March Madness Picks & March Madness Pool Bracket

Wow! 2012 is still quite a ways away and who knows what the national team will look like then, but one thing is for sure, Coach K will be leading the way as he has agreed to stay on and coach the team in 2012.

So what does that mean?

Well, you can almost certainly count most of the guys for the Gold medal team to be on the roster like Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, but it also means that up and coming players like Derrick Rose and Kevin Durant will most likely be there too.

Not only is Coach K one of the most respected coaches in college basketball today, but he also has the respect of some of the best superstars in the NBA who never even went to college like LeBron James and Kobe Bryant.

I don't know if you can top the team that won the gold medal recently in the Summer Olympics, but it will be close.

When Matt Barnes came into league a few years ago he struggled, but once he got the chance to shine with the Golden State Warriors alongside another UCLA alum Baron Davis, he took it and became one of the better small forwards in the league.

After Golden State Barnes headed to the Phoenix Suns to play with Steve Nash and due to his new found success in Phoenix for being a versatile forward he has now made his way to Orlando to play with Dwight Howard and the defending Eastern Conference champs.

This time around though it looks as though Barnes will have a more limited role in which he will play behind Vince Carter and Rashard Lewis. Should be interesting to see how Stan Van Gundy uses the forward next season.

 

Reportedly the deal is for two years for about $3.2 million.

One thing that never fails in college basketball is the heated rivalries. Every season, no matter what recruiting class was like, rivalries tend to stay alive forever!

This year we might see the rebirth of another rivalry in college basketball with Kentucky finally getting back on the map with John Calipari taking over and Rick Pitino keeping the Louisville Cardinals as competitive as possible.

No rivalrie in college basketball seems to top North Carolina and Duke with Coach K and Roy Williams going head to head, but Pitino and Calipari might emerge as another classic college basketball rivalry to watch whether you are a fan of either team or not.

At one point in time in the not too distant future, the Kentucky Wildcats were one of the most success college basketball teams in the nation. Rick Pitino was a God, the Wildcats defense was amazing and Kentucky was the team to beat.

Times have changed though as the Wildcats missed their first NCAA tournament in recent memory last season and slipped in mediocrity. In somewhat of a drastic move Kentucky fired their head coach and went after Memphis head coach John Calipari who has had great success every he has coached so far.

Now that Calipari is at the helm in his dream job coaching at Kentucky the Wildcats have the best recruiting class in the nation and could be a solid contender next season as they try and reclaim the dominance of years past.

I have little doubt in my mind that UConn will cover the four point spread over Michigan State in Detroit on Saturday, but something tells me that the North Carolina Tar Heels are in for one hell of a game against the Villanova Wildcats.

Will the Wildcats win? I don\'t think so, but it will come down to the wire like it did against Pitt in the Elite Eight last week.

North Carolina is the second best team in this Final Four bracket just behind UConn, but they are not unstoppable and have flaws that the Wildcats will expose in my opinion.

If you are going to make a bet on Saturday on the Final Four, I would suggets you take the Huskies to cover, but if you are feeling like you want to take some risk or like the Tar Heels pick Villanova +7.

Not sure what the spread will be in this game, but if is ten or below in favor of the Huskies I would put my money on Calhoun's boys immediately!!

Not only did the Huskies cover the -10 spread against the Aggies in round two, but they doubled it by beating Texas A&M by 26 points! I don't see any team stopping UConn right now with the way they are playing, especially not Purdue who barely got by Washington in the second round.

Bet on the Huskies from here on out and you can't go wrong!

I like Pitt over Tenn,  I think Pitt has a chance to go to the final 4 in this tournament  and could win it all.  This is a well coached and talented team.   They have patience and seem to bring the power in the 2nd half.   They will have to shut down Jennings and if they do, it is Pitt all the way.   Take Pitt

I like Marquette alot in this game.    Acker is taking over the pt guard position well, and will spark the team once again to Victory.   Now Utah St is a very good team and will give Marquette all they can handle but I think Marquette comes out on top in this one.   Marquette will have to keep an eye on Wilkinson and try to contain him. This game will probably go down to the wire, don't miss it.

Can't wait for the Tournament to start.  This one should be sure winner.   Taking Memphis over CS Northridge.  Memphis has the longest winning streak in 25 and have won 61 straight conference games.   Now they will have to do well at Pt guard with Rose out, but I think they will take care of that.  Evans has proven himself and was the MVP of the Tournament.  This game won't be close. 

Every year around Selection Sunday we hear about how this number one team and that number one team will win it all, but few people like to talk about which Cinderella team has a good chance of making something happen.

This year there is no shortage of great college basketball teams which could result in quite a few upsets in this year's NCAA tournament.

There are two teams to really keep your eye on this time around and they are the Clemson Tigers and Villanova Wildcats.

Despite not getting much attention throughout the year I think these two teams could be in the Final Four conversation. Keep your eye on these two as they will surprise some big time teams in the tourney.