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

Clemson vs UAB March Madness 2011

Stop the presses Clemson won during March Madness for the first time in over a decade, 14 years to be exact (beat Tulsa in the second round 1997) and they did it in style beating UAB 70 to 52. Clemson was led in the big win by a career night by Jarai Grant, he had 22 points a personal collegiate best. Clemson has to play West Virginia next and they are big underdogs in our opinion, however unlike those who are worried they are doubly challenged by going on short rest we think it will be a benefit to them and that game will be closer than you think. A loss is going to be a loss though no matter how you cut it.

UNC Asheville vs Arkansas Little Rock - March Madness 2011

March Madness 2011 got off to the start we like to see with the first game of UNC Asheville vs Arkansas State going to OT after Asheville overcame a 10 point Arkansas State second half lead . Asheville won 81 to 77 to be the first team moving on and they will play Pitt next. Matt Dickey and J.P. Grimm both had 22 points for Asheville in the winning effort. Believe it or not UNC Asheville now has an all time winning record in March Madness at 2-1, that likely will change shortly but this really was a great tournament moment.

March Madness 2011 Second Round Picks

These are our March Madness 2011 Second Round Picks now that we have had some real time to look over the bracket, and we have tried to include our thoughts on each game. As most of you hopefully know with the expansion of March Madness the second round is basically what the first round used to be.

East Region Second Round Picks.

1 Ohio State versus 16 (Texas San Antonio or Alabama State) This is like the freebie question on a test, trust us they are harder from here. Ohio State might not win by as many as you think because they aren't that type of number 1 overall seed but they will probably still win by 25.

8 George Mason vs 9 Villanova - See things got tougher in a hurry do you take the 9th best team in the East that stumbled down the stretch or do you take a team that has won their last like 16 out of 17 games? We take George Mason this isn't their first time at the dance and we think that they are more than capable of beating a Villanova squad that has grown very used to l
losing.

5 West Virginia vs Clemson - Clemson had to win in the first round just to get a chance at West Virginia, Clemson took apart UAB 70 to 52 and we think this is going to be the game that next year people point to the play in teams might have an advantage in the second round as Clemson will stay real close with West Virginia but in the end they fall to the Mountaineers. 

4 Kentucky vs 13 Princeton - Kentucky coach John Calipari would likely be working at an Ivy League institution like Princeton if basketball was a normal school subject, but in basketball Kentucky is an Ivy League institution and Princeton is lucky to have good students sometimes. The coaching gives this game to Kentucky alone.

6 Xavier vs 11 Marquette - We really like Xavier but Marquette is a dangerous team for an 11, we doubt the Marquette players even think one bit they are an underdog. Marquette has played a tougher schedule, we go with Marquette. 

3 Syracuse vs 14 Indiana State - Welcome back to March Madness Indiana State, unfortunately you are short one all time great player to beat Syracuse, Syracuse moving on.

7 Washington vs 10 Georgia - How is Georgia even as high as a 10 seed, despite that fact we think they beat Washington as the SEC might still be a little better than the PAC 10 this season.

2 North Carolina vs 15 Long Island - North Carolina despite the setback versus Duke coming into its own as the young studs find their footing, could Long Island ever become a Cinderella school sure if they got the right NY sleeper stud but they don't have it this year. UNC moving on.

West Region March Madness 2011 Second Round Picks

1 Duke vs 16 Hampton - Finally the test maker put another easy one on here, we like the experience of Duke and then you combine that with the HOF coaching and we think that will be enough for Duke to bring down Hampton.

8 Michigan vs 9 Tennessee - Michigan will win this game, they have a great young squad going and this will be their jumping off point. Tennessee is run by a slime and they will frankly get what they deserve.

5 Arizona vs 12 Memphis - There aren't a lot of good teams in the PAC 10 and we can't even be sure that Arizona is that good of team but again we think they have better coaching which means something to us in March, so Arizona moves on but not by much.

4 Texas vs 11 Oakland - Oakland has a big 6-11 stud in Keith Benson so it is very tempting here to go for the big upset but we can't do it because we need Texas later on in our bracket. If you have Oakland nice try but do you really want to move them on past Arizona as well?

