This might be a long shot, and it has nothing to do with music, but if there are any other college basketball fans on this forum, would anyone be interested in a just-for-fun NCAA Tournament pool?

(Before anyone in Europe or Oceania asks, NCAA stands for National Collegiate Athletic Association. Every March, they stage their 65-team college basketball tournament, and it's the most bet-upon sporting event in the US.)

I'm putting the finishing touches on my picks right now, and I'll post them in a little bit. If anyone wants in, post your choices before the first game tips off tomorrow (noon, Eastern time, 11:00 am where I am).

If not, no worries...it just occurred to me that since the bracketology meme is already out on the forum, it might be fun. (I'll be OK--I'm entering three other pools myself.)

Sure, if there are a few more people that join in. I'm in three pools as well.

I'm assuming we need to have a clue what the teams and their capabilities are to participate?

Well, yeah, Stephan, that would help.

The teams are split into four regions and seeded from #1 to #16 in each region, so you can kind of get a general idea of who's better than who.

(Of course, there are always apocryphal stories of people who win their pools by picking teams on the basis of their colors or mascots.)

You can find the tournament field here. If you want more insight about the teams, try this page for starters...but there are probably hundreds of sites you could look at.

I guess I should break the ice...here are my picks:

FIRST ROUND
EAST: North Carolina, Indiana, Notre Dame, Washington State, Oklahoma, Louisville, Butler, Tennessee.
MIDWEST: Kansas, UNLV, Clemson, Siena, Kansas State, Wisconsin, Davidson, Georgetown.
SOUTH: Memphis, Oregon, Michigan State, Pittsburgh, Marquette, Stanford, St. Mary’s, Texas.
WEST: UCLA, Texas A&M, Drake, Connecticut, Purdue, Xavier, Arizona, Duke.

SWEET 16
EAST: North Carolina, Washington State, Louisville, Butler.
MIDWEST: Kansas, Clemson, Wisconsin, Georgetown.
SOUTH: Memphis, Pittsburgh, Marquette, Texas.
WEST: UCLA, Connecticut, Xavier, Duke.

ELITE EIGHT: Washington State, Louisville, Kansas, Wisconsin, Memphis, Texas, UCLA, Duke.

FINAL FOUR: Louisville, Kansas, Texas, UCLA.

CHAMPIONSHIP: Texas 77, Kansas 75.

This NCAA thing confuses the hell out of me - I'm more of an NBA fan...

Let's make it so that every round you get 2 more points for a correct pick. Then we can keep track of our own picks and scoring and maybe post after every day. Unless you want to keep track of it schleuse, but I don't see the harm in letting everyone score themselves.

FIRST ROUND
EAST: North Carolina, Arkansas, Notre Dame, Washington State, St. Joes, Louisville, Butler, Tennessee.
MIDWEST: Kansas, UNLV, Clemson, Vanderbilt, USC, Wisconsin, Davidson, Georgetown.
SOUTH: Memphis, Mississippi St., Temple, Pittsburgh, Marquette, Stanford, St. Mary’s, Texas.
WEST: UCLA, BYU, Drake, Connecticut, Baylor, Xavier, West Virginia, Duke.

SWEET 16
EAST: North Carolina, Washington State, Louisville, Tennessee.
MIDWEST: Kansas, Clemson, USC, Georgetown.
SOUTH: Memphis, Pittsburgh, Marquette, Texas.
WEST: UCLA, Connecticut, Xavier, Duke.

ELITE EIGHT: North Carolina, Tennessee, Kansas, Georgetown, Memphis, Texas, Connecticut, Duke.

FINAL FOUR: North Carolina, Georgetown, Texas, Connecticut.

CHAMPIONSHIP: North Carolina 79, Connecticut 67.

Actually, John, I'll let you keep track. It's looking like it may just be the two of us, anyway (and before the Elite 8, our picks aren't that different).

I hereby anoint you the NCAA bracketologist of Acclaimed Music (not that I have any power to do that, of course...). Unless you don't want to...

I guess I can do that. It would be great if we got a few more to enter. Heck, my wife fills one out every year and hasn't watched a college basketball game in 6-7 years and she's beat me a couple times!

hey, i'm in...i'll post my picks as soon as i get a chance

I love March Madness.

