By Quintin Harlan, Herald Bulletin Sports Writer
Ladies and gentlemen: It’s time for THE BIG BOARD OF WRONG!
Remember the rules: The board is meant to keep one humble. Hope to get 10 out of the Sweet 16. And try not to take it too seriously.
That said, here are the predictions that are sure to be wrong, but maybe they’ll be funny, unlike Purdue’s offense against Minnesota in the Big Ten tournament.
Kansas has the No. 1 overall seed and is favored to cut down the nets in Indianapolis on April 5.
I am not backing the Jayhawks.
I believe that Ohio State can knock off Kansas in St. Louis for the right to move on to the Final Four.
Syracuse didn’t impress anyone in the Big East tournament.
Butler is in its half of the West bracket.
I like the Bulldogs to find a way to win and get to the Sweet 16 and then get put out by the Orange.
The Pittsburgh Panthers, who feature former Highland Scot Gary McGhee, are tough, battle tested and my pick to pull off an upset in the Sweet 16 by knocking off No. 2 seeded Kansas State.
Then I’m going with Syracuse to get past Pitt and move on to Indy.
The East region is Kentucky’s to lose.
Also, the fact that West Virginia coach Bob Huggins is complaining about being in the same region as the Wildcats doesn’t inspire the greatest amount of confidence.
I like West Virginia to get to the Sweet 16, and then I’m going with the No. 3 seed, the Lobos of New Mexico, to upset the Mountaineers.
So Kentucky vs. New Mexico for the ticket to Indianapolis.
Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher is a New Mexico alumnus, but Kentucky has Ashley Judd as its No. 1 fan.
I’m going with the Wildcats.
Then there’s the much-maligned South region where the Duke Blue Devils are the No. 1 seed.
I’ve been over my Big Board of Wrong 100 times, and I still can’t believe I’ve got Mike Krzyzewski and his team doing something it’s not done since 2004, reaching the Final Four.
I know Baylor is in that region, but that’s a program that hasn’t won a tournament game since 1950. There’s Villanova as the No. 2 seed, but this isn’t the bunch of recent memory that could put holy terror in their opponents’ souls. Purdue has the No. 4 seed, but do you want to bet on the Boilers’ chances without Robbie Hummel?
Then there’s the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame, whom I’ve got as the last chance to stop Duke in the Elite Eight. Why? This team learned how to grind teams down while Luke Harangody was sidelined with an injury.
That style of play wins more often than not this time of year. But I’ve still got Duke moving on.
So here’s my Final 4: Ohio State, Syracuse, Kentucky and Duke.
If those four are still alive by next week, I’ll predict my national champion.
Contact Quintin Harlan: 640-4835, quintin.harlan@heraldbulletin.com.
