Feeling (Carolina) Blue

Well, there are plenty of people around here a lot more happy than I am. The University of North Carolina basketball team lost tonight as most of you know by now, and this crushes me. But I'm not really here to complain about a lackluster second performance and a historically bad overtime or anything like that. The thing I took the most out of this weekend is how for at least one year, parity is dead. If I was ESPN, I would have named this "Perish of Parity Weekend". With the types of postseasons we've seen recently, especially with the likes of a George Mason like year, it's almost unprecedented to see no lower than a 2 seed in the Final Four. If Carolina hadn't blown it, we would be looking at three 1 seeds and a 2 seed in UCLA which very well could have been a 1 seed. There very well could have been four 1 seeds in the Final Four, an NCAA tournament first. I don't think this signals the end of the surge of mid-majors, Cinderellas, and buzzer beaters, but this year at least, the best teams played good basketball when it mattered most. Look at a team like Ohio State. After rolling through 16th seed Central Connecticut, the Buckeyes saw their championship hopes flatline a couple of times, only to revitalize themselves and survive. Xavier and Tennessee both had Thad Motta's squad on the ropes in their respective games, but like good teams, Ohio State found a way to win. And Ohio State knew how to close out a game, hitting an absurd amount of free throws down the stretch against Memphis to turn a close one into a 16 point win.

There's no question who the best defensive team in the tournament is right now. The UCLA Bruins put on an absolute clinic on their road to the Final Four. They gave up 42, 54, 55, and 55 points in their four seperate games. Say all you want about the Pac-10, but the Bruins are also for real. Even Oregon looked solid all tournament representing the Pac-10.

Now is there a reason I only highlighted two teams? You betchya. Time for the picks...
Ohio State 78 - Georgetown 69...Greg Oden meets his biggest opponent in 7'2" Roy Hibbert of the Hoyas in a match-up of who can get the most quick fouls. I think Oden will play like the projected number one draft pick he is and Ohio State pulls away late.
UCLA 68 - Florida 60...Defense wins championships, and UCLA's will at least get them to the championship. Lee Humphrey shot the lights out for Florida against Oregon, but he hasn't seen a perimeter defense like UCLA's all year, and the rest of the Gators will struggle as a result. UCLA will have just enough offense, and Aaron Afflalo will have his best game of the tournament when it matters most.

Stay tuned for a national championship pick, but if those picks hold up, which they probably won't, I think I'm California Dreamin'...
That's all for tonight, have a good week kids.
-MC