FIRST ROUND
EAST: North Carolina, Indiana, Notre Dame, Washington State, Saint Joe's, Louisville, Butler, Tennessee.
MIDWEST: Kansas, UNLV, Villanova, Vandy, Kansas St, Wisconsin, Davidson, Georgetown.
SOUTH: Memphis, Mississippi St, Michigan St, Pittsburgh, Marquette, Stanford, St. Mary’s, Texas.
WEST: UCLA, BYU, Drake, Connecticut, Purdue, Xavier, Arizona, Duke.

SWEET 16
EAST: North Carolina, Washington State, Louisville, Butler.
MIDWEST: Kansas, Vandy, Kansas St, Georgetown.
SOUTH: Memphis, Pittsburgh, Stanford, Texas.
WEST: UCLA, Drake, Xavier, Arizona.

ELITE EIGHT: North Carolina, Louisville, Vandy, Georgetown, Memphis, Texas, UCLA, Xavier.

FINAL FOUR: North Carolina, Vandy, Memphis, Xavier.

CHAMPIONSHIP: Memphis 81, UNC 79.

man, some ballsy picks out there! i like it. also nice to see i'm not the only one picking Davidson (my alma mater) - i'd love to see them make the 2nd round!

Greg, my wife graduated from Davidson (she's gonna kill me for not picking them for the Sweet 16).

i know, i feel kinda bad. Steph Curry is amazing, but can they really beat G'Town? I mean, of course they can, but will they on that particular day?

what did your wife major in? I was English

Her degree was in music. Class of '98.

'03 - I'll be back down there in October for my 5-year. I didn't always love it while I was there, but I always look forward to going back and I keep in occasional touch with a few profs.

I believe there was only one music major in my class, but someone told me recently that she's now considered the #4 bassoonist in the world or something like that...? I didn't know they had rankings for such things...

We'll be there next month for her 10th reunion...and she wasn't a bassoonist, but a singer...don't know what her ranking is. Maybe I'll ask her (on second thought, maybe not).

Awesome! I've already filled out several brackets online, but I'll give it a go here as well!

Round 2:

East: North Carolina, Arkansas, Notre Dame, Winthrop, St. Joseph's, Louisville, Butler, Tennessee

Midwest: Kansas, UNLV, Villanova, Vanderbilt, Kansas St., Wisconsin, Davidson, Georgetown

South: Memphis, Mississippi St., Michigan St., Pittsburgh, Kentucky, Stanford, St. Mary's, Texas

West: UCLA, Texas A&M, Drake, UConn, Purdue, Xavier, West Virginia, Duke

Sweet 16:

East: North Carolina, Notre Dame, Louisville, Tennessee

Midwest: Kansas, Vanderbilt, Kansas St., Georgetown

South: Memphis, Pittsburgh, Stanford, Texas

West: UCLA, UConn, Xavier, West Virginia

Elite 8: North Carolina, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Georgetown, Memphis, Stanford, UCLA, Xavier

Final 4: Tennessee, Georgetown, Stanford, UCLA

Championship: Tennessee 89, UCLA 83

Other notes:

Tennessee got totally hosed as the proverbial last 2 seed. They are 1st in the RPI, for goodness sake! Not only that, but they either face a very underseeded Butler team (should have been a 4 or 5) or a South Alabama team playing in Birmingham in the second round. I'm banking on them taking this "slight" and letting it motivate them to a championship.

Duke is always overseeded, and in recent years, they have never advanced as far as their seed would indicate. I see the trend continuing here, whether they face WVa or AZ in Round 2.

Pairing Mid-majors against each other seems like a cruel ploy to eliminate them and guarantee that there won't be many left by the Sweet 16.

Memphis's reward for that 33-1 record? A number 1 seed in a region where Texas is Number 2, and the potential matchup would take place in Houston. Unfair!

UCLA always seems to get an easy road through to the Final 4.

Midaso, as much as I love college hoops, the NBA has my heart, as it has since I was 4. The West is so crazy this year! The first round matchups are looking like the best ever for one conference! It's a shame Denver and Portland are out of it, because they could do some major damage in the East! Heck, even Sacramento would be a playoff team in the East.

I really think UCLA has the hard road. If we're talking RPI (and I agree Tennessee got jobbed to not only get a #2 but have to play the #1 team overall) this is UCLA's final four road after the shoo-in if the top RPI's advance. #25 BYU, #10 Drake, #7 Duke. That's by far the hardest.

