Bracket = Busted

It's official. My bracket is done.

With Memphis losing the battle of the Tigers to Missouri, I can pretty much make kindling out of it and focus on watching some great basketball down the stretch.

Unless, UNLESS Mizzou beats UConn, in which case all bets are off, I suppose.

The fact that it's Mizzou makes it even worse. As a Texas fan, seeing a normally dirty Big 12 team (especially one from the Big 12 North) advance really stings.

Oh well, at least Duke lost.

Good luck to those of you still in it. If you need me, I'll be making a bonfire.

Well, That Sucked

The Longhorns couldn't get it done against Duke, and the frustrating part is that they essentially beat themselves.

You don't win an NCAA tournament game (much less one against Duke) when:

1) You can't shoot free throws to save your life (16 of 25 on the night).
2) You turn the ball over a ton (15 to the Blue Devils' 9).
3) Your best clutch performer isn't clutch (17 PTS on 5 of 13 shooting for A.J. Abrams).

And even with all that, they had a chance to win at the end, but couldn't get a rebound after Duke missed two free throws. That just can't happen.

What's worse is I got every other game right today...except the Texas game. Makes it sting even more.

The only silver lining here is that Duke barely beat Texas, which means they'll get crushed by Villanova next round. Meh.

*listening to The Eyes of Texas*

*sobbing*

A Maddening End to Day 2

Two overtime games to close out Friday night, upsets galore, plus a few busted brackets...that's the good stuff!

And kindly move over, WVU: you've got company on the shit list.

Florida State and Wake Forest were bounced in the first round, sending two more of my Sweet 16 teams home.

Many people had the Demon Deacons going much further (to the Final Four and beyond in some cases), so they're understandably more devastated than I am.

Next up, the round of 32. This weekend's games determine the Sweet 16 and pretty much dictate whether you've got a shot in hell at winning your office pool.

Until tomorrow, may your brackets remain merely dinged up, and may all your games be called by either Gus Johnson or Bill Raftery. TO THE TIN!

Cockbag Of The Week: The West Virginia Mountaineers

Thanks to you clowns, I lost an Elite 8 team on Day 2.


That's right, hide your face in shame. Fuckos.

It's Not An Upset If Everybody Picks Them...

...but a shout-out to Western Kentucky for the win over Illinois tonight. If your pool's like ours, that means a big seven points (the difference in their seeding) as opposed to just one for picking the favourite.

Sadly almost everyone had the Hilltoppers topping the not-so-Fightin' Illini, so it won't be as huge a pickup as it would be otherwise.

And of course, kudos to Texas for Gopher-stomping Tubby and Minnesota.


I'll take my 12-4 Day 1 record and hope for at least the same amount of success tomorrow, if not more (I'm looking at you, USC, Arizona, and Temple).

And we got Gus tomorrow!

Midway through Day 1 of the Madness...

And I'm not totally out of it yet! (Though Cal St. Northridge tried to make that happen.)

Just two missteps so far: The Butler did it (if by "did it" you mean let me down again) and Mississippi State (never trusting those hillbillies again).

Hoping my Longhorns don't embarrass me by going out to Tubby & the Gophers tonight.

The dudes who make the NCAA schedule are to be commended for leaving the two best upset candidate games for last (UCLA/VCU & Illinois/Western Kentucky).

It's gonna get crazy around The Score studios come 9:50 PM!

Madness (n): the state of being mad; insanity.

*crumpling up paper, filling out bracket for 87th time*

*looking up*

Oh, hey, Didn't see you there.

So, you may have heard there's this big basketball tournament starting this week. And the rumour is that it gets a little crazy. MAD, even.

This is the one time of the year where pro sports takes a back-seat to the college game, and with good reason.

It's arguably the most exciting few weeks of the sports calendar year and certainly the best time to be working at The Score; we have exclusive Canadian rights, we hype the hell out of it, and deservedly so.

So unless something monumental happens in the Big 4 pro sports scene, don't expect to read anything non-March Madness related till about April. Deal with it.

As for predictions? Well, as communicated above, I really have no idea. This projects to be one of the most unpredictable tourneys in NCAA history, and it's anyone's guess as to who will come out of it.

I do have one admittedly biased pick for you: Texas will beat Minnesota, and then beat Duke. Why? Because fuck Duke, that's why.

Also, what other team's cheerleaders wear chaps? Answer: none.



Enjoy the Madness, hope your brackets don't get busted and good luck in your pools.

Ready For March Madness Yet?

Syracuse beat UConn tonight 127-117 in SIX OVERTIMES (!) to advance to the semis in the Big East tournament.

Remarkably the Orange never led in any of the overtimes until the final one. Jeez.

The game lasted almost four hours, or to put it another way, about as long as an average West Coast baseball game (anybody who's had to wait for a 10 PM Giants/Padres game to end knows what I'm talking about).

It's the longest game in Big East history and the second longest Division I game ever.

Imagine if this happened in the actual tournament? How would you top that?

And Syracuse has to play tomorrow/later tonight!

*channelling Gus Johnson*

College basketball! THIS is March Madness!