My Final Four Prediction

Okay let me begin this by saying, unlike most sports where you can predict what is going to happen most of the time, March Madness is not one of them. If you put time and effort into watching the NFL, MLB, NBA, and a handful of other sports, there is a good chance that you have the ability to be right more often than not. Due to the craziness of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, between the match-ups, the six total victories it take to win it all during the course of three weeks, plus the fact that to be well educated you about the sport you would had have followed 300 eligible teams instead of around 30 like in most sports, it is impossible to call yourself an expert wether you work for ESPN or just consider yourself an aficionado of the game because of the aforementioned reasons. Heck, most of the people who do well in picking these brackets are people who know next to nothing about the game or have not seen a game all season. Every year, that little old lady wins the office pool, or that person who picks teams based on geographical location, team colors, and other rediculous criteria finishes higher than the guy who watches ESPN at least four hours a day and eight on Saturdays. Predicting all or most of your bracket correctly rests on astronomic chances, you would have a better while similarly difficult chance of predicting which drug or drugs they will find Courtney Love hopped up on the next time she is pulled over, it’s nearly impossible.

Now that I have covered my bases, let me get to my picks. I have UNC, Georgetown, Pittsburgh, and UConn making it to the Final Four this year. If you do not have your bracket in front of you, I have Georgetown beating UNC to make it to the title game and reluctantly picking Pittsburgh to advance to the title game over UConn. Then I have Georgetown winning the whole thing over Pittsburgh.

UNC in my opinion has been the best team in the country all year long overall. Roy Williams is one of the best coaches in the game and always has capable players. He may not have the single best player in the country, but in Tyler Hansbrough, he has possibly the most consistent. Unfortunately, I think UNC has worn themselves out during the regular season and were pretty lucky to just steal one from Virginia Tech last week. I think they will be out of gas by the time they make it to the Final Four, and will not have an answer nor the gas left in the tank to try to contain Georgetown’s Roy Hibbert.

I may very well be one of the few people who think that UConn is Final Four good. But trust me they are, while they stumbled out of the gate earlier on, Coach Calhoun does not coach quitters. He does not usually get the very cream of the crop or the flashiest kids as far as commitments are concerned, usually losing them to UNC and Duke, but he usually gets the most solid ones. Calhoun’s kids play defense, and come this time of year, defense is what holds up in late March above all else. This is why the man has national titles displayed at his school. I really feel bad about picking them to lose to Pittsburgh, but I feel that Pittsburgh is just a cut above, because they never seem to have a lack of motivation, always playing with a chip on their shoulders, which UConn clearly lacked earlier on.

Pittsburgh, year in and out finds a way to win big games that no one picks them to win during the regular season and the tournament. They are very well coached, but like I just mentioned, they play with a chip on their shoulders which combined with probably being the second most well-rounded team in the tourney, behind UNC, makes them extremely dangerous and a legitimate national title contender. They aren’t quite what I would call underdogs, but you usually do not hear them mentioned in the same breath as the other three teams I have in my Final Four. Due to the seeding, I love the fact that they have a chance to be matched up against the Georgetown Hoyas, who they have matched-up well against and taken big games from over the last few years. It is always a close and interesting game when these two teams meet, and could make for one of the best national title games that the sport has ever seen if it comes to fruition.

Unfortunately for Pittsburgh, this has got to be Georgetown’s year. Again, I will state that defense is what wins games come March, this team has it. They also have a good offense but have been inconsistent at times, even losing the Big East Tournament to Pittsburgh this past Saturday. However, they are coached by John Thompson III, who is one of the more clever match-up specialists in all of the game. They also have possibly one of the top and smartest backcourts in all of college basketball, in Jonathan Wallace and Jessie Sapp. To further worry other teams, they are so good that they get to bring Patrick Ewing’s son off of the bench. The biggest reason I like them to win though, is their biggest reason for winning, Roy Hibbert. He is one of the best big men that the game has seen in a while. Hibbert has frustrated just about every team he has played against during his time at Georgetown. The teams that have been lucky enough to hold him or somewhat neutralize him, as a result, have left his teammates free due to blown coverage trying to defend him and ultimately losing the game to his supporting cast. Georgetown has been close to a national title for the past three seasons, pair that with a frustrating loss to Pittsburgh on Saturday, along with one of college basketball’s few experienced teams, and you have John Thompson III finally replicating a piece of what his father was able to do during his time at the school. Had Jeff Green not left Georgetown to declare for the NBA Draft after last season, I would say they were a lock to win it all. However there are no locks in college basketball come tourney time, but Georgetown is the closest thing to that in my opinion.