BracketMaster Update: Katie Advances To Elite Eight

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

In case you haven't heard, OGS and Toledo Katie took down Roxanne from Philadelphia last week in the Sweet Sixteen of the Captain Morgan BracketMaster Challenge.

Thanks to you and all your online and text voting, that means one thing for us: Vegas, baby.

That's right: OGS is en route to Sin City this week to duke it out in the Elite Eight. Seven other hot-girl-blogger-nerd tandems will be there as well, and we all just learned there will be various challenges and competitions that are sure to cause some serious embarrassment.

Click to read more ...

The OGS Sweet 16 Power Rankings

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

Here are the OGS Sweet 16 Power Rankings. Consider these a guide to how the remaining teams stack up against each other right now, not necessarily who will win the national championship or lose in the next round. Come back on Tuesday for those predictions.

16. Richmond — Spiders a decent team, but their cute run will end Friday.
15. VCU — Quit crying about Jay Bilas.
14. Marquette — Eagles soar while Big East mates gag.
13. Florida State — Best defensive team left in tournament.
12. Butler — Do not ever count this team out.
11. Wisconsin — Avoided Belmont upset and earned nice win over good K-State team.
10. Arizona — Dangerous when star forward Derrick Williams is on.
9. Kentucky — Imagine UK with any of last year's freshmen on this year's team.
8. BYU — Cougars good enough to win twice in New Orleans.
7. San Diego State — Aztecs will enjoy home-court advantage in Anaheim.
6. Florida — Perhaps over-seeded, but Gators boast nice balance.
5. Connecticut — Catching up on rest, the Huskies could win the West.
4. North Carolina — Emerging point guard Kendall Marshall holds the key.
3. Duke — Legitimate title contender even before Kyrie Irving's return.
2. Kansas — Jayhawks are far more than a two-man show.
1. Ohio State — Most complete team in college basketball.

March Madness Notebook: Day 21

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

Outside the typical NCAA Tournament talk of upsets and buzzer-beaters, one of the top conversation points is the Big East and whether it's overrated and deserved the 11 bids it got.

I said it on Twitter last night and I'll say it again here: apples and oranges, brah. These are separate debates. The answer to one has nothing to do with the answer to the other. The league is overrated, and I said that here a month or two ago. Collectively, it underachieved on opening weekend by advancing only two teams to the Sweet 16.

Click to read more ...

March Madness Notebook: Day 20

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

It's funny that when the NCAA Tournament field was unveiled last week, of all the top seeds, Pittsburgh looked to have the easiest path to the Final Four. But those cute little Panthers did what they do best on Saturday; they underachieved in the postseason and became the first No. 1 team to be eliminated.

Give Butler much credit, but not all of it. Pitt needs to stop gagging in the tournament.

Click to read more ...

March Madness Notebook: Day 19

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

There's some debate whether a 7-4 record is acceptable for the Big East's 11 teams in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, and I contend that it is. I do believe the conference is over-rated, but if 16.18 percent of the 68-team field came from the Big East, and now 21.88 percent of the 32 remaining teams are from the conference, then I'd say the second round was a success.

And even if only three teams advance to the Sweet Sixteen, that's still 18.75 percent, slightly better than the initial entry. But if the Big East only sent three teams to next weekend, that would have to be a disappointment even if the math might indicate otherwise. At least four teams should be the goal.

Click to read more ...

March Madness Notebook: Day 18

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

Do you remember the last time you read an NCAA Tournament Day 1 recap that didn't begin with some corny reference to its craziness?

When you have 32 teams playing 16 games in a single-elimination tournament on national television that is pretty much the second-most anticipated sporting event in America, of course there will be some drama.

So, all that said, how 'bout Day 1? Crazy, huh?

Click to read more ...

NCAA Tournament: Where To Watch Ohio State

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

So you're nowhere near the great state of Ohio but you want to watch the Buckeyes in the NCAA Tournament with fellow fans and alums? 

Have no fear.

The OGS Travel and Research teams have joined forces to bring you this list of where to eat, drink and watch the tournament's top overall seed when it  begins postseason play on Friday at 4:40 p.m. ET.

Click to read more ...

Bracket Breakdown: West Region

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

Duke deserved the top seed out west. Once it became clear that BYU wasn't deserving of it, OGS never considered San Diego State for this top line. The Aztecs are a neat team this year, but it's doubtful they'll win this region, even if Kyrie Irving doesn't return for the Blue Devils.

Here's what you need to know:

Top Seed: Duke (30-4, ACC tournament champions)

Best Second-Round Game: No. 4 Texas vs. No. 13 Oakland

Click to read more ...

