Madness Update 2008

Well, just because one is in the hospital doesn't mean that the outside world comes to a crashing halt. This has actually been a fairly congenial spot to watch the tournament, although the TV isn't really big enough, I can't get a beer, and there aren't any buffalo wings on the menus. But apart from that....

The Eastern bracket is now complete and mine was perfect: picked every game correctly, and have UNC advancing to the Championship Game with UCLA next weekend. The Western bracket is also finished: missed five games over there (had Arizona over West Virginia and Duke over the Wildcats, as well as Drake over Western Kentucky and U Conn all the way to the Elite Eight), but at least UCLA has played through to the Final Four as predicted.

One game left to play tonight in the South, where I only missed three games: had Oregon and Kentucky winning in the first round, and expected Stanford to beat Texas Friday night. But if Memphis wins through this evening than that part of my bracket will also be back in line with what I'd predicted at the start of the Tourney.

And, of course, like many brackets I suspect, my Midwest is a mess -- miss-picked 7 games there, mostly thanks to the Amazing Davidson. Tonight I had Wisconsin over KU, but I'll be rooting for the 10th-seeded Cinderella instead, even though My Former Wife is a Jayhawk.

Next weekend: UNC over Davidson/KU and UCLA over Memphis or (God forbid) Texas. And the National Championship to the Tarheels! That's how I see it. But mostly I'm just looking forward to watching. At home....

POSTGAME POSTSCRIPT

Midnight has come and gone, and Cinderella has left the building: hot, sweaty, and smelling slightly of pumpkin. The Memphis/Texas game went pretty much the way I'd hoped and expected, but Davidson/Kansas -- what a heartwarmer! The underdogs gave the Jayhawks everything they could handle, had a chance to win it at the end with a buzzer beater, and even had three good looks in the last couple of minutes to pull it out.

But at the end of the evening, the four Regional number one seeds advance to the Final Four for what I'm told is the first time in tournament history. Four very strong, proud, and historically prestigious programs. I can't wait for next weekend to begin.