 2 pools with about 10 people each, and I am one of 6 or 7 (out of 20) who has Miami beating St.Mary's. In one of my brackets I have us beating UTx. And I'm the only one to do that. And that has made me the target of some witty comments on the message board. I am realistic, but the 'Canes are in the NCAA Tourney. I can't NOT pick them. That's the beauty about them making it -- you can pick them to be in the Final 4 team if you want, and until Friday at 12:30am, it's possible. Manny give a shout out to Paula Jones in for me when you're in Little Rock. She's all that with her new nose.
Posted by: robnyce | March 20, 2008 at 09:34 AM
Manny - I'm driving up from Dallas, any scalpers around there and if so what are the prices?
Posted by: TX Cane | March 20, 2008 at 10:21 AM
I have Miami making it to the sweet sixteen!! =). then they lose, but the way I see it, Miami making it to the elite and past means much more to me than a stupid bracket. Either way I always root for my Canes
final four:
UNC, UCLA , Marquette!, Clemson,
Championship:
UNC over UCLA
Posted by: Hialeah_Cane | March 20, 2008 at 11:46 AM
The "experts" at ESPN and USAToday are all picking St. Mary's over Miami. There is one columnist for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer who wrote that he "hates this team" (Miami) and predicts that St. Mary's will "feast" on the U. To me, this feels more like a visceral reaction against Miami, than a real analysis. And don't forget, all of the ACC experts picked Miami to finish last in the ACC.
Posted by: Langely Cane | March 20, 2008 at 12:45 PM
All 5 of Yahoo's "experts" picked St. Mary's to win.
All the more impressive if Miami comes out of tomorrow with a win....
Posted by: Displaced Cane | March 20, 2008 at 05:24 PM
http://collegesportsblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2008/03/haith-says-miami-suffering-from-flu-bug.html
Posted by: is this true? | March 20, 2008 at 06:38 PM