Not wanting to make a contest or anything, but since theres now 32 teams left i thought I would throw out my final four:

Kansas
Oklahoma
Alabama
Georgia

Final: KS & OK
Champ: OK

i think bama loses today.

now that i'm feeling so smart, i think georgia goes down today.

sampson, you seem to be right on the money with your predictions.

what's your vibe on UCLA?

don't have any strong feelings yet. give me a few days and i'll come up with something.

feel like this rush kid may have been waiting for this game for a couple of years, since his brother had a bad experience with ucla. maybe nothing to it, but wouldn't be suprised to see the bruins lose and the rush kid to play big.

here in socal, forced to watch ucla game to conclusion while two good teams were competing at other regional. cannot understand why network didn't break away with one game tied and the other out of reach. great respect for kent state team that seemingly had 3 point oppurtunity taken away by bad call at end of regulation, yet gutted it up got to overtime and won the battle. many teams would have wined their way right out of the tourney. wish i had balls enough to out duke from tourney, but my crystal ball didn't see it.

You wonder what Wooden might have done with the kind of talent Lavin has...a bit of focus and discipline can go a long way...

That said, give the Bruins credit for taking out Cincinnati...Missouri wanted it more tonight, tho...

YoungBrig

The dry shooting spell was what did UCLA in.

i'm going to pick kent state today to beat indiana. grew up as a season ticket holder for indiana before coach knight was there. but the truth is kent state is a great team and although people are not recognizing it they went 17-1 in the mac conference and then one three straight to win the conference tourney, and this is no small feet. the mid-american conference is a great basketball conference and has many victories in the last ten years over top ranked major conference schools. kent actually beat indiana at san diego in the first round last year, and obviously they won't be intimidated. people are making a big deal out of there "cinderella story" but the truth is they were favored to beat oklahoma state, a two point dog to bama, and opened up a one point favorite to pitt. so how shocking can it be for a team to win two games as a favorite and one as a two point dog. today they are a 3 1/2 point dog and i see that as basically a pick em kind of game. indiana is coming off of a huge upset against duke and not so sure they can sustain the momentum. often teams come out flat after overachieving, and indiana did that on thursday. should be a fun game to watch and if kent does win, you can listen to the tv/radio guys show their ass by saying how unbelievable their run the final four was.

OK, new contest for a gold medal. Pick one of the Final Four teams and the amount by which they'll win the championship game.

Maryland by 5!

A Writing his Gold Medal acceptance speech right now kind of guy,

Out-of-Towner

Ootie:

I'll take Oklahoma by 9...

They are playing at an incredibly hi level right now...They utterly dismantled Arizona, who I thought was the no. 2 team after Duke...with Duke out, Oklahoma's momentum and physical presence will overwhelm a *slightly* overrated Maryland squad...

YoungBrig

Ootie
Good luck, this morning OU was -5.5 and Md -1.5.
I don't know nothing about basketball, just hoping Rangers beat Islanders tonight and beat Flyers on wed. What a sorry ass team, they get Bure, Murray, Poti then lose to Thrashers...

After reading Youngbrig's analysis, I'm tempted to mortgage the house on Oklahoma.

I apologize for the Rangers, Athos. It's painful watching them, so betting on them must be like pissing with a kidney infection. Thank God baseball season is almost here.

A New York kind of guy,

Out-of-Towner

Agree with YoungBrig's assessment, but just to be a LITTLE different, I'll make it a close game. Oklahoma by 3.

Oh yeah. GO FLYERS!

Ootie
I am going back to Rio in May.
Not only has Rio ruined TJ for me but also sports as I do not pay much attention to NHL and even the world cup.
At least I am going before the wc and not during it so I know I'll get my excitement back.

Flyers...I hate the Flyers...Shit I'll even root for the Bruins if I have to.

Kansas by 12. They haven't got anything else to live for in Lawrence.

Hoping that Kansas can take Maryland out, Oklahoma by 14

Kansas by seven over Olkahoma

By the way:
Oklahoma by 14 over Indiana
Kansas by two over Maryland in OT

Sorry for late pick. 2 1/2 minutes into first game, tied at 5-5.

Okla. beats Hoosiers.

Kansas beats Maryland in true title game.

