March Madness 2012 Bracket Prediction: MSU National Champions

If you are filling out your March Madness 2012 bracket we have a prediction that will help you fill in a bunch of blanks with ease, pencil in Michigan State for being National Champions. We are not a big fan of the MSU program but they are playing undeniably the best ball the last week and will be the most well tested team coming into March Madness 2012. There also is no denying that coach Tom Izzo does his best work with a team overall in March leading several to the Final Four. We understand if you think Kentucky has to much talent but they are young and if you need something to push you over the edge just go back and compare Championship games for the Great coach Calipari versus the level of success for Izzo there actually is something to that. If that doesn't work for you think of the teams MSU played all year and then compare it to Kentucky, Big Ten versus SEC in basketball in 2012 is no contest just like the reverse of what the football folks will tell you.

March Madness 2012 Predictions: Marquette a Final Four Team

It is time for another of our March Madness 2012 Predictions and that is that Marquette will be a Final Four team. Marquette is a young and talented team that has that special mix of two very talented seniors to go with the youth. Marquette has won 12 of the last 13 games in the best conference in the nation the Big East, and that is not a fluke. A lot of you will look at that run and say they haven't been playing the big boys in the Big East during this stretch and discount them but you shouldn't because of that youth gelling with proven senior consistent performers.

Marquette has multiple talented players that can step up in the dance and that is always a good thing to look for plus the two seniors stars. There is a very good reason that Buzz Williams suspended four players including three starters for a half in their game versus West Virginia and that is he knows this team is special and he needs them focused going to March Madness because anything less than the Final Four as a goal won't do.

March Madness 2012 Predictions: Ohio State Is Solved

In our series of March Madness 2012 predictions this is a big one to get straight for your March Madness 2012 bracket, Ohio State is solved don't have them going to the Big Dance. We feel confident right here and now at this point in the season saying this, our March Madness 2012 prediction is the Buckeyes don't get past the Sweet Sixteen unless the stars align for them. The fact is the Buckeyes are a great defensive team when they are disciplined and we have no doubt they will be a great defensive team come March Madness despite their 3 out of 5 game loosing streak in which the defense has been shaky, but this team simply doesn't have the offensive fire power for a late March run.

The 2012 version of the OSU is like many Wisconsin Badger teams that have come and gone, they have a really great defense but not enough offense to compete against a team or even a single player they can't shut down. All it will take for the Buckeyes to loose during March Madness 2012 tournament is one player that makes it his mission to score in the biggest game of his life. The Big Ten has figured out the Buckeyes and despite it being harder to do that in the midst of the tournament one of them will.

March Madness 2012 Predictions: Ben Brust Will Make an Impact

We have an early March Madness 2012 prediction for you, the Wisconsin Badgers sophomore guard Ben Brust will make his precense known in a big way during March Madness 2012. Brust didn't play much at all for the Badgers last year but he is showing in this 2011-2012 season that he can be a prime time college offensive weapon. Brust can shoot his jumper from anywhere on the court and went 7 for 7 from three point range in a game this season. The most impressive thing on Brust and why teams will need to fear him during March Madness 2012 is that he can get himself open to take his deadly accurate long three point shots, often these guys can't do that but he can. We all know the Badgers will make like their 12 straight or something March Madness appearance if Brust can get it going the Badgers could get Bo Ryan to that NCAA Final Four that is missing from the resume.

March Madness 2011 Championship Game: Butler vs UCONN

Who would have thought that the March Madness 2011 Championship game would feature Butler vs UCONN. While a lot of the experts and even the president picked a ton of chalk to be in the Final Four we ended up with two teams virtually nobody but their most die hard fans picked to be in the Championship game. While we predicted a lot of upsets we didn't see these two either. UCONN we liked with Walker and their defense but we thought all it would take is one off night from Walker and they would be sent packing. Butler struggled this year at times and while they finished the regular season strong that was in the Horizon League, we are all for mid-majors but that league just wasn't great this year. So how did they get here, well the simple explanation is Walker for UCONN has been outstanding and Butler while they lost there top dog from last year returned pretty much the rest of last years championship team which clearly is just a winning combination of talent overall.

