Update: See, I'm not crazy in my Florida theory.
The "Perfect Bracket" gets a 23rd-hour update. One of my main rules in picking the bracket is: "If it was that easy, everyone would get it right." (Handy-dandy "The Rules" refresher).
Since there's little idea on Sunday night, when Caulton Tudor and I pick the bracket for the print edition, which team America will fall completely and helplessly in love with, this is difficult to predict.
Upon further review, I'm making two changes — Notre Dame over Winthrop in Round 1 and Maryland over Florida in the Sweet 16.
Very few people, outside of Madison, have Florida losing before the Final Four. On Sunday, the Midwest Region looked easy. Now, it looks too easy. Maryland was just throwing everyone off the scent with that ACC Tournament loss to Miami.
Their three guards - Mike Jones, D.J. Strawberry and Greivis Vasquez — will reprise the role of Miles Simon, Mike Bibby and Michael Dickerson (Arizona '97) and eliminate the tournament's No. 1 seed (like Arizona did vs. Kansas). Maryland, like that Arizona team, is a No. 4 seed.
As for Winthrop, when the "Bracket for Dummies" info tab pops up on the ESPN big board proclaiming Winthrop as the "Next George Mason," you can be sure the Eagles are certainly not.
I still like Winthrop's experience, but the cross-country trip to Spokane, Wash. is not what Gregg Marshall ordered. Plus, even CBS bailed on the Eagles, they sent Gus Johnson to Lexington (start worrying, Ohio State).
So, that leaves me with Notre Dame in Round 1 and Oregon in the Sweet 16. Kansas, Texas A&M, Georgetown and Maryland are my Final Four. The Terps fulfill the "I couldn't have guessed that team would make the Final Four in a million years" quota.
Just wanted to get that on the record.
And there is no "Next George Mason" this year or the next, that's what made the Patriots so special last year. It was a unique run, one that only happens every 20 years — or in this case, 21 since the field expanded in 1985.
Come to think of it, that's when we'll find the "NGM" — 2027.
