Torwart - I think you inadvertently looked at the wrong section of the bracket in round two and beyond. You selected Duke in the second round when they match up (based on your first round winners) should be Akron vs. SMU. Feel free to submit again.
1st Round Coastal Caro. Old Dominion Brown CSU Bakersfield Xavier Bradley Virginia Rutgers Monmouth Wake Forest Charlotte Akron UCF Duke Providence Northern Ill. 2nd Round North Carolina Indiana St. John's (NY) UC Irvine Maryland Louisville UCLA Boston College Connecticut Wake Forest Charlotte Akron South Fla. New Mexico UC Santa Barbara Creighton Elite Eight North Carolina St. John's (NY) Maryland UCLA Connecticut Akron New Mexico Creighton Final Four North Carolina Maryland Connecticut Creighton Final Maryland Connecticut National Champs Maryland
1st Round Coastal Caro. Old Dominion Brown St. Mary's (CA) Xavier Bradley Virginia Rutgers Monmouth South Carolina Charlotte Akron Fla. Gulf Coast Duke Dartmouth Northern Ill. 2nd Round North Carolina Indiana St. John's (NY) UC Irvine Maryland Louisville UCLA Rutgers Connecticut South Carolina Charlotte Akron South Fla. New Mexico UC Santa Barbara Creighton Elite Eight North Carolina St. John's (NY) Maryland UCLA Connecticut Akron New Mexico Creighton Final Four St. John's (NY) Maryland Connecticut Creighton Final Maryland Creighton National Champs Creighton
There's an uncomfortable level of Akron love in the College Cup. I just don't see them getting anywhere near Hoover.
Trusting the easy bracket, I have ... 1st Round Coastal Caro. Old Dominion Brown CSU Bakersfield Xavier Bradley Virginia Colgate Monmouth Wake Forest Furman Akron UCF Duke Providence Northern Ill. 2nd Round North Carolina Indiana St. John's (NY) UC Irvine Maryland Louisville UCLA Boston College Connecticut Wake Forest UAB Akron South Fla. New Mexico UC Santa Barbara Creighton Elite Eight North Carolina St. John's (NY) Maryland Boston College Connecticut Akron South Fla. Creighton Final Four North Carolina Maryland Connecticut Creighton Final Maryland Connecticut National Champs Maryland
1st Round Coastal Carolina ODU Fairfield CSU Bakersfield WVU Bradley Virginia Rutgers Stony Brook Wake Forest Furman Akron UCF Duke Providence Northern Illinois 2nd Round UNC Indiana St. John's CSU Bakersfield Maryland Louisville UCLA BC UCONN JMU UAB Akron USF Duke UCSB Creighton 3rd Round UNC St. John's Louisville UCLA UCONN Akron USF Creighton Final Four UNC UCLA UCONN Creighton Final UNC UCONN Champion UCONN
But that's my point, see. I mean, I have them going out to N'Western, and SMU besides that getting to the College Cup. I just don't see the Zips making it far.
First round Coastal Carolina Old Dominion Brown Bakersfield WVU Bradley Virginia Colgate Monmouth South Carolina Charlotte Akron FGCU Duke Dartmouth NIU Second round UNC Indiana St. John's Irvine Maryland Louisville UVA BC UConn South Carolina Charlotte SMU FGCU New Mexico UCSB Creighton Quarterfinalists UNC Irvine Louisville BC UConn SMU New Mexico Creighton College Cup UNC Louisville UConn Creighton Championship Match UNC Creighton Champion UNC
1st Round Coastal Caro. Old Dominion Brown St. Mary's (CA) West Virginia Bradley Virginia Rutgers Monmouth Wake Forest Charlotte Akron UCF Duke Dartmouth Northern Ill. 2nd Round North Carolina Indiana St. John's (NY) UC Irvine Maryland Louisville UCLA Boston College Connecticut Wake Forest Charlotte Akron South Fla. Duke UC Santa Barbara Creighton Elite Eight North Carolina St. John's (NY) Maryland Boston College Connecticut Akron South Fla. Creighton Final Four North Carolina Maryland Connecticut Creighton Final North Carolina Connecticut National Champs North Carolina
I've been able to watch a few. They don't have as much talent as last year, which is clear. I also think they have a tough road. Northwestern, as it has been mentioned, won the B1G double and hasn't lost since September. For however much people are down on SMU, I like what they've got. And if Akron were to top SMU/UAB to reach the quarters, I feel that UConn would prove to be too much.
I would agree that the Northwestern/Akron game is a toss up, but for as much talent as SMU always has, they always underachieve. Having them make the final four is a bit of a stretch, but I would say they have as good of a chance of making the elite eight as anyone else.
I asked because they have been such a jeckyll and hyde team this season. Looked unreal in some games and utterly terrible in others. main problem has been consistent lack of finishing.