So you ask what is our prediction for the March Madness 2011 Championship game, we feel that the UCONN defense is going to be to much for UCONN to overcome. Even if Butler doesn't win this game give them a ton of credit because they already have done something truly remarkable. Of course the next question is what school will Butler's coach be at next season, he can't possibly stay can he.

March Madness 2011 Final Four: Odds Out The Window?

We told you all that March Madness 2011 was going to be the year of the upset, the thing is even we didn't see this coming with no 1 or 2 seeds in the Final Four and in there place teams like Butler and VCU. Of course we weren't like most with all number 1 seeds in the Final Four but even we thought Duke and Ohio State would meet there. Our logic for calling this the year of the upset was there weren't any truly great teams we could find this season, so we felt like everyone outside of Ohio State was very vulnerable and Duke we thought had the coaching to pull them through. When we looked at the Brackets we knew Uconn could make a run, Kentucky we called as a dark hoarse, Butler we didn't respect, and we had no clue like everyone else on VCU.

So the question is do you throw the NCAA Basketball Odds out the window again for the Final Four? First we want to say it sucks that VCU and Butler will be playing in the semis as we would much rather have seen if each of these two teams have one more upset in them, the good news is of course that everybody wants to see an underdog in the final game and it is now guaranteed. If you look at the stats and the tape on VCU you have to go with VCU pulling one last mini upset, but this game is really a pick em especially with Butler's prior Final Four Experience. In the other semi game we are going with UCONN as absent of a great team a great player on a mission is the next best thing.

March Madness 2011: San Diego State Overrated?

We have been saying San Diego State is overrated and with their close call versus Temple others are also wondering. Watch the video below and let us know what you think, but we still think they are overrated. Sure Temple is a nice team but they are a 7 seed for a reason and San Diego is in our mind more of a 5 or 6 than the 2 that they got, so are view is sure it was a close game and that is why we thought Temple or PSU had a great chance to beat them before the tournament started.

March Madness 2011 Impact Players Ben Hansbrough

Ben Hansbrough is one of the very best impact players in March Madness 2011. Of course his brother was a memorable player as well but Ben has a chance to equal his brother in that regard. Below is a nice recent interview with Ben Hansbrough.

March Madness 2011 Second Round Day 1 Talk

Well this was a truly great day of basketball for the first day of the March Madness 2011 second round. It is hard to know even where to start with all of the close games and some big upsets, plus some great individual efforts. We were liking the Richmond Spiders over Vanderbilt all they way and it happened with a hard fought game that Richmond came out on top of 69 to 66 despite being down as many as 11 points in the first half, unfortunately we didn't have them moving on in the next round but they have an interesting opponent now.

Of course the huge upset that we didn't have and probably not many did was Morehead State over Louisville, they won on a three by Demonte Harper with 4.2 seconds left 62 to 61. I mean who could have seen this coming, what a dream for the in state "rival" Morhead State but when you have a big guy who will play in the NBA and a hot shooter you have a shot against anyone. One interesting fact is that a 13 seed has defeated a 4 now for the fourth straight year and that this is the third time it has happened to a Big East team. Morehead State will take on Richmond in their next game, raise your hand if you had that.

Moving on to individual performances how about Kemba Walker folks, that man is on a mission. The most impressive thing about this game is he trusted his teammates and didn't force things and instead dished out 12 assists to go with 18 points and 8 boards. UCONN just took Bucknell apart with Walker doing his thing, final score 81 to 52. With Connecticut's defense and Walker playing well this team actually has a good chance to ride this wave of solid basketball to the Final Four.

For our next individual performances we go to a pair of them at the same school as Jordan Taylor and Jon Leuer showed that Seth Davis is just a babble head and not an expert as he somehow picked against a school with two Naismith Award Finalists versus a school without one of them or a single impact player on the roster. Impact players sort of help in March, Taylor had 21 points and 6 assists and Leuer had 22 points and 7 boards and both played solid defense. We told you not to pick Belmont and hopefully you listened.



