NCAA Basketball Tourney Picks

March 19, 2006 in Other Stuff with 3 Comments

In case you’re wondering, I’ve done a lousy job this year of picking games for the NCAA basketball tournament. Next to watching the Masters golf tournament at Augusta National, this is probably my favorite sporting event of the year. Unfortunately, my prognostication skills have become a little rusty. I only picked 21 of the first 32 games correctly, and now I only have 8 of the final 16 teams left. All my "final four" picks–Duke, Gonzaga, Connecticut and Boston College–are still around.

Larranaga_1To be honest, though, I always love rooting for the underdog. And, this year, my favorite is George Mason. Their coach, Jim Larranaga, was the head coach at Bowling Green State University the four years I was there. One of the fun things about Jim’s coaching style is his whistling skills. He’s the best whistler I’ve ever heard. He does that to get his team’s attention so that he can tell them what to do next on the court. Listen closely as you’re watching George Mason’s game next Friday against Wichita State in the regional semi-finals. You’ll hear Larranaga whistling on the sidelines.

3 Responses to “NCAA Basketball Tourney Picks”

  1. charlie dean March 20, 2006 at 1:00 pm #

    come on Tony! Don’t over look the scrappy little team from P-town (Peoria, IL). Bradley had two solid wins over good teams!

  2. tony morgan March 20, 2006 at 3:15 pm #

    Charlie, I used to live in Galesburg, IL, so I’ve cheered for Bradley as well. Gotta’ love the underdogs!

    tony

  3. Rick Hopper March 22, 2006 at 3:30 pm #

    Tony, wish I would have read this post before coming up there and spending my hard earned “Wichita” money on your conference and my “Wichita” money in your bookstore, and my “Wichita” money in your coffee shop. I can’t believe you would root for someone just cause they can whistle. Root for Wichita State cause they can play ball! Hey love reading your blog and Mark’s, never had anything to post but I had to stick up for Wichita State since I am an Alum and from Wichita. We really enjoyed being there this weekend and learned a lot from Mark’s Group Workshop. Thanks for being an open door for others to learn about Christ and other’s (like us) to gain knowlegde and affirmation so that we too can be open for Christ on the cutting edge of relevance.

    Rick Hopper
    Connection Group Director
    Messiah Baptist Church
    Wichita, KS.