Gators won't need much aid
One wild stab at the NCAA bracket. Wear goggles when you burn it.
The risk-takers among you might volunteer to take a ride on SpaceX, or try to sneak a copy of “The Catcher In The Rye” across the Florida state line.
Or you can ride this NCAA bracket prediction into oblivion:
FIRST FOUR
San Diego State over North Carolina: Will be the most popular result of the whole tournament. Aztecs are better than any team the Tar Heels have beaten, with wins over Creighton and Houston, and lead Division I in blocked shots.
American over Mt. St. Mary’s: Elijah Stephens, American’s dynamic 5-foot-8 point guard, came from Waco, Tex. because this was his only offer.
Xavier over Texas: The Musketeers won their final eight regular season games and lost to Marquette by two in the Big East tournament.
Alabama State over St. Francis: Tough night in Loretto, Pa., once described as an “hour outside the middle of nowhere.”
EAST
Duke over American: Although if Duke’s best player switched teams, he could be the American Flagg.
Mississippi State over Baylor: Bulldogs will be relieved to escape the SEC grinder, and they also have Josh Hubbard.
Oregon over Liberty: An upset would be plausible here but for the fact that Liberty is a 65.4 percent free-throwing team.
Arizona over Akron: The Good Caleb Love leaves the Bad one in the locker room, at least for now.
BYU over VCU: A Rams’ win wouldn’t be a shocker. VCU has been to 14 NCAAs in the past 21 years, with five different coaches.
Wisconsin over Montana: Badgers rank 152nd in tempo. That’s the fastest they’ve played since 1997, when Kenpom.com started counting such things.
St. Mary’s over Vanderbilt: Commodores don’t guard the 3-pointer well enough to beat these guys.
Alabama over Robert Morris: Crimson Tide won’t need Grant Nelson in this one. It will later.
Duke over Mississippi State: None of the 364 Division I teams make its opponent spend a higher percentage of the shot clock than Duke does.
Oregon over Arizona: In this Conference of Champions rematch, remember that the Ducks beat Alabama and Texas A&M early and won eight consecutive games down the stretch.
BYU over Wisconsin: First-year coach Kevin Young intends to make the Cougars a national power, if he hasn’t already.
Alabama over St. Mary’s: They lost five of their past nine, mostly to top-shelf teams, but the Tide’s underrated defense should speed up St. Mary’s.
Duke over Oregon: Dillon Brooks and Mike Krzyzewski come back to snap at each other in the handshake line, just like old times.
BYU over Alabama: The Tide is ordered back to Birmingham immediately to face SEC relegation hearings.
Duke over BYU: Blue Devils are undefeated when they score more than 73. This shouldn’t be a problem here.
MIDWEST
Houston over SIU-Edwardsville: Brian Barone, coach of SIU-E, framed a pair of scissors and put them on the locker room. After six years, his team got to use them in the Ohio Valley tournament.
Gonzaga over Georgia: Old Bulldogs teach the young ones some old…well, you know.
Clemson over McNeese State: The Cowboys won’t be embarrassed as they were by Gonzaga last year, but Clemson is too solid.
Purdue over High Point: Tempting upset pick, considering how upset-prone Purdue is.
Xavier over Illinois: For a reputable Big Ten team, Illini gets blown out a lot.
Troy over Kentucky: Troy coach Scott Cross’ motto is “Climb the stairs,” meaning no shortcuts. This would be quite a climb against the struggling, banged-up Wildcats.
UCLA over Utah State: Only if the Bruins play up to their size.
Tennessee over Wofford: At the SEC tournament, Tennessee reminded people why it was ranked No. 1 for a while.
Houston over Gonzaga: A 10th consecutive Sweet 16 for Gonzaga would be a tournament record. Not against these guys.
Clemson over Purdue: If Brad Brownell really is a candidate to coach Indiana, this would be a good elevator pitch.
Xavier over Troy: Zach Freemantle has seemingly been in Cincinnati longer than Dr. Johnny Fever, but he can still play.
Tennessee over UCLA: The Vols need Chaz Frazier to shoot it in games like this, and usually he does.
Houston over Clemson: The Cougars can shoot it now. Three starters are 40 percent from the 3-point line.
Tennessee over Xavier: Tennessee guards the 3-pointer better than anyone (27.4 percent).
Houston over Tennessee: First team to 60 points will win. Might take overtime.
SOUTH
Auburn over Alabama State: Tigers lost three of four at the end. This is a nice R&R break.
Louisville over Creighton: Cardinals’ fans didn’t like the No. 8 seed. They’ll love being in Lexington for the weekend.
