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I know a lot about college basketball. My girlfriend knows a lot about shoes.
I know this because last year she dragged me to Discount Shoe Warehouse so she could she spend her NCAA Tournament pool winnings. I have since recouped the financial damage, but the mental scars may never heal.
Even for experts, picking a winning bracket is a crap shoot. John Wooden couldn't pick a perfect bracket even if he had Miss Cleo on speed dial. You could pour over statistics, RPI ratings and geographical considerations for days and still be defeated by your mother who picked all the teams with blue uniforms, giving the edge to the Catholic schools.
I already hate my bracket. It's preposterous. I have at least five picks that are almost certain to doom me to another year of shoe shopping, but I'm going to stick with them and below I'll tell you why.
I'll keep you all updated as this catastrophe unfolds in the comments section below, but first here is the thinking behind my top four upsets … and the counterpoints that make me think these will be the final four nails in my bracket's coffin.
Drake over Connecticut
At the end of February, UConn looked like a Final Four contender. Then they lost to Providence (again) and fell in their first Big East Tournament game to West Virginia. Against the Mountaineers, UConn did not contest shots and did not rebound. West Virginia, particularly Joe Alexander (34 points), got great looks at the hoop and converted them.
If there's one thing that Drake does well, it's shoot. The Huskies can cause some chaos with their press, but in their half-court defensive sets they've relied a lot on center Hasheem Thabeet's shot-blocking capability. I think Drake can neutralize Thabeet with their perimeter shooting and get him to the bench. That's a necessity though, since the Bulldogs (whose tallest player is 6-foot-8) have no one who can match up against Thabeet inside.

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