Thursday in Hoops and Prediction Woes

Off Wisconsin! The Badgers suffered their second straight loss tonight against Michigan, and are in the most vulnerable spot they've been in this season. This could end up being a three-game losing skid as they have to play Maryland on Sunday. The wall Wisconsin is hopelessly crashing into was expected. They have been flirting with disaster ever since that overtime win against Rutgers, and it has now caught up with them. Personally, I haven't seen Wisconsin as a tournament threat all year, and now my views are warranted. 

In other news, Oregon is looking more and more like a national championship contender. Tonight's win over Utah was dominant in every aspect. They even dominated the uniform battle sporting the "electric green" that literally brightened up my day. 

I didn't watch much of the Arizona game, but it looked like a big win, which was the expectation going in. I was considering Arizona for a Final Four, and they are still in the mix, but I've just been more impressed with other teams and with their probable 3 seed, they will face a very tough road to Phoenix. 

I don't remember having this much difficulty picking a national champion ever. I'm torn among eight teams right now: Arizona, Kansas, Louisville, Gonzaga, Villanova, Oregon, North Carolina and Duke. All of them could be cutting down the nets in April, I just have to find out which one before March 16. I've put in a ton of work in pursuit of my third bracket pool title (2008, 2011), and I can't let my effort go to waste. This is officially crunch time. If I had to give the slightest of edges to anyone right now, I think I would pick Oregon. I can't explain my pick that much because my mind will change in 6 seconds. 

Also Gonzaga won. 

Also, I switch to Kansas.