Sunday Picks

View my bracket here. | View contest results here | Kevin's Third Round Picks

There comes a point each March when I concede defeat in any bracket contests I may be involved in, stop worrying about my picks, and allow myself to relax and appreciate the great stories and teams that make the NCAA Tournament so great. I've almost reached that point this year.

One quick note before getting to my picks for Sunday's games: Friday on this blog I picked VCU to beat Georgetown. Today I noticed that, on my official bracket, I picked Georgetown over VCU. VCU beat Georgetown (handily) last night, so I won't be getting those ten points.

East:
2 North Carolina over 7 Washington
Washington has been winning a lot of close games lately, but I think the Huskies' run stops here. Should be a good game.

1 Ohio State over 8 George Mason
I'd love to see the Patriots win this one, but Ohio State is the best team in this tournament.

11 Marquette over 3 Syracuse (re-pick)
I originally had Xavier winning this game. Since the Musketeers are gone, I'm going to take a chance on Marquette. (Contest rules allow me to pick a replacement team for half the points.) Strange things happen when conference foes meet in the Dance.

West:
1 Duke over 8 Michigan
Kyrie Irving was impressive Friday, albeit against Hampton. If Irving looks that good against the Wolverines, I'll regret not picking Duke to go to the Final Four.

4 Texas over 5 Arizona
Both teams struggled with inferior opponents in their opening games. I give Texas the edge here because the Horns have more overall talent. The Wildcats, however, will have the best player on the floor in Derrick Williams.

Southwest:
3 Purdue over 11 VCU
JaJuan Johnson and E'Twaun Moore won't allow Purdue to lose this game.

1 Kansas over 9 Illinois
Illinois looked great Friday against UNLV. They'll need to be perfect to beat Kansas.

2 Notre Dame over 10 Florida State
We had a Chris Singleton sighting Friday. I'm sticking with the Irish, but this one could get interesting.