THE MADNESS

Any self-respecting loyal reader of Piker knows that I quickly become obsessed with the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. It is, without question, my favorite sporting event. Unfortunately, all thoughts of a Will & Grace office pool have evaporated, and the games begin tomorrow morning at 9 am PST. Thus, I'm going to post my picks here to serve as an official record of my predicted bracket.

I'm going to assume that any college B-ball fan has already gone elsewhere to print out a blank bracket, so I'm not going to bother linking to one. I wish I had the time and the know-how to post my completed bracket to this site, but alas, I do not. So, I am simply going to list my picks below. Oh, and by the way, I'm refusing to give up the old names of the regions, so you'll see both in the headers.

WINNERS -- ROUND 1

MIDWEST (St. Louis)

(1) Kentucky
(8) Washington
(12) Pacific
(4) Kansas
(6) Boston College
(3) Georgia Tech
(10) Nevada
(2) Gonzaga

EAST (East Rutherford)

(1) St. Joseph's
(9) Charlotte
(5) Florida
(4) Wake Forest
(6) Wisconsin
(3) Pittsburgh
(10) South Carolina
(2) Oklahoma State

SOUTH (Atlanta)

(1) Duke
(9) Arizona
(5) Illinois
(13) ETSU
(6) North Carolina
(3) Texas
(7) Xavier
(2) Mississippi State

WEST (Phoenix)

(1) Stanford
(8) Alabama
(5) Syracuse
(4) Maryland
(11) Western Michigan
(14) LA Lafayette
(7) DePaul
(2) UConn


THE SWEET SIXTEEN

MIDWEST

(1) Kentucky
(4) Kansas
(3) Georgia Tech
(2) Gonzaga

EAST

(1) St. Joe's
(4) Wake Forest
(3) Pitt
(2) OK State

SOUTH

(1) Duke
(13) ETSU
(6) NC
(2) Mississippi St.

WEST

(1) Stanford
(4) Maryland
(11) Western Michigan
(2) UConn


THE ELITE EIGHT

MIDWEST

(1) Kentucky
(3) Georgia Tech

EAST

(1) St. Joe's
(2) OK State

SOUTH

(1) Duke
(2) Mississippi St.

WEST

(1) Stanford
(2) UConn


THE FINAL FOUR

(1) Kentucky -- MIDWEST
(2) OK State -- EAST
(2) Mississippi State - SOUTH
(1) Stanford -- WEST


THE FINAL GAME

(1) Kentucky
(1) Stanford


THE NATIONAL CHAMPION

(1) Stanford


Let the games begin.