Revisiting March Madness - Hoops and Hops

So, remember a couple weeks ago when I made my expert picks for the NCAA bracket? Well, now the Final Four has been decided, so let's look at how much I know college hoops.

Upsets: I said that I though USC and Notre Dame would not make it out of the first round. While USC came through for me (sorry Steve), Notre Dame found a way to win a game. Turned out the biggest upset was San Diego beating #4 UConn in the first round.

Cinderella: I had a strange feeling Indiana & St. Mary's may do some incredible things this year, but that feeling may have just been gas - neither team even made it out of the first round. No, this year's Cinderella was clearly Davidson, beating Georgetown and Wisconsin in games I certainly didn't see them winning - let alone playing in.

Final Four

East: I had Louisville beating Washington on my bracket, but with Washington not even making the game it wasn't a huge shock that this pick was blown out of the water when top-seeded NC came through and beat Louisville.

Mid-West: It was supposed to be Kansas over Georgetown, but then Cinderella showed up and knocked out the G-men. At least Kansas went on to the Final Four.

South: Memphis over Stanford is how I saw it coming out, but Stanford lost to Texas a round earlier than I hoped for. Yes, Memphis made it - lucky for me.

West: This is where I look like a genius! I picked UCLA over Xavier, and can you believe that's exactly how it turned out? Yeah, the only bracket I called right.

So, three of the four teams I had selected to be still in the tournament are there. My bracket turning out to be 73% accurate to date. It's actually better than I would have expected it to be, but clearly I have little idea what the hell I'm talking about.

Keep in mind my original pick of UCLA beating Kansas in the finals (74-68 is my 'tie-breaker' score for the game), a prediction you shouldn't take anywhere.

Beer Madness

How about that Beer Bracket? Well, their Final Four consists of the following scenario.

• Troeg's Hopback winning over Stone Pale Ale (agreeing with my selection, even though Stone won the popular vote)
  
• Raven Lager beating out Flying Dog Old Scratch (not how anyone saw it going, with FD having a whopping 84% of the votes - a major upset indeed!)
• Ommegang Hennepin outlasts Oxford (Who didn't see that coming?)
• Hook and Ladder takes out Sam Adams Honey Porter (Hook and who? Nope, didn't have that either - it did have a majority of votes, 56%).

So, with the panel proving they have their own tastes, there's no way in knowing how it'll turn out in the end. Personally, I'd have Hennepin overtaking Hopback in the end, but at this point it's just a good waste of time. All in good fun though, it's certainly gotten a lot of attention - good for those who made it to the bracket.