The Crazy 8

I realized something while I was watching the Sweet 16 games.  In the first of the 8 games I predicted that Miami would basically run all over Marquette and that the absence of Reggie Johnson would not hurt Miami's chances during the game.  Well pretty much everything I said was completely wrong.  Marquette got an early lead on the Hurricanes and never looked back.  Then it hit me, not only did I get my pick wrong, but I made that prediction on a blog for everyone to see.  I realize that making an incorrect pick is very common in the sports world, especially during March Madness, but I decided that I would make different kinds of picks for the Elite 8 (I did get 5 of the 8 games right, which isn't too bad, but ya know).
So instead of posting my picks for the Elite 8, I am going to make a few other predictions related to the games but not about the final outcome.  Since there are 4 games, lets do 4 picks for the elite 8.

1) At least two players will receive flagrant fouls for elbows to the face.
This has probably been one of the most annoying things about this tournament so far.  Every time that punch to McGary's junk.  The game is being delayed too much by the officials, so I predict it will happen at least twice in these next 4 games.  On a side note, I also predict I will need to buy a new TV as I throw my head through the one I currently have after the refs stop the game again for another stupid reason.
someone swings an elbow near the face of the other team (intentional or or not), the referees take what seems like 15 minutes to review the play on the 27 inch TV screen.  This has happened over and over again and sometimes a flagrant is deserved, but most times a player is being doubled and while trying to free himself from the defense he will move his arms up and make contact near the defenders face.  But anytime there is something even questionable, the game is stopped and I get annoyed.  The refs are not only stopping for elbows but are blowing the whistle any time there is a question related to the clock or whether a shot was a two or three or in the case of Elijah Johnson and Mitch McGary, to review a

2) There will not be a single commercial that I have not previously seen.
There are a butt load of things I love about March Madness, but the thing I hate the most is the commercials.  Wow those are repetitive.   Last night I decided to play a game during every commercial break and try to find a commercial that I had not already seen.  I had two games running at all times and during those 5 or more hours of basketball (2.5 hours or more of commercials) I only saw one commercial that I had not previously seen.  The commercials are not only repetitive but also painfully stupid.  I don't know yet which commercial wins the award for the worst but some of the front runners include: Southwest Airlines,  Quiznos Lobster Sandwich, Subway Italy, Northwestern Mutual, the Bud Light blind date, and in my upset of the year, all of the Capital One commercials (they were funny, but they quickly got really super awful and annoying after the five gazillionth time I saw them).  We will be forced to watch each of these commercials way too many more times and it's gonna suck (but I have to give it up to Sonic for making a watchable and re-watchable commercial and not playing it every 10 seconds).

3) Three of the four games will come down to the final minute.
Of all the Sweet 16 games, only two of the games were honestly exciting (Ohio State v Arizona and Michigan v Kansas).  The rest of them were actually pretty lame.  But by this point, the teams that were "lucky" have been weeded out and we should be left with nothing but good teams.  Even Wichita State who is a 9 seed should be able to keep it close against Ohio State.  There is not a single game that I can say, "x team is going to win and y team has no chance."  Of the 8 teams remaining, I think each of them can make it to the Final Four and would not be surprised by any of the possible outcomes.  After all, now that Arizona and FGCU are out of it, who do I have left to cheer for?  I guess Wichita State is the closest thing to a west coast, Cinderella team, so, Go Shockers!

4) Three of the four lower seeds win.
This would be a huge upset.  Almost as crazy as if Tim Hardaway Sr and Glen Robinson (the second? Or junior? I don't know what he is being called, he was always just Glen Robinson, but now that there is Glen Robinson III what do we call the original?) were not shown on camera at least once during the Michigan game.  I am pretty confident that Louisville will beat Duke, so that would mean that Wichita, Syracuse, and Michigan would all have to win.  I don't know if I am bold enough to make that pick, but whatever, I am going to do it.  Like I said above, I would not be surprised if it went the exact opposite way and Duke won and all the other lower seeds lost.  Let's just hope these games are more exciting than the Sweet 16 games were.

So there you have it.  My four predictions for the Elite 8.  I'll also add in a 5th prediction:  Mitch McGary will score 40 points against Florida, walk off the court, declare for the NBA draft, get drafted 36th overall, spend a season on the bench for the Kings (or Sonics) and then end up in Europe before returning to Michigan in 2018 to get his degree and spend the rest of his life as a 6th grade teacher.  Wait, I have no idea why I made that prediction.  I guess I wanted to at least get one of these wrong since the rest of my predictions are so dead on.

I also have to give a shout out to my buddy Clark who is currently in 10th place out of thousands on ESPN's Tournament Challenge.  If you want some real predictions on the games, go talk to him.