March Madness
Posted Mar 13, 2005, 9:45 PM ET

Since this is the first batch of "Ripe Gripe", it only makes sense to start with the biggest sports story of the month...March Madness.

We finally have the official brackets in which to fill out our office pool picks. Thank goodness I don't have to listen to another annoying "Bracketologists" on ESPN, Fox Sports or any sports talk radio show. These guys have carved out a niche like Fantasy Football forecasters, and they're all out of their minds. Who cares how many teams you correctly nabbed in the field of 65? Get a life and enjoy the games like the rest of us.

Listening to ESPN's "Dr. Bracket", Joe Lunardi, break down a potential #14 seed team from the Mountain West Conference is like listening to your local weather geek forecast snow in the Carolinas. They get giddy about absolutely nothing. "A flake has fallen nearly 80 miles from our viewing area"...and "Utah State is a tough foe as a 13-seed"...Who cares? Shut up and let's play the games!

Finally these goofballs can disappear from the screen and the dial and we get to watch the drama unfold. I'm sick of the overused RPI, SOS and other meaningless stats.

By the way, speaking of NCAA office pools: I wonder if former Washington Husky football coach Rick Neuheisel is participating in any this year? If you don't remember, Neuheisel was terminated by UW for gambling on NCAA office pools (among other faults), and recently won $4.7 million in his lawsuit against the NCAA and the university. I sense that Rick could be a factor to win again, given his latest windfall and ability to pick winners...at least that's what the Bracketologists tell me.

Now, to the Brackets: The four number-one seeds are Illinois, North Carolina, Duke and Washington. I've got to hand it to Duke for making it as a #1 seed (please read "Say What?"). Illinois and UNC were locks as #1 seeds and Washington was aided by their Pac-10 title and Rick Neuheisel influence. Just kidding about Rick.

The NCAA Tournament is a great spectacle and everybody gets into it. It is one of the few sporting events in which peripheral fans get juiced and pay attention to every outcome. Maybe that explains why the secretary wins the office pool by picking the teams with the best uniforms or coolest mascots.

But one of the biggest misconceptions about the "Dance" involves Cinderella. That's right, Cinderella. Everybody roots for her, but she doesn't exist. The last time Cinderella decided to stay past midnight at an NCAA Tournament was in 1985, and her name was Villanova. When you think about it, we haven't seen a #8 seed like Villanova win a title in 20 years. Maybe there will be a cute story or upstart team that gets our attention and makes it to the Sweet 16 or Elite 8, but winning outright...it just doesn't happen anymore.

So, let's get to the bottom line... Who will survive and advance to the Final Four in St.Louis? I still think Illinois and UNC are the two best teams in the country, and somehow I think they'll find a way to make it to the Arch. Even though the Tar Heels have a brutal bracket - with potential showdowns against Florida or Villanova, Kansas and UConn. Roy will have to earn his first national title against an impressive field of opponents.

In addition to Illinois and UNC, I'm going to go away from the trendy picks of Washington and Duke, and pick some teams that have championship-caliber coaches that are hot at the right time. I'm picking a pair of #4 seeds in Louisville from CUSA and Syracuse from the Big East. Rick Pitino's guys are smoking and he knows how to coach in the big games. And even though Syracuse and Coach Jim Boeheim have had some disastrous early exits, the Orange did run the table two years ago and they are coming off an impressive Big East title.

So, there you have it...Illinois, UNC, Louisville and Syracuse.

And if you're like me, after all the upcoming upsets, I predict that you will have thrown your office pool brackets into the trashcan by the end of the opening weekend of the tournament.