The initial weekend of the NCAA Tournament laid further waste to my bracket. As of the Sweet Sixteen, only ten of the spots are occupied by winners I picked. The East Regional was the worst, where I picked only one of the four winners. I’m sure I have a lot of company here, though, since not many people likely anticipated both Villanova and Duke to go down in the second round. I may consider Duke as an upset candidate for future brackets. They’ve coughed up a few high seeds of their own over the years, and they may be the kind of team where previous glory can obscure current-year weaknesses. On the other hand, maybe they just didn’t happen to match up well with South Carolina.
Good to see that Oregon made it to the Sweet Sixteen, and they seem to have a favorable matchup in their first upcoming game, with Michigan knocking off #2 Louisville. Maybe that’s where the football Ducks’ winning mojo went, and UO will go from being a gridiron power to a hardwood contender along with the Dukes and the Kansases of the world. In any case, it’s good to know that Phil Knight’s money isn’t going to waste.
