March Madness '08

Is it just me, or does it seem like it's been ages since Adam Morrison & JJ Redick were endlessly hyped against each other? Weird to think that both their college careers ended in tears JUST 2 YEARS AGO!!! Sure haven't heard much from either since...surely, we need the Ron Jeremy mustache to return strong from the knee injury, I miss moments like these:



Just some quick thoughts on the Tourney, version .08:

"Best Impersonation of the 1990 UNLV Runnin' Rebels" goes to: North Carolina. Gotta be UNC, right? Ty Lawson looks back to full strength, Hansbrough brought it both games, and Ellington and the rest of the supporting cast was more than up to the task in hammering Mt. St. Mary's and Arkansas by a combined 70 points. Interested to see if Wazzu can make the Tar Heels play at their pace in the Sweet 16...I doubt it.

"The 1996 UCLA Bruin Yak Job" goes to: Duke. You'll find the most depressed fans in America 8 miles from Chapel Hill, where the Cameron Crazies we wishing for any type of post presence this weekend. Anyone. Anybody. This guy. Or this guy. How about him? Or him? Just not this clown.

Belmont put the fear of God into Blue Devil nation Thursday night-if not for Gerald Henderson's late game heroics-but the show ended with Bob Huggins' squad completely exposing the one-dimensional Dookies with an inside-out game that should serve the Mountaineers well against Xavier. Good luck in the Olympics, Coach K: don't let Angola sneak up on ya.

"The Donald Williams Next-Level Performance" goes to: Stephen Curry, Davidson - 40 pts (8-10 from 3) vs. Gonzaga, 30 pts & 5 asst vs Georgetown. Crazy spot ups, step backs, penetrating finishes: he was bananas.

"The Dirk Nowitzki Vanishing Act" goes to: Eric Gordon, Indiana - 8 pts (3-15 fg, 2-6 ft) in loss vs. Arkansas (averaged 21 ppg during season).

Predictions for weekend #2:

East Regional
UNC 74, WSU 61
Louisville 84, Tennessee 82 (OT)

UNC 80, Louisville 66

Midwest Regional
Kansas 81, Villanova 76
Davidson 65, Wisconsin 62

Kansas 87, Davidson 72

South Regional
Memphis 68, Michigan St. 62
Stanford 78, Texas 77

Stanford 86, Memphis 83 (OT)

West Regional
UCLA 74, Western Kentucky 64
West Virginia 83, Xavier 76

UCLA 62, West Virginia 54

My Tourney Bracket: 24 of 32 first round picks correct, 12 of 16 second round, 7 of 8 Elite Eight teams still in play, and my Final Four is still intact. That's current good for 3rd place out of 23 in the "Justin Dentmon Fan Club" group, and puts me in the 98.4 percentile nationally on ESPN.com. If Kevin Love & Co. can pick it up offensively and maintain the crazy "d", I'll be cutting down the virtual net in around two weeks time. BTW, just in case you weren't watching two years ago around this time...