Wilmhoff's Picks

The highlights of my completed bracket include Murray State, Xavier, Richmond, and Baylor in the Sweet 16.

• I've got Murray State over Vandy
• Murray State also over Butler in Round 2
• Xavier in the Sweet 16
• Richmond over Villanova in Round 2
• Baylor over Richmond to advance to the Elite 8
• Kansas State over Syracuse to join top seeds Kansas, Kentucky, and Duke in the Final Four
• Kentucky vs. Kansas in the Championship Game with the Cats bringing home #8

My bracket generally reflects my opinion that the Big 12 is the best conference, the Big East is the most overrated conference, and the Atlantic 10 is the most underrated conference. I think the SEC is better than what my picks show, but the SEC has some bad match ups. Tennessee is capable of a big run, but will face Georgetown in the second round. Then, even if they would upset the Hoyas, they'd play Ohio State in the Sweet 16. The Vols might have the toughest drawl in the tournament and were deserving of much higher than a 6 seed. Vanderbilt is another capable team but is playing one of the scariest teams in the field- the Murray State Racers, who had the nation's longest winning streak until losing to defending OVC Champion, Morehead State, in a late regular season contest. I'm picking Florida to lose in the first round to BYU because another SEC team should have their spot (Mississippi State), and I would have likely picked that team to make a run.

Cats spank Vols, advance to SEC Championship

Thousands of Big Blue Nation's craziest and most passionate fans have packed the city of Nashville, some with tickets and many without them. All of them dreamed of one matchup in this tournament: a rematch with Tennessee. They got just that on Saturday. The 74-45 blowout win with a 90% Big Blue crowd owning the Volunteer State's streets of Nashville is bittersweet for Cats fans. They put together their most dominating performance of the season against a very good Tennessee team that is the only team in history to beat the #1 and #2 teams (Kansas and Kentucky) in the country in the same season.

Today, however, it wasn't meant to be for the Vols. There were no John Wall dance mockery's by Scotty Hopson, only player ejections, as the Pro's defeated the Con's in Round 3. The Cats' dominating performance silenced many analysts who viewed the Cats as "vulnerable" and a poor 3 point shooting team, as Eric Bledsoe stroked five of them in the 29 point victory. The Cats also sealed their deal for a #1 seed with the win. They'll face the winner of the Vandy/Mississippi State game (MSU currently leads by 11) tomorrow at 1 in the Championship Game. Either matchup will be a heated one. Either the hometown Commodores will be playing in Rupp Arena South just minutes from their campus, or DeMarcus Cousins will be receiving more phone calls from Mississippi State fans as they hope to revenge their overtime loss in Starkville. Whatever tomorrow's result will be, the Cats will be a #1 seed. With a Kansas loss to Kansas State today, the Cats will then be playing for the #1 OVERALL seed. What a great day of basketball!