6 Cincinnati vs 11 Missouri - Missouri can score an awful lot at times, we are going with the upset here. Kind of an unusual pick for us as We do think the Big East is much better than the Big Twelve but we think Missouri might catch Cincy off guard.

3 Connecticut vs 14 Bucknell - Big time players can do a lot for a team in March, Connecticut has one of those just ask the guys in the Big East, Bucknell does not so they will go home early.

7 Temple vs 11 Penn State - Penn State has been playing really hungry of late led by the play of senior Taylor Battle, Penn State takes down Temple.

2 San Diego State vs 15 Northern Colorado - We aren't completely sold on San Diego State but we do know they are better measurably than Northern Colorado, this should be a typical game for San Diego so they move on.

Southwest March Madness 2011 Second Round Picks

1 Kansas vs 16 Boston University - Kansas is a very good team, it was nice to be reminded that Boston has a University and a College but a Boston All Star team isn't good enough in basketball to beat Kansas.

8 UNLV vs 9 Illinois - As typical this is a hard 8 vs 9 game to predict. We have to go with the team from the better conference with more solid wins and that is Illinois.

5 Vanderbilt vs 12 Richmond - Richmond has been rolling late this season, they have senior forward Justin Harper and they shoot a pretty high percentage so we are taking them in the upset. We have to be honest though part of our reasoning is Louisville will smoke either moving forward.

4 Louisville vs 13 Morehead State: Morehead State lost to Eastern Illinois this season, enough said! Louisville moving on. 

6 Georgetown vs 11 USC or VCU - We like USC over Georgetown, March Madness is no place to end an epic losing streak and Georgetown is on the wrong wave.

3 Purdue vs 14 St. Peters - Purdue is licking its wounds after to straight losses that weren't pretty but they got a good team to get their mojo back, Purdue has 2 Naismith finalists we feel that will be enough in the March Madness 2011 second round vs any 14 seed.

7 Texas A and M vs 10 Florida State - Texas A and M can't seem to beat a really good team but luckily Florida State is just the sort of average team they beat with regularity, we like Texas A and M.

2 Notre Dame vs 15 Akron - Akron hasn't played a team in the same stratosphere as Notre Dame all season,  and they haven't beaten the "quality" opponents they have faced so Mr Hansbrough and Notre Dame we will see you moving on.

Southeast Region March Madness 2011 Second Round Picks

1 Pitt vs 16 N.C. Asheville - Asheville won the play in game and that is one more win than half the teams in March Madness 2011 if not more, but they don't get another win. 

8 Butler vs 9 Old Dominion - This is a game to tune into we want to see what happens, Butler didn't look to have it this year but they have come on strong. Neither of these teams has faced quality enough competition to get a great read on them, we go with the hot team that has a really good taste in their mouth from last year, Butler moving on. 

5 Kansas State vs 12 Utah State - Utah State is a real nice solid team and they shoot the ball better, we go with Utah State in this one.

4 Wisconisn vs 13 Belmont - A lot of people are over Belmont with the upset, 13 seeds don't win very often and they usually don't beat a team with 2 Naismith Award finalists. Could Belmont win sure, but this is more of a suckers bet than an educated choice.

6 St. Johns vs 11 Gonzaga - We like all of those seniors on St. Johns to take down Gonzaga without much trouble. St. Johns hasn't been dancing in a while and Gonzaga is here every year but we are very confident Steve Lavin will have the Red Storm ready to live up to their March Madness 2011 potential.

3 BYU vs 14 Wofford - BYU is a little shorthanded but it won't matter against Wofford, it will matter in the next round though.

7 UCLA vs 10 Michigan State - UCLA drew a really bad team to draw, who wants to face MSU in March? Sure if this was a typical UCLA team this would be must see TV, but this is a UCLA squad that closely represented the rest of the averageness in the PAC 10 this season so they go down to the well prepared Spartans.

2 Florida vs 15 UC Santa Barbara - Finally another easy pick, UC Santa Barbara features junior forward Orlando Johnson and his 21.1 points per game and they could use a couple more players like him to beat Florida. Florida is our last pick to win.

Well it should be interesting to see how we do, you will notice we weren't to afraid of upsets but hopefully you don't think we went overboard. Any March Madness 2011 second round picks you really have a problem with.