Bracket Busting

The last two days have been full of filling out brackets for March Madness, and trying to decide when and where the big upsets will occur this year. Here are some of my BOLD predictions for the 2012 NCAA Tournament:

1. (14)Belmont over (3)Georgetown. This is my upset pick for the Midwest bracket. Belmont can shoot the ball lights out when they are on, and have shown that they can play with elite teams. This is a team that took Duke to OT just a couple of years ago in the first round, and lost a 77-76 heartbreaker at Cameron Indoor earlier this year. They are 4th overall in the NCAA in points per game and 17th in FG%. A scary first round matchup for Georgetown, a team that has struggled in the early rounds of the tourney the last two years.
 
2. (11)Texas over (6)Cincinnati. This probably won't be a very popular pick with my fellow blogger Hoody, but this will be a fun matchup to watch in the East bracket. A very young Texas squad that played a brutal Big10 schedule this season will challenge this very good Cincy group. This team lost close games to Mizzou and Kansas, and split with other tournament teams Iowa State and Kansas State. Most of their best work was at home, but like I said before, this is a young team that has grown dramatically this season. This could be one of the more physical matchups of the first round.
 
3. (13)Davidson over (4)Louisville. We already know they are a good team, boasting a win earlier in the season against Kansas. Now Davidson draws the BigEast tournament champion Louisville Cardinals in the first round. Louisville just finished off the most physically demanding tournament in the country, and top that off with traveling across the country to play in Oregon? I think we may see a sluggish performance from Rick Pitino's squad. They've been guilty before (remember the 31 point loss at Providence earlier in the year?). Davidson doesn't shoot the ball as well as I'd like from an upset team, but they do manage to score it quite often (12th in PPG) thanks to being a good rebounding team (19th in RPG).
 
4. (13)New Mexico State over (4)Indiana. This is the upset that I think is most likely to happen. This is a fun team to watch. A very fast tempo New Mexico State offense will give Indiana lots of trouble. 11th nationally in PPG, 6th in RPG, and 31st in FG%, this is a very talented squad that can get up on you in a hurry. If Indiana doesn't defend the perimeter and doesn't have an excellent rebounding game, not only could this be an upset, but I think it could potentially be a blowout. After you win this game in your bracket, remember, you heard it here first.

Good luck to all of you in your brackets. Here's to a great 2012 NCAA Tournament!

-Shuskey

 

 

NASCAR 2012

The Daytona 500 has come and gone (although it took it's sweet time), and the 2012 NASCAR season is underway. Defending series champion Tony Stewart is looking to defend his title, but Carl Edwards, Jimmie Johnson, and others plan on holding the trophy and ending Smoke's reign. There are some compelling storylines and everybody thinks their driver is gonna be crowned the next Sprint Cup Champion, but here are a few drivers I'll be following this season, and why:

1. Danica Patrick- Say what you want about her ability, or whether or not she "earned" her place in Sprint Cup, the girl is here to stay. She's a marketing goddess and trust me, Stewart-Haas Racing will make a fortune selling #10 GoDaddy.com merchandise. And to all my Dale Jr fans out there, don't be surprised if "Little E" gets a little competition in the Most Popular Driver race. Don't underestimate the power of the female vote (or the male vote for that matter). And for all the haters out there, be honest with yourself... The girl can drive a little.
2. Jimmie Johnson- After a 5-year reign as NASCAR's champion, we will get to see how the 48 team does at bouncing back. I expect this team to come back very strong this year after last year's disappointing finish (only disappointing for a team that has won 5 championships in a row). JJ and Chad Knaus will have their work cut out for them (especially after the post-Daytona penalties), but I assure you they are up to the challenge.
3. Carl Edwards- Can Carl come back after a disappointing end to 2011? What a heartbreaking way to lose a championship. Can Carl rebound and challenge for a title in 2012, or will we see a slide similar to that of Denny Hamlin who came oh so close in 2010?
4. Kyle/Kurt Busch- Have the Busch boys learned their lesson this time? Can they keep the emotions under control and avoid the meltdowns that cost each of them so dearly in 2011? We shall see...
5. Brad Keselowski- This guy is my dark horse to win it all this year. In the second half of the season last year, he was lights out. I think becoming "the guy" for Roger Penske this year will be extremely motivating for NASCAR's "Twitter King."

After the way the Daytona 500 played out, one would think "how are they gonna top that?" Trust me, after 20+ years of watching NASCAR these boys will find a way. 2012 is already shaping up to be an exciting year of racing. Boogity Boogity Boogity! Let's go racin' boys!