Magic 8 Review 3

The Final Four ... number 1's. Booooorrrrringggggg. Hopefully, it will make for good basketball. That's what everyone on TV and in the papers keep saying.

"Oh, the first time in 25 years all four #1 seeds make the final four! What great games we'll have!"

I'm sorry if I don't believe. I want to believe, but they were saying the same things with the Elite Eight, and what happened? The ONLY good game was the one with the double digit seed -- #10 Davidson botches their last possession and loses by two to Kansas.

All other supposedly close games ended up with margins of 19 (UCLA), 18 (Memphis), and 10 (UNC).

Let's review Grant Wahl's Magic 8, now that the Final Four are set.

Results:

1. Georgetown -- WRONG. One 7' Goliath felled by Davidson.


2. Indiana -- WRONG. Dead and gone like their coach.


3. Kansas -- CORRECT. Kansas played well, and I'm still losing by 10 points in my just-for-fun pool (I hope they lose to UNC, or my bracket's shot), but let's be honest -- if the Final Four are the four best teams in the tournament, then Davidson was #5.


4. Louisville -- WRONG. No white suit for Pitino, and no answer for Tyler Hansbrough.


5. Memphis -- CORRECT. I went to the Memphis vs. Texas game (more on that another day), and nobody talks about the baseline ref with the buzz cut that swallowed his whistle the whole first half. There's a reason why Memphis had their way on the offensive end, and it wasn't Texas' D. Now, Texas did everything it could to lose the game on it's own offensive end, yes, but the difference in calls between the baseline ref and the other two referees still makes me wonder -- a properly called game and Texas loses by 7 or 10? Probably. Respectable.


6. Tennessee -- WRONG. Will Bruce Pearl leave for Indiana?


7. UCLA -- CORRECT. They spanked Xavier worse than I thought possible. I pondered my hatred today, and I think I may hate UCLA because of Kevin Love's stupid Backstreet Boys beard.


8. Xavier -- WRONG. The basketball gods emphatically denied my pleas, and saved my bracket. Bummer.

There was a 4% chance that a Magic 8 team would win it all. It's amazing what can happen when the field is halved. Here's the regions:

East -- UNC (0%)
Midwest -- Kansas (100%)
South -- Memphis (100%)
West -- UCLA (100%)

Given my prehistoric mathematical abilities, I'd say the odds of a Magic 8 team winning the championship is now (100% + 50%) x 50% = 75%.