Stone Cold Lock - My 2021 NCAA Bracket

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Well, here's my 2021 NCAA Tournament bracket.

If you win big money betting on this, I get 50%.

If you lose big money betting on this, I never heard of you.

If you just use this for comic relief ... you're very smart.

(Click on the image if you actually want to see it.)

Some upsets in there because, well, ya gotta. Rutgers in the Sweet 16. San Diego State and Oregon in the Elite 8. And UConn in my Final Four.

What the heck, right?

In the end, I have the Fighting Illini cutting down the nets for the first time ever thanks to an exciting win over the Zags.

One thing I didn't pick were any 12s to upset any 5s. Everybody loves picking 12s, and three 12s did win in the last pre-COVID tourney. But in the previous four tournaments, 12s went 3-13 -- including 0-fers in 2015 and 2018. I'm feelin' another 0-fer coming. (So now watch the 12s go 4-0.) 

Anyhoo ...

Good luck, everybody, and may your March be as Mad as yiou want it to be.

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Mike's March Madness Mulligan

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Those who golf with me know I'm not a big mulligan taker. I mean, if I shank my drive into the woods, re-tee, hit one down the middle and make a birdie, who am I fooling? I know I didn't really get a birdie. So why bother? I'd much rather scramble after a horrendous drive and hack my way to a "good bogey" than pretend I got a birdie. But hey, maybe that's just me.

So even if I go 15-0 with the March Madness Mulligan I'm about to take, I promise I won't pretend I did anything special.

Before getting to the MMM, I'll allow myself a couple of back-pats ... but only a couple: Nice job on N.C. State and Wichita State. OK, that was quick. I'd have had more success with my bracket if I had let my pooch Simmie make predictions with tail-thumps.

Now, here goes ...

MIDWEST

Kentucky easily over West Virginia ... Notre Dame's luck runs out against Wichita State ... The Wildcats chew up overmatched Wichita State.

WEST

Wisconsin survives a challenge from North Carolina ... Arizona crushes Xavier ... Bucky Badger beats Arizona in a thriller.

EAST

N.C. State pulls off another upset, this time against Louisville ... Michigan State keeps getting better and beats Oklahoma ... Sparty goes to another Final Four after a narrow win over N.C. State.

SOUTH

Duke struggles but holds off Utah ... Gonzaga finally gets a second-weekend win, beating UCLA ... The Dookies have too much firepower for the Zags.

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So our new, improved Final Four is Kentucky, Wisconsin, Duke and Michigan State. Three No. 1 seeds and a No. 7 ... but not your run-of-the-mill No. 7. It's kind of funny that Michigan State is suddenly an underdog darling, no?

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In one national semifinal, Kentucky and Wisconsin put on a sensational show, with Kentucky's superior interior defense prevailing. In the other, Duke has too much offensive balance for Michigan State.

One thing hasn't changed from my original bracket: Kentucky still ends up 40-0.

Translation: "Bet everything you have on West Virginia to beat Kentucky on Thursday night."
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Coach K puts it on the line for Duke

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Saturday's final four:

1. In the final seconds, with Duke at the line trying to extend a 3-point lead, Coach K did what far too few coaches do: Instead of having nobody line up in any of the free-throw rebounding positions, thereby surrending a missed shot to the opponent, he had a player take one of the spots. Sure enough, when the foul shot was missed, David McClure kept the ball alive for the Dookies. Teammate Gerald Henderson emerged from a scramble with the ball, got fouled and iced the game with two free throws. Given the funny bounces the basketball can take, why do coaches so often just concede the rebound to the opponent? I know the answer: They are afraid of a player being called for a loose-ball foul. But think about it: A coach trusts players to do all manner of things during the course of a game but won't trust them to steer clear of a foul in a key situation? Well, Coach K trusted McClure. Rather than trying not to lose, he was trying to win. Just another reason Coach K is one of the best ever.

2. And speaking of free throws ... I felt really good about my upset pick of Western Kentucky over Gonzaga. And the Hilltoppers probably would have pulled it off if they hadn't gone 5-for-14 from the line. Texas, meanwhile, was 16-for-25 in losing the close one to Duke. This time of year, if you don't hit your free throws, you're dead.

3. Illinois certainly missed Chester Frazier and Marquette misses Dominic James ... but please. Ty Lawson, an NBA stud in the making, showed Saturday just what North Carolina had been missing when the superstar point guard was out with his toe injury. Yeah, but Lawson has so much more talent around him, right? Right - and yet he still took over and was the difference in the second half when the Tar Heels needed him against LSU. What a player.

4. As is the case going into Sunday's meeting, Marquette and Missouri were the 3 and 6 seeds in the 2003 tourney (although back then, unlike now, Marquette was the 3 and Mizzou was the 6). That game was an overtime classic, with Travis Diener and Steve Novak - not Dwyane Wade - carrying the day for a talented Marquette team that used the victory as a springboard to the Final Four. Sounds like a plan! Hey, a Golden Warrior Eagles fan can dream, right?