Denver is far from out of it! A game and a half, and if they could put a run together they are only 6 games out of first in the West! You're probably right about Portland though even though they still have some shot.

The RPI doesn't tell the whole story though. To me, Duke is definitely the least imposing 2 seed, and they would play across the country in Phoenix. UConn has been slumping, and although I like the Missouri Valley, Drake benefitted from it having a down year.

Doh! I meant "out of it at this point". Denver certainly has a pretty good chance, but I think Golden State will sneak in to get that 8 seed again.

College Basketball was a lot better when they had a real senior class. There are so many freshman dominating college basketball this year. Kansas or North Carolina my picks. Best freshmen if you to chose one.

Kevin Love
Micheal Beasley

ROUND 1

East: UNC, Arkansas, George Mason, Washington St.,St. Joe's, Louisville, South Alabama, Tennessee

Midwest: Kansas, Kent St., Clemson, Vanderbilt, USC, Wisconsin, Davidson, Georgetown

South: Memphis, Miss St. Michigan St., Pitt, Marquette, Stanford, St. Mary's, Texas

West: UCLA, A&M, Drake, UConn, Baylor, Xavier, West VA, Duke

Sweet 16

East: UNC, George Mason, Louisville, Tennessee
Midwest: Kansas, Clemson, Wisconsin, Georgetown
South: Memphis, Pitt, Marquette, Texas
West: UCLA, Drake, Baylor, Duke

Elite 8

East: UNC, Louisville
Midwest: Kansas, Georgetown
South: Pitt, Texas
West: UCLA, Duke

Final Four: UNC, Georgetown, Pitt, UCLA

Championship: UNC 76 UCLA 72

I don't buy that none of those teams deserve their RPI score. It may be, but one of those teams is going to knock off UCLA in my opinion.

Moonbeam, I have to point out that we have a pretty nice NBA team here in my hometown, even without Yao. The streak ended last night, but 22 wins in a row is hard to argue with.

Maybe they'll fold in the first round again, but would you want your team to play the Rockets right now?

John, I'm not saying that they don't deserve their ranking. The RPI is what it is, a statistical guess at the best teams in the country. Common sense tells me that I think Duke is by far the weakest 2 seed and that Drake might make the Sweet 16, but not advance further. That said, it's just my opinion, and you're certainly entitled to yours.

Schleuse, I would love for my team (Portland) to play Houston in the playoffs, because it would mean that they would qualify! Of my other favorite teams (Utah and Seattle), only Utah has a chance for qualifying for the playoffs, and I doubt they will face Houston in the first round. However, if recent history means anything, I guess I wouldn't mind facing Houston in another 7-game series.

Yeah, I agree the RPI isn't exact. But, it is usually pretty telling. I'm a huge Duke fan and I agree that they are a weak #2 so I don't think it'll be them. Duke has a pretty easy road though so I see them getting to the Elite 8. I think Drake might surprise...I really wanted to pick them for the final 4 but couldn't bring myself to do it on any of my brackets.

Nice to see another Rockets fan in the forum. I lived in Houston for a while during my youth and became a Rockets and Astros fan at that time. I was a Miami Dolphins fan (yeah, I know) before living in Houston, though. Although, I live near Seattle now, I've remained loyal to those three teams. But I do like the teams in Seattle now, at least until the Sonics move to Oklahoma City.
I'll put in my NCAA bracket later.

I have Drake in the Final Four in one of my brackets. I think of all the teams in the West they have the best chance of beating UCLA.

If the Supersonics move to Oklahoma City, it will break my heart! I've been a fan since Xavier McDaniel was lighting it up out there.