Kansas suffers letdown Monday nite and Okla wins National title by 7 pts. at foul line late.

A pick for mi amigo, Methuselah.

looks like Indiana may pull it off.......they are up by 5 with about 1 minute to go..

nice pix guys oklahoma, i am picking maryland

The sweat is beading on my brow
With the realization now
If Maryland beats Kansas (if I may be so bold),
Ootie will wear that Medal of Gold!

A This neck is where the Gold belongs kind of guy,

Out-of-Towner (hehe)

Ah yes! The hundred plus hours of studying game tapes and statistics finally paid off. While accepting this award, I'd like to thank my agents, my producer, all the chicas I've skewered, my competitors (for pushing me to new heights), and Mrs Calabash wherever you are.

Let's see. I was publicly humiliated when the Yanks lost the World Series, euphoric when winning the Gold in the College football "Super Bowl" Game, pathetic during the pro football playoff competitions, and then college King of the World again tonight. So which is it? Am I Mr College Knowledge or just an up and down hombre?

A Maybe both kind of guy,

Out-of-Towner

Ootie: Will you settle for being an expert on "Evil" chicas and Durante? LOL

BTW looks like I should stick to picking the NFL

Ootie... it looks like you lapped the field here even before the championship game! LOL...

Farsider...I'd rather be lapping a few TJ chicas instead of lapping the field. Without committing a sacrilege or offending the Christians here, you could say I was like Christ on Easter: I rose again from the dead.

It's a great feeling not having to worry about the result of the championship game. It's sorta like betting the over in football and at half time you've won the bet already. Now it's time to sit back and enjoy.

Jocannon...maybe we should all combine our specific expertise (i.e. you NFL, me college, Farsider general all-around sports knowledge, etc) and create a 1-900-TJPICKS company for sports advice (and guarantee ourselves a profit instead of donating to the gambling establishments).

A Knows Durante (as opposed to Durante's nose) kind of guy,

Out-of-Towner

I AM PICKING INDIANA PLUS 8 POINTS, THERE IS NO WAY MARYLAND WILL WIN BY MORE THEN A FEW POINTS, SELL YOUR HOUSE, THE CAR AND ALL YOUR STOCKS AND BET THE FARM ON INDIANA WITH THE POINTS

i have to give credit to indiana for winning games using different styles. at the very least they exploit a teams weakness, and make the best of it. going back a week, i picked kent to beat indiana and if they were to play again, i'd make the same pick. woulda, coulda, shoulda---but if indiana 15-19 on three's in that game, cools down to 50% on three point shots--well they don't win that game. not sour grapes, just an observation. am going to do something i don't rarely do. going to lay the eight. maryland is on a mission, and history has been kind to team that made a run the previous year and got back to the final four. of course history will tell you indiana has never lost a championship game as well. maryland to deep, highly motivated and will get out to an early lead and sustain. mr cat i don't want your house, your stocks, your car or any of that. maybe a session with your favorita--lol. good luck to all that put up their hard earned money.
btw--this is only a game and the book or your man isn't going to pay you anymore for this game than he would for an exhibition basketball game, so please treat it like one game on one day out of 365.

i still thinking indian will cover the 8.5 point, i know maryland will win the game but laying that many points in the final game seems unrealistic, considering that they beat duke, i will take the 8.5 with indiana

please send your donations to me for i have lost everything i owned and possessed, i will no longer will be able to post due to the fact i have to sell all my computers to cover the losses occured from the indiana blunder, thanks alot indiana, what happened after they tied the game at 40-40.

sat cat, i know you're just playing, but that is why i made my comments above. some guys think that a super bowl or championship game merits a bigger wager than normal. why? we have games to bet on everyday and a maryland-indiana game on a saturday in december might be a game we don't even bet on with a full board to look at.
yeah i got lucky, and i felt that i was going to loose when indiana took the lead. that's what happens when we gamble, you feel like you picked the right team and then you ended up paying anyway.

WELL SINCE YA WON, PLEASE DONATE TO MY DON;T BET ON INDIANA FUND

Congrats to Ootie. I was happy to see Indiana do well without that Knight scumbag around.

We might as well get this started.

Az looked really really good in their first game. I think they will go undefeated in the Pac 10.