Bracket Breakdown: Southwest Region

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

Ohio State may have grabbed the tournament's top overall seed, but I think Kansas is the best team in the country. Texas gave a worthy chase, but the Jayhawks were pretty much in the driver's seat for this top seed the last month of the season.

---

Complete March Madness Coverage

---

Unlike last year, when KU gagged in the Round of 32, Bill Self's squad will breeze past the first weekend. A Sweet Sixteen matchup with Louisville likely awaits, and it could be the best game of that round. The Jayhawks advance and beat Notre Dame in the Elite Eight.

Click to read more ...

Bracket Breakdown: Southeast Region

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

Despite being the weakest of the No. 1 seeds, Pittsburgh has the easiest path to the Final Four in Houston.

---

Complete March Madness Coverage

---

If the seeds play out on the first weekend, then the Panthers would have to beat a No. 3 BYU team without its top interior player and an overseeded No. 2 Florida squad that just lost its last game by 16 points.

Click to read more ...

Bracket Breakdown: East Region

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

Ohio State earned the tournament's top overall seed, but certainly didn't get what should have been the path of least resistance to the Final Four in Houston on the first weekend in April.

---

ALSO: Bracket Tips From Charlie Sheen

---

This bracket is loaded with some serious firepower. Traditional elites North Carolina, Syracuse and Kentucky follow Ohio State on the top four lines here.

Click to read more ...

Chalk Talk: All Four Top Seeds Will Get To Houston

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

I gave up picking upsets for the most part a few years ago. That's why they're called upsets, because you can't predict them. Too many people think no one will notice if they hook up a Jay Bilas IV to one arm and a Doug Gottlieb IV to the other on Selection Sunday weekend, then stealing their insights and passing them off as their own knowledge when they turn their brackets into the moderating co-worker who knows they're full of shit.

That's not to say I only pick by chalk, but at the same time, there's a reason why one team is seeded first, another is seeded eighth and another is 15th. In most cases, such rankings signify the best, the second-best and the worst of those three teams. When the dust settles after the first weekend, sure you'll see some 12s and 10s and 9s, but you see more 1s and 2s and 3s. And that will again be the case this year.

---

ALSO: Complete March Madness Coverage | Bracket Tips From Charlie Sheen

---

In fact, I'm convinced that there's a good chance that all four No. 1 seeds will make it out of their regions and play in the Final Four this year. Here's how:

Click to read more ...

Did Selection Committee Truly Reward Ohio State?

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

It's kind of weird how Dick Vitale seldom speaks critically of players or coaches, rarely voices a strong opinion during his excessive ESPN air time for four months, then always comes on the tube every Selection Sunday and drops the hammer on the NCAA Selection Committee. You can count on it every March, like St. Patrick's Day.

---

MORE: Bracket Tips From Charlie Sheen

---

But even in that criticism his logic is rooted in weak rah-rah fandom. To Vitale, it's all about how sad the kids from two or three wrongfully left-out teams must feel. Aw, poor kids.

The Selection Committee's job isn't to appease 20-year-old boys; it's about choosing the best 37 at-large teams and arranging the full 68-team field in such a way that teams deserving of rewards get those rewards. I expect the Committee to pull a surprise or two every year, and sometimes those decisions are justified a few days later. I don't really care about the poor kids.

Click to read more ...

Winning My NCAA Tournament Pool

By CHARLIE SHEEN
One Great Season

March Madness? Let me just say this about March Madness: I don't believe the term is good enough, but when you're bound by these terrestrial descriptions, you must use the best choice available, right?

So if you think about it, dude, it's like you're always 1 for 4 picking 12 seeds in the first round just to be that guy who tells everyone he totally called it. Don't be that guy. To sully or contaminate or radically disrespect the spirit of gambling just for the sake of first-weekend Cinderella moxie dick-measuring with a shameful bracket is something that I will leave to the amateurs and the potato-brained wanks who liked my television show.

Tweet

And I just gotta add this cuz there was a whole firestorm Friday about this being the weakest year ever for bubble teams and all of them suck like never before and let me just say this, this is all I'm gonna say about it: where there were four, there are now three. Goodbye Illinois, good luck in your travels, you're going to need it, badly.

Click to read more ...

March Madness Notebook: Day 13

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

What a great day to have spent in the living room and in front of the TV with an apartment that smelled entirely of pork. I had the crock pot on all day, rocking the barbecued pork loin sandwiches.

And because I am only one man, there remains much more pork to be eaten. Today shall be another great day. Oh yeah, there's more basketball.

Click to read more ...