Don't believe the hype...

Being a sports guy, I feel it my duty to participate the annual ritual that is March Madness. For those of you who don't play at home, it's the ritual of selecting the winners from each of the four regions as well as the eventual champion. I also play in the office pool as well. I think you can figure out what my screen name was.


Personally, if I get two out of the four teams every year, I will have renewed my sports guy cred card. But this year was kind of special.


The first team, Kentucky, was a no brainer, even though they were taken to the brink this past weekend by a well coached Notre Dame team. The second team I picked was Wisconsin, another team that had a great regular season and swept though their conference tournament as well. Easy, right?


On the other side of the country, I rolled the dice. In the East, I selected Michigan State. They only had a kinda good year (23-11) and stumbled through the regular season. But I looked behind the season. Tom Izzo coached teams almost always do well in the tournament. In fact, since the beginning of this century, the Spartans have reached the final four nine times.


Three for three.


I took the long road to tell you where I made my blunder. In the South, Instead of picking either Gonzaga or Duke, I decided to pick the "new jacks" of the discussion, Iowa State. They had a solid season (25-8) and was the flavor of the month. So, I followed the flow.


Big mistake. They lost in the opening round to UAB, a 19-15 squad who barely got in the big dance in the first place.


I didn't do my own research. The reason it's a bigger than usual deal is because while I'm in second place at my office pool going into Final Four weekend, I have no chance because, you guessed it, the first place person picked ALL four final 4 teams.


So while I have renewed my sports cred card, I'll have to wait to upgrade my card to platinum status.

My Final 4...2015

Here are my final four picks for this year's tournament:


South: Getting the junk out of the way. I could have fronted and picked a team different from my original team. But where's the integrity in that? I had Iowa St. defeating Duke in the Regionals. Going against my urban sentiment with Georgetown losing to the Dukies.


East: Now it gets a little funky. My pick here is Michigan State. I know what you're thinking (what? Are you kidding?) The fact is that I have a soft spot for Tom Izzo tournament teams. Regardless of how they play during the season, they always show up around this time. If you think that crazy, guess who I got them defeating in the Regionals? N.C. State. Other than the Regional, the game of this bracket will be State vs. Louisville. It took a lot for me not to pick the Cardinals.


West: On the other side of the country, I'm a little less volatile. Picking the college cheesehead badgers of Wisconsin. They have had a solid team all year, winning both their conference regular season and tournament. They will beat a long, lanky Arizona team in the Regionals. Actually a ho hum bracket. Curious to see what the Tar Heels will do.


Midwest: I'll make it very plain here: My pick for both this bracket and the tournament is the Kentucky Wildcats. They will be the first team since the '78 Indiana Hoosiers to have an undefeated championship season. I really would like the Terps to make some noise this playoff, but this is already a great year for them given their recent struggles. At least they will lose to the eventual champions. I know I'm not taking a great leap of faith here, but it is what it is.


As always, like David Letterman says, "This is an exhibition, not a competition so please, no wagering. Might be a little late for that.