FIRST ROUND
EAST: North Carolina, Indiana, Notre Dame, Washington St., Saint Joseph's, Louisville, Butler, Tennessee
MIDWEST: Kansas, Kent St., Clemson, Vanderbilt, Kansas St., Wisconsin, Davidson, Georgetown
SOUTH: Memphis, Miss. St., Michigan St., Pittsburgh, Marquette, Stanford, St. Mary's, Texas
WEST: UCLA, BYU, Drake, Connecticut, Purdue, Xavier, West Virginia, Duke

SWEET 16
EAST: North Carolina, Notre Dame, Louisville, Tennessee
MIDWEST: Kansas, Vanderbilt, Wisconsin, Georgetown
SOUTH: Memphis, Pittsburgh, Marquette, Texas
WEST: UCLA, Connecticut, Purdue, Duke

ELITE 8: North Carolina, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Wisconsin, Pittsburgh, Texas, UCLA, Duke

Final Four: North Carolina, Wisconsin, Texas, UCLA

Championship: UNC 76 Texas 71

Hahaha the East is so weak the HEAT have only just been eliminated from Playoff Contention at 12-55 but still,I think the Pistons or Celtics will take the title this year

FIRST ROUND
EAST: North Carolina, Indiana, Notre Dame, Washington St., Saint Joseph's, Louisville, Butler, Tennessee
MIDWEST: Kansas, UNLV, Clemson, Vanderbilt, USC, Wisconsin, Davidson, Georgetown
SOUTH: Memphis, Miss. St., Temple, Pittsburgh, Marquette, Stanford, St. Mary's, Texas
WEST: UCLA, BYU, Drake, Connecticut, Purdue, Xavier, West Virginia, Duke

SWEET 16
EAST: North Carolina, Notre Dame, Louisville, Butler
MIDWEST: Kansas, Vanderbilt, USC, Georgetown
SOUTH: Memphis, Pittsburgh, Stanford, Texas
WEST: UCLA, Drake, Xavier, Duke

ELITE 8: North Carolina, Louisville, Kansas, Georgetown, Pittsburgh, Texas, UCLA, Xavier

Final Four: North Carolina, Kansas, Texas, UCLA

Championship: UNC 76 UCLA 72

ROUND 1

East: UNC, Ind, ND, Washington St.,St. Joe's, Louisville, South Alabama, Tennessee

Midwest: Kansas, UNLV, Clemson, Vanderbilt, USC, Wisconsin, Gonzaga, Georgetown

South: Memphis, Miss St. Michigan St., Pitt, Marquette, Stanford, St. Mary's, Texas

West: UCLA, A&M, Drake, UConn, Purdue, Xavier, Arizona, Duke

Sweet 16

East: UNC, Washington St., Louisville, Tennessee
Midwest: Kansas, Clemson, USC, Georgetown
South: Memphis, Pitt, Stanford, Texas
West: UCLA, UConn, Xavier, Duke

Elite 8

East: UNC, Tennessee
Midwest: Kansas, Georgetown
South: Pitt, Texas
West: UCLA, Xavier

Final Four: Tennessee, Kansas, Pitt, UCLA

Championship: UCLA 73 Tennessee 69

Today’s games are about to start. Just so everyone can keep track, here’s a quick cheat sheet for who picked which teams today:

GAMES IN WASHINGTON, D.C.

Everybody picked Xavier and Duke.

Purdue/Baylor:
John and AJackson have Baylor; everyone else has Purdue.

West Virginia/Arizona:
Penguin, Stammer and I have Arizona; everyone else has West Virginia.

****

GAMES IN OMAHA

Everybody picked Kansas and Wisconsin.

UNLV/Kent State:
AJackson and Greg have Kent State (a CSN&Y tribute, maybe?); everyone else has Nevada-Las Vegas.

USC/Kansas State:
Penguin, Moonbeam, Greg and I have Kansas State.
John, AJackson, Rocky and Stammer have USC.

****

GAMES IN DENVER

Everybody picked Pittsburgh.

Michigan State/Temple:
John and Rocky have Temple; everyone else has MSU.

Washington State/Winthrop:
Moonbeam has Winthrop; everyone else has Wazzu.

Notre Dame/George Mason:
AJackson has Mason; everyone else has Notre Dame.

****

GAMES IN ANAHEIM

Everybody picked Stanford and UCLA.

Marquette/Kentucky:
Moonbeam has Kentucky; everyone else has Marquette.

BYU/Texas A&M:
Moonbeam, AJackson, Stammer and I have A&M.
John, Penguin, Greg and Rocky have BYU.


Rotsa ruck, everyone!

My bracket breathes a BIG sigh of relief as Xavier pulls it together to beat an upstart Georgia team that held an 11-point lead in the 2nd half.

Let's hear it for obscure school Drake, where I went!

