Good grief — two of my Final Four picks are gone – Gonzaga and Stanford. Worse – I had picked them to be the final two; and Stanford was my ultimate champion. That’s March Madness for you (and proving that I’m no prognosticator). Perhaps it’s no surprise that Stanford would have fallen so soon – it had a great regular season, but had to be ultimately tested. And, Gonzaga – well, it’s not the Cinderella darling it once was, so perhaps it too was bound to drop off in the brackets. Is Alabama, which beat Stanford, on its way to something? Hmm.
The two local schools, Seton Hall and Manhattan, lost to the ACC schools, Duke and Wake Forest – in North Carolina. I didn’t expect Seton Hall to get passed Duke (and didn’t pick Seton Hall in my brackets), but went with my heart in picking Manhattan to be the upset over Wake Forest in my brackets. Of course, that was a Cinderella pick that didn’t work out. In further hindsight, it just seems a little unfair – Duke and Wake Forest were in their home area of Raleigh, NC, so perhaps they had the home field advantage. But, give Seton Hall and Manhattan credit for trying.
Let’s see how Round 2 goes tomorrow.