Michigan over UC San Diego: Tritons have bracket-busting potential but they’ll struggle with Vlad Goldin and Danny Wolf up front.
Texas A&M over Yale: Same here; the Bulldogs are dangerous and experienced, but the Aggies are the best offensive-rebounding team in the game.
Mississippi over San Diego State: Remember St. Peter’s, and the run to the Final Eight in 2022? Rebels’ point guard Jaylen Murray was on that team.
Lipscomb over Iowa State: The Cyclones won’t have Keshon Gilbert for the tournament, and Lipscomb’s Jacob Ognacevic (20.4 point average) is ready to introduce himself.
New Mexico over Marquette: Until they edged Xavier last weekend, Marquette hadn’t beaten a quality opponent since Creighton on Jan. 2.
Michigan State over Bryant: Phil Martelli Jr., whose dad Phil was an assistant at Michigan after a distinguished head-coaching run at St. Joseph’s, took Bryant to its first NCAA bid.
Louisville over Auburn: Cardinals were 0-4 against SEC teams, but they’re also 21-2 since Dec. 14, and point guard Chucky Hepburn has seen it all.
Michigan over Texas A&M: You just wonder if the Aggies can score enough. You don’t have that concern about Michigan.
Mississippi over Lipscomb: The Rebels got lost inside the SEC this year but they have beaten Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Louisville and BYU.
Michigan State over New Mexico: Tom Izzo coached Jason Richardson and his son Jace, has coached against Rick Pitino and his son Richard.
Michigan over Louisville: A rematch of the 2013 championship game with a different winner.
Michigan State over Mississippi: The Spartans have three underrated centers, which means they can always play big when they want to.
Michigan State over Michigan: No disputes over the midcourt logo this time. Just a ton of big plays from Richardson, Jeremy Fears Jr. and Tre Holloman.
WEST
Florida over Norfolk State: Robert Jones says it’s a “travesty” that Norfolk State was a 16 seed. The Gators would be advised to come off their cloud early.
Oklahoma over Connecticut: Was the SEC that good? Well, the Sooners were 13-0 with wins over Louisville, Arizona and Michigan before league play started. They ended the season 20-13. So, yes.
Memphis over Colorado State: This is a different Tiger team. Among its 29 victims were Missouri, UConn, Michigan State, Clemson, and Ole Miss, and P.J. Haggerty had an All-American caliber season.
Maryland over Grand Canyon: Of freshman Derik Queen, coach Kevin Willard says, “If he were white and European he’d be the No. 1 pick.”
Drake over Missouri: Ben McCollum basically brought his Division 2 powerhouse from Northwest Missouri State, won 30 games and led the nation in steals. They’ll make the Tigers play in the mud.
Texas Tech over UNC Wilmington: JT Toppin had a double-double at the NBA Draft Combine last summer, playing with Bronny James. But he backed out of the draft, transferred from New Mexico to Texas Tech and was Big 12 Player of the Year.
Kansas over Arkansas: Despite the rubble in Lawrence, Hunter Dickinson had a terrific year in the middle.
St. John’s over Omaha: RJ Luis was the Johnnies’ first Big East Player of the Year since Walter Berry in 1986.
Florida over Oklahoma: Gators ended the season by going 6-0 against six ranked teams, winning by an average margin of 13 ½.
Maryland over Memphis: Tigers turn it over on nearly 20 percent of their possessions, and Terps rank seventh in defensive efficiency.
Texas Tech over Drake: Slow dancing, won by the only team to win at Houston this season.
Kansas over St. John’s: Can Dajuan Harris remember the NCAA championship, three years ago? If so, Kansas can get a lead and watch St. John’s struggle to make threes.
Florida over Maryland: Six different Gators have more than 100 defensive rebounds, and the team rebound margin is plus-8.2.
Texas Tech over Kansas: Red Raiders won this one by five in Lawrence.
Florida over Texas Tech: Even before the SEC tournament, Auburn’s Bruce Pearl said Florida was the best team in the best league in the country.
SEMIFINALS
Florida 87, Michigan State 80: Gators have four contributing bigs, which neutralizes a Spartan strength, and Walter Clayton Jr. is ranked third-best player in the country by KenPom.com.
Duke 74, Houston 64: Cougars run into their near-equal on defense, and great players like Flagg tend to rule these moments. Duke also has the tallest team in the country.
AND THE WINNER IS….
Florida 82, Duke 76: A game so good that it’ll make you forget NIL, or maybe endorse it.
I hope you stabbed wrong on my Wildcats!