Speaking of predictions we have had our fair share of ones that we came out wrong on, and if you followed us we are sorry but Penn State played a tough game before loosing to Temple 66 to 64, that one could have gone either way. The one that surprised us most again involved a Big Ten team as we really didn't see Michigan State having trouble with UCLA, but the Bruins showed us more than we thought they had with their 78 to 76 win.

We will leave you pondering this interesting point, yesterday the two basketball powers of Louisville and Kentucky could have lost to Morehead State and Princeton if Kentucky hadn't won 59 to 57 with the help of a layup by Knight with 2 seconds remaining.

March Madness 2011 Final Four Predictions

We have held out on giving our March Madness 2011 Final Four predictions, but here they are and no we didn't choose all number 1 seeds. Ohio State is in the toughest region but we decided we had to pick them to go to the Final Four as they are without a doubt the team with the least holes in the nation. Duke is probably in the second hardest region but we are going with them as well to make the Final Four based on strong upperclassmen leadership with a star player in Nolan and the best coach in the nation. We will not be going with Kansas as we believe the Big Twelve wasn't that strong this year and we just don't think this team has the hoarses that others do, instead we take Notre Dame led by Hansbrough. The last of our Final Four predictions is the toughest, we don't think Pitt is a very strong 1 seed but number 2 Florida is way over rated, and number 3 BYU we haven't been sky high on all year and now they are playing short so that has us digging pretty deep into the Southeast Region for that last Final Four spot and we had debated between Wisconsin, Butler, and St. Johns, and decided on St. Johns with very good coaching and a crazy number of seniors (if Wisconsin hadn't just went 2 for 21 in a game from beyond the arc they would have been the pick, and it was really a toss up)

So who is going to be playing in the National Mens Basketball Championship game? We have Ohio State defeating Notre Dame 74 to 62, so what do you have for March Madness 2011 Final Four predictions.

March Madness 2011 Teams by State

We like lists so here is one we try and do every year, the March Madness 2011 teams by state. Before the list a few thoughts we have about the list is what happened to basketball in California, Pennsylvania has 6 teams, both Alabama teams lost in the first round play in games, 29 states plus 1 district are represented, and Virginia is officially the mid major state. So what state has the best combination of teams, we will go with Pennsylvania but there is a strong case for North Carolina, Indiana and Ohio. Let us know your thoughts.

Alabama 
University of Alabama Birmingham
Alabama State

Arizona
University of Arizona

Arkansas
Arkansas Little Rock

California
San Diego State University
University of Southern California
UCLA
UC Santa Barbara

Colorado
Northern Colorado

Connecticut
University of Connecticut

Florida
Florida State
Florida

Georgia
University of Georgia

Indiana
Butler
Indiana State
Notre Dame
Purdue

Illinois
University of Illinois

Kansas
University of Kansas
Kansas State University

Kentucky
University of Kentucky
Louisville
Morehead State

Massachusetts
Boston University

Michigan
University of Michigan
Oakland
Michigan State

Missouri
University of Missouri

Nevada
UNLV

New Jersey
Princeton
St. Peters

New York
Long Island
Syracuse
St Johns

North Carolina
University of North Carolina
Duke
North Carolina Asheville

Ohio
Ohio State
Xavier
Cincinnati
Akron

Pennsylvania 
Pittsburgh
Villanova
Bucknell
Temple
Penn State

South Carolina
Clemson
Wofford

Tennessee
Belmont
University of Tennessee
Memphis
Vanderbilt

Texas
TX San Antonio
University of Texas
Texas A and M

Utah
BYU
Utah State

Virginia
George Mason
Hampton
Richmond
VCU
Old Dominion

Washington
University of Washington
Gonzaga

Washington DC
Georgetown

West Virginia
West Virginia University

Wisconsin
Marquette
University of Wisconsin