NCAA Division I Tournament Predictions

[pantherjhu]

After filling out the brackets, both championship and consi rounds, here's what I've got (I know it's nerdy, but when it comes to bracketology, I'm much more about wrestling than basketball):
125:
1. Precin, Northwestern (#3 seed)
2. Sanders, Minnesota (#5)
3. McDonough, Iowa (#2)
4. Robles, Arizona St. (#1)
5. Morrison, Oklahoma St. (#9)
6. Zanetta, Pitt (unseeded)
7. Nicholson, Old Dominion (#4)
8. Bartelli, Boise St (unseeded)

133:
1. Long, Penn. St. (#3 seed)
2. Grey, Cornell (#8)
3. Oliver, Oklahoma St. (#1)
4. Graff, Wisconsin (#4)
5. Peterkin, UPenn (#10)
6. Hochstrasser, Boise St. (#2)
7. Ramos, Iowa (#6)
8. Ruggirello, Hofstra (#5)

141:
1. Russell, Michigan (#1 seed)
2. Thorn, Minnesota (#2)
3. Kennedy, Illinois (#4)
4. Alton, Penn. St. (#6)
5. Novachkov, Cal. Poly (#3)
6. Drouin, Iowa St. (unseeded)
7. Marion, Iowa (#5)
8. Cleveland, Tenn. Chattanooga (unseeded)

149:
1. Chamberlain, Boise St. (#6 seed)
2. Dake, Cornell (#4)
3. Mason, Rutgers (#7)
4. Caldwell, NC St. (#1)
5. LeValley, Bucknell (#3)
6. Rader, West Virginia (unseeded)
7. Molinaro, Penn. St. (#2)
8. Sanjaa, American (#8)

157:
1. Taylor, Penn. St. (#3 seed)
2. Hall, Boise St. (#1)
3. Jenkins, Arizona St. (#4)
4. Erisman, Oklahoma St. (unseeded)
5. Fittery, American (#2)
6. Dong, Virginia Tech (#5)
7. Fleming, Clarion (#9)
8. John, Maryland (unseeded)

165:
1. Burroughs, Nebraska (#1 seed)
2. Caldwell, Oklahoma (#3)
3. Howe, Wisconsin (#2)
4. Sponseller, Ohio St. (#5)
5. Toal, Missouri (#10)
6. Asper, Maryland (#4)
7. Abdurakhmanov, Clarion (unseeded)
8. Janssen, Iowa (#11)

174:
1. Reader, Iowa St. (#1 seed)
2. Lewnes, Cornell (#3)
3. Covington, Oregon St (#4)
4. Benefiel, Oklahoma St. (#12)
5. Amuchastegui, Stanford (#7)
6. Ruth, Penn St. (#2)
7. Glasser, Minnesota (unseeded)
8. Henrich, Virginia (#5)

184:
1. Perry, Oklahoma St. (#7 seed)
2. Rutt, Wisconsin (#4)
3. Wright, Penn St. (#9)
4. Smith, Boise St. (#11)
5. LeBlanc, Wyoming (#5)
6. Honeycutt, Edinboro (#1)
7. Hamlin, Lehigh (#2)
8. Gambrell, Iowa (#12)

197:
1. Simaz, Cornell (#1 seed)
2. Foster, Oklahoma St. (#2)
3. Lofthouse, Iowa (#5)
4. Ward, Iowa St. (#11)
5. Yohn, Minnesota (#9)
6. Thomusseit, Pitt (#7)
7. Brandvold, Wisconsin (#3)
8. Kilgore, Kent St. (#4)

285:
1. Rey, Lehigh (#1)
2. Fernandez, Oklahoma (#10)
3. Bradley, Missouri (#5)
4. Lane, Nebraska (#11)
5. Flores, American (#3)
6. Russo III, Rutgers (#4)
7. Alcala, Indiana (unseeded)
8. Nelson, Minnesota (#8)

The team race will be REALLY close I think with a number of teams having a legitimate shot at winning. Penn. St., Cornell, Iowa, Oklahoma St., and Boise St. all have a ton of scorers, and it will be tight between especially those 5. Look out for Minnesota, Lehigh, Iowa St., Oklahoma, and Wisconsin. That looks to be the top 10 for me in the team race. As an aside, wow, Boise St., if things fall into place, actually have a shot here. They have gone under the radar. Also, American U. could slip into the top 10 teams if they have a good weekend with the few scorers they have.

So, what are your predictions?

[coachf]

Panther,
can you give me some times and channels so i can catch some action this weekend. I have a 200 dollar cable bill every month, i would like to think i could watch a few rounds (certainly the finals)

[pantherjhu]

Well, the finals are at 7:30pm on Saturday night on ESPN. The semifinals were aired and the all-american rounds on Saturday are being aired on ESPNU (if you have it) throughout the day on Saturday, but mostly late morning and early afternoon. There's a good chunk of time before the finals. The entire tourney was shown on ESPN360.

[coachf]

Thanks...i actually caught the last 5 wt. classes of the semis. starting at 11 today on espnu are the medal rounds. A few things that really blow my mind away are how smart physicians are and how badass D1 wrestlers are. Physically and mentally they are the toughest humans on earth.

[pantherjhu]

You must have seen then the standing cradle by Quentin Wright on Gambrell of Iowa in the semis at 184 to finish it in the second period. That was some muscle and talent there, badass is (W)right. I have never seen Cael Sanderson that animated - he was jumping on the mat shadowing the pinfall call of the ref and jumping around. When he was in the Olympics and winning national titles, he looked like he could have been a robot, or a terminator as it were, he was so calm and nonchalant.

[coachf]

I did see that cradle. One of the things i always notice when watching these matches is that most of the moves you see are your basic moves practiced to perfection. I bet every stud out of HS wants to go to Penn st....making that probably the hardest part of Sanderson's job...selecting who to take out of those studs. I heard Chuck Norris has a Cael Sanderson poster on his wall