Parity Equals Pandemonium

Since St. Patrick’s Day was a bit rougher than I imagined it would be, I’m a little late getting this up as I rush out the door. But I simply could not let the tournament begin before letting you all know who is going to win the games being played today and tomorrow. So here are my picks for the first round games, which also just so happens to be the two best days in sports, period. There is no great team this year and a lot of mediocre ones so expect a ton of upsets in these first two days. And if you’re curious about who will be playing in the final four it will be Baylor, Kansas, Kentucky and Syracuse with Kentucky edging Kansas for the national title. I know everyone loves Kansas because of their experience, but often talent trumps experience and the Wildcats have two of the best players in the country in John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins. Now on to the picks.

Sherron Collins probably won't even be needed as Kansas cruises by Lehigh.

Midwest

#1 Kansas over #16 Lehigh. Best team in the tournament won’t be first team to lose to 16 seed.

#9 Northern Iowa over #8 UNLV. Lon Kruger has UNLV back to respectability but Jordan Eglseder will prove to be too much down low.

#5 Michigan State over #12 New Mexico. Tom Izzo is too good of a tournament coach to lose this game.

#4 Maryland over #13 Houston. Did you really expect me to pick anything else?

#6 Tennessee over #11 San Diego State. With suspended forward Tyler Smith Tennessee might be a #2 seed, but even without him they can beat SDSU.

#3 Georgetown over #14 Ohio. Bobcats will suffer from Hoya Paranoia circa 1984.

#10 Georgia Tech over #7 Oklahoma State. James Anderson’s a stud, but Derrick Favors and Gani Lawal will be too talented for the rest of the Cowboys to contend with.

#2 Ohio State over #15 UC Santa Barbara. Evan Turner, I need say no more.

If you don't know about Clemente yet, you soon will.

West

#1 Syracuse over #16 Vermont. Yes, Vermont did beat the Orangemen a few years back but that has no bearing on this game in which they will get blown out.

#8 Gonzaga over #9 Florida State. Gonzaga hasn’t been at their best but they match up well enough to knock off the Seminoles.

#12 UTEP over #5 Butler. Louisville transfer Derrick Caracter is too big and too strong for the guard-heavy Bulldogs to handle.

#13 Murray State over #4 Vanderbilt. The Racers will run over the Commodores before they even get a chance to crack a LSAT prep book.

#6 Xavier over #11 Minnesota. All for One and One for All to Musketeers scream as they blitz the Gophers.

#3 Pittsburgh over #14 Oakland. This Oakland is in Michigan which makes it way less cool than if it was in LA so therefore they aren’t cool enough to beat the Panthers of Pittsburgh.

#7 BYU over #10 Florida. Florida shouldn’t even be in this tournament so how can they beat Jimmer Fredette and the no-drink, no-sex Cougars?

#2 Kansas State over #15 North Texas. Denis Clemente is too fast for those beer-guzzling Texans too handle.

Hobson is the best player you never heard of.

East

#1 Kentucky over #16 East Tennessee State. ETSU has nary a chance.

#8 Texas over #9 Wake Forest. Once ranked #1 in the country this year Texas has too much talent for the undeserving Deacons to handle and will win easily.

#5 Temple over #12 Cornell. Everyone loves Cornell but Temple is too talented for them.

#13 Wofford over #4 Wisconsin. The first time’s a charm as the Terriers keep the party going and their dancing shoes on for another night.

#11 Washington over #6 Marquette. The PAC-10 sucked but Washington has a lot of talent, or at least enough to overcome the overachieving Golden Eagles.

#3 New Mexico over #14 Montana. The Lobo’s Darington Hobson is the best player you never heard of.

#7 Clemson over #10 Missouri. Oliver Purnell has to turn it around eventually doesn’t he?

#2 West Virginia over #15 Morgan State. The Mountaineers will buck the Bears with no problem.

Get to know Baylor's LaceDarius Dunn because you'll be seeing a lot of him over the next few weeks.

South

#1 Duke over #16 Arkansas-Pine Bluff. Duke sucks, but not enough to lose to the pathetic play-in winner, who should be Kansas’ opponent by the way.

#8 California over #9 Louisville. Jerome Randal can shoot the lights out and will against the Cardinals.

#5 Texas A&M over #12 Utah State. Mormon schools are always a little weird aren’t they?

#13 Siena over #4 Purdue. No Robbie Hummel means not a chance for Purdue in this tournament so why not pick them to lose here?

#6 Notre Dame over #11 Old Dominion. The Irish are playing extremely well right now and with Luke Harangody finally healthy the Monarchs have nobody that can handle him.

#3 Baylor over #14 Sam Houston State. You have to love a school that was in the middle of the Branch Davidian scandal.

#7 Richmond over #10 Saint Mary’s. No Patty Mills for the Gaels means they’ll struggle distributing the ball and the Spiders will catch them in their web.

#2 Villanova over #15 Robert Morris. Villanova is overrated but not enough to lose to the pathetic Colonials.