Bracketology With Chris

I can't believe it, but it is that time of year again: the NCAA Tournament! In fact, this is my second favorite time of year, behind Christmas of course. I love tourney time not only because there's a boat load of college hoops on, but because of the passion and heart you see out on the court that you mostly don't see in the NBA. It's just something about college basketball that I love! So now I present to you Bracketology With Chris...

Second/Third Rounds

After the First Four (technically first round) I think these rounds will be pretty uneventful; however there may be a couple of games to pay close attention to:

• Temple vs. Penn State~The Nittany Lions are coming off a tremendous run in the Big Ten tourney and are playing against a deflated Temple team after falling to Richmond who earned a 12 seed in the NCAA Tourney
•  Vanderbilt vs. Richmond~Although I picked the Commodores to win, they need to be on alert with this Richmond team who has won 12 straight games going into the postseason, including the upset of Temple in their conference championship
• Wisconsin vs. Belmont~I may pay for it later but I have Belmont beating Wisconsin. I took a look at the season stats so far and Belmont has a sizeable margin over Points Per Game (PPG), FG%, and FT%. It's not impossible because some of the "Bracketology" guys on ESPN predicted this as well.
• St. John's vs. Gonzaga~Again, I'm going with the underdog which would be the Zags. I've always liked what Mark Few can put together come tourney time and I don't think his team won't show up for this game.
• UCLA vs. Michigan State~Tom Izzo always brings his team to play come tourney time as well, I see them getting past the Bruins but falling to Florida in the second round.

Sweet 16

Again, not too many surprises here, although I like Texas to beat Arizona and meet Duke in an interesting Sweet 16 matchup. In the same bracket, I like San Diego State to knock off Penn State and meet Connecticut. Surprisingly, I think Kansas State can make a run and defeat both Utah State and Badger killer Belmont to take on Pittsburgh in the Sweet 16.

Elite 8

This is where it gets so tough.

• East~Ohio State vs. North Carolina
• West~Duke vs. Connecticut
• Southwest~Kansas vs. Notre Dame
• Southeast~Pitt vs. BYU

Once again, the Southeast may surprise you, but I think BYU has a good chance, especially with my player of the year Jimmer Fredette. He's not the only reason, though, as the entire team has looked pretty good against stiff competition.

Final Four

Ohio State vs. Connecticut and Kansas vs. Pittsburgh

Championship

Ohio State vs. Kansas

The Buckeyes, led by Freshman sensation Jared Sullinger, are just too strong for any team out there right now, and that's why I choose them to be the 2011 NCAA Champions! It should be a great next few weeks and I can't wait to see what happens!

To see all of my picks, click on the picture below.