Audio By Carbonatix
Each year, I sit down with my daughter Lora — a rabid sports fan with strong opinions about 9News’ Susie Wargin — to fill out NCAA tournament brackets for both the men’s and women’s basketball championships as part of a friendly contest organized by my wife’s peers in the Archdiocese of Denver school system. We usually do pretty well, although our track record in the women’s tourney is better than it is with the men’s version. If we bottom out in 2009, however, we’ll have company. After filling out our brackets, I discovered that we picked the same men’s Final Four teams as President Barack Obama.
As usual, we let sentimentality dictate a few picks. For instance, Lora loves the Kansas Jayhawks, and even though they’re probably a year away from making a legit run, we’ve got them reaching the Elite Eight anyhow. And while UCLA is a favorite pick for a first-round ouster, we’ve got them beating VCU because, well, I went to grad school at UCLA, and I can’t pick against the Bruins in the friggin’ first round. And on the women’s side, both of us are probably guilty of putting too much faith in Notre Dame. Still, we feel pretty good about our championship selections: Connecticut in the women’s contest (it’s gonna be a coronation) and Pitt in the men’s.
We’ll update our success, or lack thereof, throughout the tournament. In the meantime, take a gander at our prognostications below.
NCAA Tournament Bracket 2009: Men’s
MIDWEST BRACKET, ROUND ONE:
Louisville over Morehead State
Siena over Ohio State
Utah over Arizona
Wake Forest over Cleveland State
West Virginia over Dayton
Kansas over North Dakota State
USC over Boston College
Michigan State over Robert Morris
WEST BRACKET, ROUND ONE:
Connecticut over Chattanooga
BYU over Texas A&M
Purdue over Northern Iowa
Mississippi State over Washington
Marquette over Utah State
Missouri over Cornell
Maryland over California
Memphis over Cal. State Northridge
EAST BRACKET, ROUND ONE:
Pittsburgh over East Tennessee State
Oklahoma State over Tennessee
Florida State over Wisconsin
Xavier over Portland State
UCLA over VCU
Villanova over American
Texas over Minnesota
Duke over Binghamton
SOUTH BRACKET, ROUND ONE:
North Carolina over Radford
Butler over LSU
Illinois over Western Kentucky
Gonzaga over Akron
Arizona State over Temple
Syracuse over Stephen F. Austin
Clemson over Michigan
Oklahoma over Morgan State
MIDWEST BRACKET, ROUND TWO:
Louisville over Siena
Wake Forest over Utah
Kansas over West Virginia
Michigan State over USC
WEST BRACKET, ROUND TWO:
Connecticut over BYU
Purdue over Mississippi State
Missouri over Marquette
Memphis over Maryland
EAST BRACKET, ROUND TWO:
Pittsburgh over Oklahoma State
Florida State over Xavier
Villanova over UCLA
Duke over Texas
SOUTH BRACKET, ROUND TWO:
North Carolina over Butler
Gonzaga over Illinois
Syracuse over Arizona State
Oklahoma over Clemson
MIDWEST BRACKET, SWEET SIXTEEN:
Louisville over Wake Forest
Kansas over Michigan State
WEST BRACKET, SWEET SIXTEEN:
Connecticut over Purdue
Memphis over Missouri
EAST BRACKET, SWEET SIXTEEN:
Pittsburgh over Florida State
Duke over Villanova
SOUTH BRACKET, SWEET SIXTEEN:
North Carolina over Gonzaga
Syracuse over Oklahoma
MIDWEST BRACKET, ELITE EIGHT:
Louisville over Kansas
WEST BRACKET, ELITE EIGHT:
Memphis over Connecticut
EAST BRACKET, ELITE EIGHT:
Pittsburgh over Duke
SOUTH BRACKET, ELITE EIGHT:
North Carolina over Syracue
FINAL FOUR:
Memphis over Louisville
Pittsburgh over North Carolina
CHAMPIONSHIP:
Pittsburgh over Memphis
NCAA Tournament Bracket 2009: Women’s
TRENTON BRACKET, ROUND ONE:
Connecticut over Vermont
Florida over Temple
Virginia over Marist
California over Fresno State
Arizona State over Georgia
Florida State over North Carolina A&T
Notre Dame over Minnesota
Texas A&M over Evansville
BERKELEY BRACKET, ROUND ONE:
Duke over Austin Peay
Michigan State over Middle Tennessee State
Tennessee over Ball State
Iowa State over East Tennessee State
Texas over Mississippi State
Ohio State over Sacred Heart
San Diego State over DePaul
Stanford over UC Santa Barbara
RALEIGH BRACKET, ROUND ONE:
Maryland over Dartmouth
Utah over Villanova
Kansas State over Drexel
Vanderbilt over Western Carolina
Wisconsin Green Bay over LSU
Louisville over Liberty
South Dakota State over TCU
Baylor over UTSA
OKLAHOMA CITY BRACKET, ROUND ONE:
Oklahoma over Prairie View A&M
Georgia Tech over Iowa
Xavier over Gonzaga
Pittsburgh over Montana
Purdue over Charlotte
North Carolina over UCF
Rutgers over VCU
Auburn over Lehigh
TRENTON BRACKET, ROUND TWO:
Connecticut over Florida
California over Virginia
Florida State over Arizona State
Notre Dame over Texas A&M
BERKELEY BRACKET, ROUND TWO:
Duke over Michigan State
Tennessee over Iowa State
Ohio State over Texas
Stanford over San Diego State
RALEIGH BRACKET, ROUND TWO:
Maryland over Utah
Kansas State over Vanderbilt
Louisville over Wisconsin Green Bay
Baylor over South Dakota State
OKLAHOMA CITY BRACKET, ROUND TWO:
Oklahoma over Georgia Tech
Pittsburgh over Xavier
North Carolina over Purdue
Auburn over Rutgers
TRENTON BRACKET, SWEET SIXTEEN:
Connecticut over California
Florida State over Notre Dame
BERKELEY BRACKET, SWEET SIXTEEN:
Duke over Tennessee
Stanford over Ohio State
RALEIGH BRACKET, SWEET SIXTEEN:
Maryland over Kansas State
Baylor over Louisville
OKLAHOMA CITY BRACKET, SWEET SIXTEEN:
Oklahoma over Pittsburgh
North Carolina over Auburn
TRENTON BRACKET, ELITE EIGHT:
Connecticut over Florida State
BERKELEY BRACKET, ELITE EIGHT:
Duke over Stanford
RALEIGH BRACKET, ELITE EIGHT:
Baylor over Maryland
OKLAHOMA CITY BRACKET, ELITE EIGHT:
Oklahoma over North Carolina
FINAL FOUR:
Connecticut over Duke
Baylor over Oklahoma
CHAMPIONSHIP:
Connecticut over Baylor
