NCAA Opening Weekend Review

I just looked over my NCAA picks. Ouch. No major upsets (sorry Duke and Notre Dame, VCU and Winthrop weren't that big of underdogs) in the first round. Seven of the top eight seeds advanced to the Sweet Sixteen (bye-bye Wisconsin). For the first time since the high school kids started skipping college for the NBA, the favorites are loaded across the board and are beating up on the little guys. Of course, with a majority of the top teams rolling, this makes it easier to fill out a bracket. The pools I am in are being led by a lot of people who just took the higher seed. So be it. Before I reform my predictions, let me review my picks from last week. MIDWEST REGIONAL: BEST FIRST ROUND GAME: (6) Notre Dame v. (11) Winthrop ACTUAL BEST FIRST ROUND GAME: (7) UNLV v. (10) Georgia Tech SLEEPER: (12) Old Dominion ACTUAL SLEEPER: (7) UNLV POSSIBLE EARLY EXIT: (3) Oregon ACTUAL EARLY EXIT: (2) Wisconsin REGIONAL FINAL: (1) Florida v. (6) Notre Dame ACTUAL REGIONAL FINAL (NEW PREDICTION): (1) Florida v. (7) UNLV GOING TO ATLANTA: (1) Florida (NO CHANGE) WEST REGIONAL: BEST FIRST ROUND GAME: (4) Southern Illinois v. (13) Holy Cross ACTUAL BEST FIRST ROUND GAME: (6) Duke v. (11) Virginia Commonwealth SLEEPER: (11) Virginia Commonwealth (NO CHANGE) POSSIBLE EARLY EXIT: (6) Duke (NO CHANGE) REGIONAL FINAL: (2) UCLA v. (9) Villanova ACTUAL REGIONAL FINAL (NEW PREDICTION): (1) Kansas v. (2) UCLA GOING TO ATLANTA (NEW PREDICTION): (1) Kansas EAST REGIONAL: BEST FIRST ROUND GAME: (7) Boston College v. (10) Texas Tech (NO CHANGE) SLEEPER: (14) Oral Roberts ACTUAL SLEEPER: (6) Vanderbilt POSSIBLE EARLY EXIT: (5) Southern California ACTUAL EARLY EXIT: (3) Washington State REGIONAL FINAL: (2) Georgetown v. (4) Texas ACTUAL REGIONAL FINAL (NEW PREDICTION): (1) North Carolina v. (2) Georgetown GOING TO ATLANTA (NEW PREDICTION): (1) North Carolina SOUTH REGIONAL: BEST FIRST ROUND GAME: (6) Louisville v. (11) Stanford ACTUAL BEST FIRST ROUND GAME: (8) BYU v. (9) Xavier SLEEPER: (13) Albany ACTUAL SLEEPER: (5) Tennessee POSSIBLE EARLY EXIT: (5) Tennessee ACTUAL EARLY EXIT: (4) Virginia REGIONAL FINAL: (1) Ohio State v. (3) Texas A&M (NO CHANGE) GOING TO ATLANTA: (1) Ohio State FINAL FOUR: I know that my updated Final Four has all of the No. 1 seeds making it to Atlanta but in a year that has seen very little upsets, don't be surprised if all the No. 1's take care of business. The only No. 1 to truly struggle so far has been Ohio State and the Buckeyes could be vulnerable against Tennessee and the Texas A&M/Memphis winner. UNC will also face a tough game in the Regional Final if they meet up with Georgetown. In the Final Four, I will take Florida over Kansas and UNC over Ohio State with the Gators defeating the Tar Heels to claim their second straight National Championship. Anyways, here is how I see this weekend playing out. MIDWEST REGIONAL: (1) Florida over (5) Butler (7) UNLV over (3) Oregon (1) Florida over (7) UNLV WEST REGIONAL: (1) Kansas over (4) Southern Illinois (2) UCLA over (3) Pittsburgh (1) Kansas over (2) UCLA EAST REGIONAL: (1) North Carolina over (5) Southern California (2) Georgetown over (6) Vanderbilt (1) North Carolina over (2) Georgetown SOUTH REGIONAL: (1) Ohio State over (5) Tennessee (3) Texas A&M over (2) Memphis (1) Ohio State over (3) Texas A&M