ASCH:
I think we both agree, Woods, that for sports fans, it’s not Christmas but instead March that is the most wonderful time of the year.   Now I know you went on a big road trip, but I had a pretty good Spring Break myself: I spent about half of it camped in front of a laptop queued up to CBS’s live online broadcasts of every NCAA tournament game.   March Madness (in concert with my Red Sox’s Far East season-opener against the A’s) definitely has this Jew singing ’tis the season.   And while last year’s tournament was all chalk, this one has provided enough upsets to satisfy even the biggest springtime Scrooge, wouldn’t you say?

WOODS:
Absolutely.   I think this tourney has had everything we could have asked for.   It had the early upsets, with two second round 12-13 match ups, and powerhouses falling (Duke, Georgetown).   It had the David(son) vs. Goliath on Sunday, as Davidson became this year’s Cinderella behind the baby-faced Stephen Curry.   And now we’re left with the cream of the crop of college basketball; all four number one seeds.   I get the sense that a lot of people found this outcome pretty anticlimactic and uninspiring, but I have to disagree.   I’m drooling over the Memphis/UCLA matchup to see if Memphis’s athletes can contain super-frosh Kevin Love.   And the possibility of a UCLA/North Carolina final is almost too good to be true, right?   I mean, CBS must be pinching itself right now…with all the history of the two programs, the dynasty factor and the Hansbrough/Love matchup.   That would be the equivalent of a Celtics/Lakers final in the NBA this year, and it’s awesome.

ASCH:
There’s no doubting that CBS is loving the all-one-seed Final Four, and it should make for some high-level basketball; the remaining programs probably have a combined 25 former McDonald’s All-Americans on their rosters.   But I would have loved to see Curry play on college basketball’s biggest stage.   He’s one of those guys who, because of his lack of size (he’s only 6’3″: for comparison, fellow shooting guard Tracy McGrady is 6’8″), might not really excel in the NBA, so it would’ve been nice to see him get his “one shining moment.”

But that’s just a quibble next to an actual problem I have with all four number-ones making it to the Final Four.   Everyone has one friend who thinks he knows everything about sports but in reality   has no clue.   Maybe he was really good in Little League or Pee Wees, but now the only things he knows about sports he reads in the Sunday morning sports section. Well, this friend is always the guy who brags about his bracket, shows it to you, and then has all four number ones making the Final Four.   He shows no creativity, picks all chalk except for maybe one twelve-five upset.   This year, though, with all four top seeds surviving, he’s probably winning your pool!

WOODS:
You’re right about Davidson and Curry: I would have loved to see him nail a jumper at the end of that Kansas game to send them to the final four.   He’s been the star of the tournament so far, so it’s sad to see him go.   On the other hand, he’s only a sophomore, so maybe we’ll see him again.

I’ll have to agree with you that the four number one seeds don’t translate very well to pool play.   At least for me, part of the fun is trying to pick that sleeper, or lower seed, that might have a shot and then rooting for them throughout the tournament.   For instance, I didn’t get my bracket into any pools, but filled one out for kicks and got too PAC-10 happy and put USC in the final four.   But I guess if you’re in a pool and there’s something at stake…say a guest spot on Walla Walla’s hottest sports talk radio show, you go with the best teams.   And the only one to do that, in our Non-Shock Jocks Facebook pool at least, is Whitman senior John Stewart.   Another senior, Chelsea Nash, was a Texas win or a Xavier win away from taking the lead, but John went with the number ones.   His UCLA over North Carolina final prediction could come to fruition, but he hasn’t wrapped up the victory quite yet.

ASCH:
J-Stew’s bracket does look good right now, but with 64 points still up for grabs (16 in each semi-final, and 32 for picking the champion), his 97-91 lead over Brett Axelrod must feel mighty slim.   If Memphis can take down UCLA in their semi, then the title will belong to Axe.   And current third-placer Daniel Delp also isn’t out of things yet: if Kansas defeats UCLA in the title game, the radio show spot and highly coveted Non-Shock Jocks IM Bracket Challenge Blue Shirt are his.

Like Woods, I also managed not to fill out an entry in our own pool, but I did post a bracket on the discussion board (under the subject line “watch the DJ/Group Founder’s Bracket Implode”), and despite not being officially entered I’m declaring group-founder privileges thus making my bracket the current fourth-placer.   My final is the same as Delp’s, but if UCLA can come through in its third-straight Final Four appearance and snatch the title from the Jayhawks, I’ll have defended our honor admirably: official bracket entry or no.

WOODS:
Great work making us not look like the “friends” you spoke of earlier.   My bracket has the same final as Brett, and I still see it playing out that way.   Here’s my picks for the final games:
Memphis 78, UCLA 72
UNC 83, Kansas 70
FINAL: Memphis 92, UNC 88

ASCH:
Despite Kansas looking lackluster all tournament, I’m sticking to my guns:
Kansas 81, UNC 76
UCLA 85, Memphis 73
FINAL: UCLA 77, Kansas 69