That's understandable. Something in me just doesn't see what others are seeing, with Akron in the Cup, final, or I think I saw a couple touting a winner of the Zips.
1st Round Coastal Caro. Old Dominion Fairfield CSU Bakersfield West Virginia Bradley Virginia Rutgers Monmouth South Carolina Furman Akron UCF Duke Providence Northern Ill. 2nd Round North Carolina Indiana St. John's (NY) UC Irvine Maryland Louisville UCLA Boston College Connecticut James Madison Furman Akron South Fla. New Mexico UC Santa Barbara Creighton Elite Eight North Carolina UC Irvine Maryland UCLA Connecticut Akron New Mexico Creighton Final Four North Carolina Maryland Connecticut Creighton Final North Carolina Creighton National Champs Creighton
Update: A couple of posters -- torwart and 24seven -- need to update some of their selections. I posted those earlier in the thread. We've already tied the number of entries we had last year with 30. So far, there is one unanimous pick in the first round - Duke over Georgia State - and three games were all but one have chosen the same team (Bradley over Loyola-Chicago; ODU over Libery; Virginia over Delaware). There are three unanimous second round winners so far: UNC, UCSB and Creighton. 29 of 30 have UNC advancing to the quarters; 28 have them in the College Cup. Of the seeded teams, posters don't like the draws for James Madison, UAB or SMU, as less than half have picked those seeds to advance past their first match. All three do have tough potential opponents in round two. Of the top eight seeds, posters don't seem to like the chances for SMU or South Florida to live up the seed as just eight and nine, respectively, have those teams in the final eight. UC Irvine and Boston College also don't have strong support to live up to their seeds and make the final eight with 16 and 12 picks. Seven different teams have been picked to win it all: UNC, Creighton, Maryland, Louisville, Connecticut, Akron and New Mexico. I'll update some of these trends at the start of the tournament, if people are interested.
A somewhat bias prediction, but I feel that I might have followed the nation's success as a whole closer this year, so there were some upsets I definitely think can happen. 1st Round Coastal Caro. Old Dominion Fairfield CSU Bakersfield West Virginia Bradley Virginia Rutgers Monmouth South Carolina Furman Akron Fla. Gulf Coast Duke Dartmouth Northern Ill. 2nd Round North Carolina Old Dominion St. John's (NY) UC Irvine West Virginia Louisville UCLA Boston College Connecticut James Madison UAB SMU South Fla. Duke UC Santa Barbara Creighton Elite Eight North Carolina UC Irvine West Virginia Boston College Connecticut SMU Duke UC Santa Barbara Final Four North Carolina Boston College Connecticut UC Santa Barbara Final North Carolina UC Santa Barbara National Champs UC Santa Barbara
1st Round Coastal Caro. Liberty Fairfield CSU Bakersfield West Virginia Bradley Virginia Rutgers Monmouth Wake Forest Charlotte Akron UCF Duke Providence Northern Ill. 2nd Round North Carolina Liberty St. John's (NY) UC Irvine West Virginia Bradley Virginia Boston College Connecticut Wake Forest Charlotte SMU South Fla. Duke UC Santa Barbara Creighton Elite Eight North Carolina UC Irvine West Virginia Virginia Wake Forest SMU Duke UC Santa Barbara Final Four North Carolina Virginia SMU UC Santa Barbara Final North Carolina SMU National Champs North Carolina
1st Round Coastal Caro. Old Dominion Brown CSU Bakersfield Xavier Loyola Chicago Virginia Rutgers Stony Brook South Carolina Furman Northwestern UCF Duke Dartmouth Northern Ill. 2nd Round North Carolina Indiana St. John's (NY) UC Irvine Maryland Louisville Virginia Boston College Connecticut James Madison UAB SMU South Fla. New Mexico UC Santa Barbara Creighton Elite Eight Indiana St. John's (NY) Maryland Boston College Connecticut SMU New Mexico Creighton Final Four Indiana Maryland Connecticut Creighton Final Indiana Creighton National Champs Indiana (********)
Here my picks - with my obvious West Coast bias showing... Good luck to all and ..."May the West team win" 1st Round Coastal Caro. Old Dominion Brown St. Mary's (CA) Xavier Bradley Virginia Rutgers Monmouth Wake Forest Charlotte Akron UCF Duke Dartmouth Northern Ill. 2nd Round North Carolina Indiana St. John's (NY) UC Irvine Maryland Louisville UCLA Boston College Connecticut Wake Forest Charlotte Akron South Fla. New Mexico UC Santa Barbara Creighton Elite Eight North Carolina UC Irvine Maryland UCLA Connecticut Akron New Mexico UC Santa Barbara Final Four UC Irvine UCLA Connecticut UC Santa Barbara Final UC Irvine UC Santa Barbara National Champs UC Irvine