The men's NCAA basketball bracket assembled by my daughter Lora and me and shared in the blog "Our March Madness Predictions: A Prelude to Humiliation..." was looking pretty good through the first two rounds. It's not now. Two of the four sweet sixteen games that took place last night blew up in our faces, and the repercussions will be ugly. Duke, which we had losing in the Elite Eight, was never really in the game against Villanova. Worse (way worse), however, was Memphis' loss to Missouri. Lora and I had so much confidence in Tyreke Evans' squad that we moved them all the way into the championship game. But no: disaster struck. Thank goodness Pitt and Connecticut claimed victories, or else all would be lost (as if it isn't already). Click "Continue" to survey the damage.
NCAA Tournament Bracket 2009: Men's
MIDWEST BRACKET, ROUND ONE:
Louisville over Morehead State CORRECT (Friday, 3-20) Siena over Ohio State CORRECT (Friday, 3-20) Utah over Arizona INCORRECT (Friday, 3-20) Wake Forest over Cleveland State INCORRECT (Friday, 3-20) West Virginia over Dayton INCORRECT (Friday, 3-20) Kansas over North Dakota State CORRECT (Friday, 3-20) USC over Boston College CORRECT (Friday, 3-20) Michigan State over Robert Morris CORRECT (Friday, 3-20)
WEST BRACKET, ROUND ONE:
Connecticut over Chattanooga -- CORRECT (Thursday, 3-19) BYU over Texas A&M -- INCORRECT (Thursday, 3-19) Purdue over Northern Iowa -- CORRECT (Thursday, 3-19) Mississippi State over Washington -- INCORRECT (Thursday, 3-19) Marquette over Utah State CORRECT (Friday, 3-20) Missouri over Cornell CORRECT (Friday, 3-20) Maryland over California -- CORRECT (Thursday, 3-19) Memphis over Cal. State Northridge -- CORRECT (Thursday, 3-19)
EAST BRACKET, ROUND ONE:
Pittsburgh over East Tennessee State CORRECT (Friday, 3-20) Oklahoma State over Tennessee CORRECT (Friday, 3-20) Florida State over Wisconsin INCORRECT (Friday, 3-20) Xavier over Portland State CORRECT (Friday, 3-20) UCLA over VCU -- CORRECT (Thursday, 3-19) Villanova over American -- CORRECT (Thursday, 3-19) Texas over Minnesota -- CORRECT (Thursday, 3-19) Duke over Binghamton -- CORRECT (Thursday, 3-19)
SOUTH BRACKET, ROUND ONE:
North Carolina over Radford -- CORRECT (Thursday, 3-19) Butler over LSU -- INCORRECT (Thursday, 3-19) Illinois over Western Kentucky -- INCORRECT (Thursday, 3-19) Gonzaga over Akron -- CORRECT (Thursday, 3-19) Arizona State over Temple CORRECT (Friday, 3-20) Syracuse over Stephen F. Austin CORRECT (Friday, 3-20) Clemson over Michigan -- INCORRECT (Thursday, 3-19) Oklahoma over Morgan State -- CORRECT (Thursday, 3-19)
MIDWEST BRACKET, ROUND TWO:
Louisville over Siena CORRECT (Sunday, 3-22) Wake Forest over Utah INCORRECT (Sunday, 3-22) Kansas over West Virginia CORRECT (Sunday, 3-22) Michigan State over USC CORRECT (Sunday, 3-22)
WEST BRACKET, ROUND TWO:
Connecticut over BYU CORRECT (Saturday, 3-21) Purdue over Mississippi State CORRECT (Saturday, 3-21) Missouri over Marquette CORRECT (Sunday, 3-22) Memphis over Maryland CORRECT (Saturday, 3-21)
EAST BRACKET, ROUND TWO:
Pittsburgh over Oklahoma State CORRECT (Sunday, 3-22) Florida State over Xavier INCORRECT (Sunday, 3-22) Villanova over UCLA CORRECT (Saturday, 3-21) Duke over Texas CORRECT (Saturday, 3-21)
SOUTH BRACKET, ROUND TWO:
North Carolina over Butler CORRECT (Saturday, 3-21) Gonzaga over Illinois CORRECT (Saturday, 3-21) Syracuse over Arizona State CORRECT (Sunday, 3-21) Oklahoma over Clemson CORRECT (Saturday, 3.21)
MIDWEST BRACKET, SWEET SIXTEEN:
Louisville over Wake Forest Kansas over Michigan State
WEST BRACKET, SWEET SIXTEEN:
Connecticut over Purdue CORRECT (Thursday, 3-26) Memphis over Missouri INCORRECT (Thursday, 3-26)
EAST BRACKET, SWEET SIXTEEN:
Pittsburgh over Florida State CORRECT (Thursday, 3-26) Duke over Villanova INCORRECT (Thursday, 3-26)
SOUTH BRACKET, SWEET SIXTEEN:
North Carolina over Gonzaga Syracuse over Oklahoma