Boy I kinda felt sorry for (19th ranked) Western Kentucky, they were down by 30 in the 1st half.

If you think about it, their starting shooting guard, last years freshman of the year didnt play (sprained ankle). Also they committed over 20 turnovers, imagine how devastating this team will be when they lower that number.

The defense with the full court press is awesome. The scary thing is this was the first game of the season, Coach Olsen being a perfectionist and very detail oriented, you know they are gonna improve from Sat. performance.

They had 7 players score in double figures, a true freshman led the scoring with 22 points, and no one played more than 26 minutes.

They start Pac-10 play in Oregon (very tough) game. They also play number 4 Texas and number 2 Kansas. Those 3 games will be the toughest challenges of the year barring letdowns for lesser teams. (which is always possible)

Looks like a good year in Wildcatland

Tomorrow I'll be buying my tix for the asu vs. U of A game in Jan........

I was also impressed by the fact that they had so many good players and no single dominating player.

Luke Walton has to be one of the most improved players over the past four years. Every year he gets better from a reather mediocre freshman year. I mean he is starting to look like his dad. Will maybe not that good, but a really smart player.

Luke is the man,

he's one of those classic players that is
not the fastest, strongest, not the highest
jumper, not the best shooter.

What he has is some of the best basketball genetics, and a whole lotta b-ball smarts.

Hope he gets a chance at the next level. I
think he might surprise alot of people, playing
within the team concept, we really dont know
what he can do individually.....

hey Ben,

Did you know that the AZ Wildcats are gonna play
SDSU this saturday?

Lute always tries to get his players (Walton) to play in their hometown before there elgibility runs out.

Man I fucked up, I was originally suppose to cum to TJ this weekend have a Raiderfan friend that I usually make the trip with. We got our wires crossed and therefore the date. oh well

Hope you get a chance to see Cats. If I was gonna be in town, I would have to take a mongering break to go to the game.

Game is a sellout as of this morning

you know

it wouldnt surprise me if there is a pretty large contingency of U of A fans there. I was reading that this the first time the Cox Arena has sold out in six years. There are ALOT of Arizona alumni throuout So Cal.

Atleast you can always hear a lot of cheering when they play at UCLA or SC...........

What are the chances that Adelitas will have the final four contests (college hoops) on Apr. 5 on the tube? Do they usually show major American sporting events?

If not....where else can one see the games?
Caliente?? others???

thx
jd

I am sure Caliente will have the final four on so we can watch Arizona kick butt.

There use to be a Caliente in the ally behind(south) of Adelitas. Of course there are are two Caliente's on Revolucion and also two located in the Hotel Pueblo Amiggo area.

I hope AZ kicks butt...

Hell, any of the following
should/could be there and win

Kentucky, Oklahoma, Florida,
Kansas, Texas, Pittsburgh,


should be fun

yeah ok ... I think the ghosts of santa clara, middle tenn. state, and miami ohio.... one and out, baby.. ASU ALL THE WAY THIS YEAR BABY!!! lol...

typical ASU commentary

zzzzzzzzzzzz(lol)

closing the gap, eh? (lol)

Hey if you had a couple more players like Ike Diogi(sp?), (however you spell his last name)your post would be credible.

I do agree that there really isn't a dominant team, but AZ has decent talent and smarts in its seniors and incredible potential from the young players.

well, there is another frosh. player that had to reshirt, Serge Angon something, lol. he is like Ike, big , quick and fast, but blew out his knee after the second game this year, had to sit out the season... UA really has it going for them win it, excellent guard play (garndner) and the best big man passer in college (Walton)... I do hope ASU can make it to the sweet 16 at least...

Happyboy,

Good luck until we meet in the Pac Ten Tournament or the NCAA's.

A Wildcat team has a good chance of winning it all, I am just not sure it is the AZ Wildcats.

i see where coach knight will not accept his salary from texas tech this year. read an article today where he said he failed as a teacher, and that he will take the blame and not put it on the players. guessing this could be some kind of motivation for the troups to "nad up" for the conference tourney.

say what you want about the man, but his players go to class and they graduate. they are productive in life after school. he must have at least 10 former assistants coaching division one teams--including coach "k". if i ever had a son who was capable of playing at that level i would encourage him to play at a school coached by coach knight.