March Madness has finally arrived for all College Basketball fans! The usual suspects in Kansas, North Carolina, Virginia and Oregon have all taken the #1 seeds, but it is anyone’s game for the big title. Bars and restaurants will be stocked full of fans over the next month, and two in particular are doing something super fun for everyone to enjoy- OYSTER MADNESS! That is right, Crave Fishbar, located in Midtown and The Upper West Side, is getting in on the action with a super fun activity that will get you to decide if you are more of a West Coast or East Coast fan. [Read more…] about Crave Fishbar Hosts #OysterMadness in Honor of March Madness
Ncaa
Picking Saturday’s Final Four Game’s
If you have a bracket similar to me or the majority of the country, your bracket is pretty much finished. If it lasted past the first weekend consider yourself a genius. I won’t drag on and bore you back #13 LaSalle or #15 FGCU heading to the sweet 16 because I am sure by know you know what they did. Let’s get to the Final Four.
- #1 (Overall) Louisville
- #4 Syracuse
- #4 Michigan
- #9 Wichita State
The way the bracket’s have shaped, The Louisville Cardinals will play the cinderella Wichita State Shockers at 6:05 PM and the Syracuse Orange will take on the Wolverines from Michigan at 8:49PM this Saturday April 6th. These game’s are tough, it would be easy to say that the Shockers will go down because they are a 9 seed taking on the number 1 overall, but they already have 4 wins in this tourny and have slain Goliath a few times and I don’t see why they couldn’t continue. ON THE OTHER HAND, Louisville (-10.5) is the best team in the country and just “boat raced” #2 Duke by 23. Wichita State although its a nice story, the Cardinals in the final year of the legendary Big East conference led behind Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino should take this game by a score of 78-64, and by doing so cover the (10.5) point spread. So if you were going to bet take Louisville. WICH ST. will hang close throughout the first half and into the second but will loose steam as the “Fighting Pitino’s” will send the Shockers back to Kansas.
The second contest is a lot harder to choose. Both the “Cuse” and Michigan have been ranked #1 in the Polls this season, and both have gone through dry spells as well. Luckily for both they got hot at the right time and now find themselves in the national semifinals. These teams are very evenly matched on the floor, but on the sideline Syracuse has a huge advantage. Coach Jim Boeheim has won 920 games in his Hall Of Fame Career and is 3-0 in National Semifinal games and won the 2003 National Championship behind Carmelo Anthony over the Kansas Jay Hawks. In addition Boeheim plays a defensive scheme called “The 2-3 Zone”. This zone have been a staple of Jimmy for many year’s in the Big East conference and it is said that this year he has his best cast to performance the scheme. By this time of the night #1 Louisville from the Big East will have already clinched and it will seem fitting for fellow conference mate Syracuse to join them for one last conference showdown. If you haven’t figured it out already i’m taking Syracuse (+1.5) to win the game and of course cover the spread by a final score of 59-52. Michigan leads at half time but the Cuse makes half time adjustments and outscore’s the wolverines by a large margin in the second frame.
Your last second guide to filling out your March madness bracket! (Trust me it makes no sense)
If you’re like me you don’t just fill out one bracket, and if you do you’ll probably change it roughly 10 times. Some people will say “it’s proper” to only fill out one bracket, after all your gut feeling is just that. But who really cares if you win your office pool with one or even ten brackets, money is money! Trust me, if you win you’ll remember that for years to come. Let me get back to the task at hand, because I am blabbing on.
This year unlike many others the field is wide open. Sure you have your number 1 and 2 seeds, but lately those are not always a lock. Last year alone we had two #15 seeds upset #2 seeds in the first round. #15 Lehigh over #2 Duke and #15 Norfolk State over #2 Mizzou. One is unthinkable, but two! That parallels with rapture, oh wait never mind. Here are a few tips to help you fill out your last second bracket.
– Sure it’s easy to fill out a “chalk bracket” aka the higher seeds always win, but seriously my friends 19 month old son can do that, what’s the fun in that? Exactly, there isn’t any so don’t be that goober and don’t go “chalk”
– A 9 seed over an 8 seed IS NOT AN UPSET. So don’t stick your chest out if do.
– Always pick at least 1 #12 seed over a #5 seed, every tournament this upset happens. Sometimes more than once. If I had to choose two, which I did take Ole’ Miss over Wisconsin and Oregon over Wisconsin. Both Ole’ Miss and Oregon have been ranked this season, both won their conference tournament and both are hot.
– The “ballsy” upset. For me I’m taking #8 NC State over #1 Indiana in the second round, and #12 Ole Miss over #4 KSU and #1 Gonzaga. Not saying you have to, but JUST DO IT.
– Duke; Duke is a love/ hate relationship. Those who love will have them in the final four every year, those who will have them bowing out in the second round to Cincinnati.
– Then there is the bracket where you want to pick a big school but don’t like that they have a low seed. Oregon is a 12, hell UNC is a 9. Don’t hesitate to pick a power school with a low seed, heck Gonzaga is a #1 and their schedule consists of upstate New York JV teams.
– The stubborn bracket. This is the bracket that will have all chalk with the exception of 3 games, and those games are easy pick em’s. This is most likely that old college alum who is in his 40s and tries to relieve the glory days any chance he can.
– Last but not least we have the rando brackets, short for obviously random. This could be the best mascot, or the best food or the best travel destination. AKA Gonzaga would lose in all of them.
I’m not tell you who to pick or how to pick it, but have a little fun with it! My Elite 8 is #1 Louisville #3 Michigan State #12 Ole Miss #2 Ohio State #4 Michigan #2 Georgetown #8 NC State and #2 Miami (The U), with Louisville, Ohio State, Michigan and The U. With The U winning it all. Will this happen? Of course not, it never does. That’s why last year out of millions of registered online brackets only 4 people had them perfect. What I will say is, sit back enjoy the games, take off work, head to the bar and let the madness begin!