March Madness. It is a time of desolation. Brother pitted against brother, friend against friend, babies ... havin' babies. It's Awesome, baby, with a capital A. Let the Trudeau brothers inform you why the Big Mac is a safer bet than G-Mac, that you need to check out the chronic-what?-cles of Redick and why it's cool to be Gay in America this March.
Tom: On the seventh day, God created the jump shot, and he called it J.J. And it was pure. He blessed Redick with a swagger, perfect mechanics and the best coach in college basketball history. Duke might have coasted to the Elite Eight in any bracket, but it caught a huge break with the draw this year. Its biggest challenge will likely be fourth-seed LSU. No. 5 Syracuse might have won the Big East Championship, but it has struggled all year, and its lack of depth might lead to a second-straight first-round exit. On the other end of the Atlanta bracket, the Texas Longhorns are as strong a two seed as you'll find. They have great shooters and possibly the best big man in the NCAA, LaMarcus Aldridge. Look for the one and two seeds to meet in the Elite Eight.
Ross: Oh man, who do I love more, Gerry with a G or J.J.? I'm also going to give Duke a pass in this weak bracket, but mostly on the merit of rumors of Redick's prowess on the Beirut table. 'Cuse made it as high as it did due to Gerry's last-second heroics ... twice. Don't count on the Orange to do anything. Moving down to the Oakland bracket, UCLA is coming off an easy, breezy, beautiful, Cover Girl PAC-10 tournament championship and will miss the chance to avenge an early-season loss to No. 1 Memphis - watch for Kansas to knock 'em down in the Elite Eight. Give Oakland to the underrated Jayhawks.
Tom: Down, down, down - Memphis is goin' down. Youth held back the Jayhawks early on, but Kansas has now won 15 out of 16. Pittsburgh has experience at point guard and center in Krauser and Gray. Either team has a great chance of upsetting the top-seeded Tigers. And it seems like everyone in the country was waiting to call Gonzaga overrated, but they're only a three seed, and it's tough to bet against Adam Morrison and company. Watch out for the Zags in the bottom half of the draw.The D.C. bracket features a couple of the hardest games to call. I'd wear a David Ortiz jersey before I ever picked UConn to lose before the Final Four. The Huskies are bigger, stronger, faster and have more facial hair than anyone in the NCAA. A second round match-up of the defending champion, No. 3 North Carolina, and No. 6 Michigan State is a tough, tough call. Raising the stakes of that particular choice is the fact that both teams have an excellent chance of beating No. 2 Tennessee, one of the weaker two seeds in recent memory.
Ross: UNC versus MSU is an interesting match-up, but I don't see a team as young as the Tar Heels getting too far in the Big Dance. Look for Tennessee to drop out early, and everyone should anticipate Illinois-UConn in the Sweet Sixteen. Dee Brown and his '05 runner-up Illini are hungry - they'll give the Huskies a good game.In the Minneapolis bracket, I really don't see any surprises. Certainly nothing as surprising as when you got into Brown, spud. The top four seeds could very well all survive to the Sweet Sixteen. But hold the presses when Ohio State's balanced offense hangs tough and beats Villanova in a nail-biter.
Tom: After the tournament everyone will be saying "Yo!" Yoakim Noah that is, the 6'11 center from No. 3 Florida. The Gators have an excellent chance to make it to the Final Four if they can get past Ohio State, which nearly lost to Penn State in the Big Ten Tournament. Ohio State pops more threes than an all-white high school team, and living and dying by the three will catch up with you in a long tournament. Villanova looks a lot less scary after being upset by Syracuse in the Big East Tournament, and Ray Allen, er... Allan Ray's health is in question after hurting his eye. I like Boston College, a jump shot away from beating Duke on two separate occasions, to meet Florida in the Elite Eight. The Gators will pull it out, though, and advance to the Final Four with a couple of tight games that result in numerous heart attacks from the older Sunshine State population.
Ross: My Final Four consists of Duke, Kansas, UConn and Ohio State. Redick, Sheldon Williams and the precocious post play of Josh McRoberts turn Kansas' stagecoach back into a pumpkin, while UConn rides on past Ohio State to the national championship. Speaking of, call me Rudy Gay, but do you think I have a shot with J.J.? He's even cuter than any of your wide-eyed first-year lady friends I've met to date. Sigh.
Tom: What's going on? I'm sorry I fell asleep after the third paragraph when I realized we couldn't make any good Rudy Gay jokes. My Final Four looks like this: Dukies easily beat the Zags and Florida can't ball with UConn's front line of Josh Boone, Hilton Armstrong and Gay. Duke and UConn meet in the national championship to set up a meeting of the two national powerhouses. UConn rolls, out-muscling Duke inside and hiding all the vowels from Coach K before the game.
Ross Trudeau '06 plus Tom Trudeau '09 equals crazy delicious.
