March Madness Predictions

I wanted to write about something more substantial, but a combination of other things I need to write about, fatigue, and needing to get up early in the morning to catch a bus have compelled me to blog something a lot shorter.

I thought about a few other things, then I thought, Hey, one of the reasons I don't want to blog so long tonight is because I want to watch the tournament games tomorrow!

So, my Final Four are three 1-seeds, Ohio St., Kansas, and Duke, and -- wait for it -- 13-seeded Belmont!  Yes, the advanced sabermetrics are all over the Bruins.  Add the incredible softness of the Southeast Region, where Pittsburgh, Florida, BYU and Wisconsin all reside, and I think Belmont makes history here.

But they will get crushed by Kansas in the Final Four, which will defeat Ohio St. (after beating defending champ Duke) handily.

Other things:

• Notre Dame, a 2-seed, will go down in the second round.
• Without Brandon Davies, 3-seeded BYU will also go down in the second round.
• There's always one double-digit seed from the BcS Six that reaches the second weekend.  My pick: Michigan St.
• In fact, the Southeast Region will be in a shambles: Belmont plays the Spartans in that region's final.  Yes, a 10 vs. a 13.