Bracket = Done

March Madness

It's living up to the nickname this year. Kansas goes out against Northern Iowa in the second round. Who picked that one? OU taking out Georgetown. Few picked that one (I'm looking at you, OU homers). I appreciate that, being a Buckeye fan. Good job, Bobcats. Well-deserved. Armon Bassett was balling. Thank you, Indiana.

The two biggest hurdles in Ohio State's region are out already. Talk about relief. I'm fully aware that we still have plenty of basketball left to play before getting to the final four, but the fact that we take on Tennessee instead of Georgetown is awesome. If we get around Tennessee, we won't have to worry about Kansas. Super awesome. The Midwest region is down to Northern Iowa vs. Michigan State and Tennessee vs. Ohio State. Unfortunately for Michigan State, it appears that two-time Big 10 Player of the Year Kalin Lucas is out for the remainder of the tournament. He has a leg injury - I believe it's a ruptured Achilles tendon. I think I heard that on ESPN. Don't quote me (look at me acting like someone actually reads this). Michigan State is plenty talented without Lucas, but this doesn't make things easier for them. I think they get by Northern Iowa.

As for Tennessee vs. OSU, it's quite an intriguing matchup. Tennessee has proven that they can beat anyone when they play at the top of their game. They're the only team to beat both Kansas and Kentucky this year. That being said, they have some bad losses and I feel that Ohio State is the better team. I think OSU can beat pretty much anyone when they play at the top of their game, too. Diebler is stroking threes like crazy right now. It appears that Turner is getting to his normal level, although his almost quadruple double yesterday (24 pts/9 rbs/9 ast/9 TOs) is bittersweet because of the turnovers. Lauderdale is beasting, which is awesome. Lighty seemed to start to heat up in the second half. Hopefully Buford cuts down on the mental mistakes and gets his explosive ability back. He seems a little off. I feel that from here on, the Buckeyes can't afford to give the other team much.

The win against Georgia Tech was impressive. The defense shut Derrick Favors down for the most part. We forced them to take a lot of shots that they didn't want to take, and kept their physicality inside to a minimum. Great win, and Turner was the only Buckeye with a pulse in the first half.

As for my bracket, I had Kansas winning it all against WVU. My other Final Four teams are Baylor and Kansas State, both are still alive. I have picked Cornell to get to this point in the bracket. I think their luck runs out next week, however. Aside from that, about everything else is wrong.

Pretty short update tonight. I haven't been paying too much attention to anything other than college basketball. I'm not even going to talk about hockey tonight. Lucky you.