I didn't follow NCAA b-ball this year but was suddenly shocked when I found out Drake was doing so well. No one was very enthusiastic about them at my school and they hadn't made it to the tournament since 1970. Their games were just given a passing thought by most of us (although we were a pretty nerdy campus, so maybe we just didn't care).

Now they're suprisingly huge! Go Bulldogs!

Xavier is in the Final Four in my bracket, so I'm glad they won.

And I hope that Drake beats UCLA and gets to the Final Four. That would be the ultimate upset.

I suppose Penguin, you are referring to that late 60s final four game between UCLA in their ultimate prime, and Drake? I don't know the exact year.

At our freshman orientation, one of the former players who now worked at the University gave us a little motivational speech, and told us that Coach Wooden admitted that Drake v. UCLA game was the only game the Bruins should have lost.

This may be a continental divide thing, but I can't understand the juxtaposition of college and sports in the same sentence.
Surely college should be about loftier pursuits...like incipient alcoholism, chronic sexual frustration and getting so stoned that you sit in front of a video for an hour before you realise you've got it on pause.

Don't worry, it's about that too.

I'll bet John was a little nervous during the final stages of the Belmont game!

The one thing I hate about March Madness is you have a bunch of different emotions if you fill out multiple brackets. Duke losing would have been great on one of my money brackets and horrible in another which is the same as this one. Then you add in that I'm a Duke fan (not as much as I am a Gopher fan though) so I guess it evened out and I did want them to win in the end. Does that make sense?

Ooh good things are coming: My character confirmation spells out ABBA.

Yeah, the tournament always pulls me in different directions...I would have been thrilled if Belmont or Fullerton had won, even though if either of them had, they would have taken out one of my Elite 8.

My bracket's always in shreds by the end, anyway, so I'm hoping for a few out-of-the-blue upsets along the way (and I do have a #13 seed winning tomorrow).

John, are you officially our commissioner? I'm not sure we ever actually decided that...

Yeah, but I'm going to post tomorrow because I want to write out everybody's brackets for easy access.

Whoops, I almost forgot—here are today’s games and our picks:

GAMES IN BIRMINGHAM

Everybody picked Tennessee and Louisville.

Butler/South Alabama:
AJackson and Stammer have South Alabama; everyone else has Butler.

Oklahoma/St. Joseph’s:
I have Oklahoma, everyone else has St. Joe’s (uh oh).

****

GAMES IN RALEIGH

Everybody picked Georgetown and North Carolina.

Gonzaga/Davidson:
Stammer has Gonzaga; everyone else has Davidson.

Indiana/Arkansas:
John, Moonbeam and AJackson have Arkansas; everyone else has Indiana.

****

GAMES IN LITTLE ROCK

Everybody picked St. Mary’s (!), Texas, and Memphis.

Mississippi State/Oregon:
I have Oregon; everyone else has Mississippi State (uh oh!).

****

GAMES IN TAMPA

Everybody picked Drake and Connecticut.

Vanderbilt/Siena:
I have Siena; everyone else has Vandy (UH OH!).

Clemson/Villanova:
Penguin and Moonbeam have ‘Nova; everyone else has Clemson.

I'm going to do an update tonight after the 1st round is done.

So much for Drake! I think I'll actually roll out an update in the next hour.

Too bad Drake lost. I liked that team too, jacking up threes from anywhere. But I do admit it was a great game.

Second round, day one: our picks.

Duke/West Virginia (Out: Penguin)
Moonbeam has WVU; everyone else has Duke.

Wisconsin/Kansas State (Out: John, Rocky, Stammer)
Penguin and Moonbeam have K-State.
AJackson, Greg and I have Wisconsin.

Xavier/Purdue (Out: AJackson)
Greg has Purdue; everyone else has Xavier.

Washington State/Notre Dame (Out: AJackson)
John, Penguin, Stammer and I have Wazzu.
Moonbeam, Greg and Rocky have Notre Dame.

Stanford/Marquette
Penguin, Moonbeam, Rocky and Stammer have Stanford.
John, AJackson, Greg and I have Marquette.

All eight of us picked Kansas, Pitt, and UCLA for the Sweet 16.

Down with Duke!

I wish I would have used my second bracket here...I'm doing much better in that one. Not great, but better!