6B - The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - March 14, 2005 Michigan Daily/Papa John's Challenge NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament First Round March 17, 18 Second Round March 19, 20 Regionals , March 24-27 Final Four April 2, 4 Regionals March 24-27 Second Round March 19,20 First Round March 17, 18 1 Illinois 16 Fairleigh-Dickinson 9 N evada : . ... .. ......... . .. .. 5 lbama Score the most points and receive 10 free pizzas from Papa John's North Carolina 1 r~EIII2 Oakland/Ala. A&M 16 L- Minnesota 8 Iowa State 9 ro" 12 Wisc.-Milwaukee 4 Boston College 13 Penn 6 LSU 11 Ala.-Birmingham 3 Arizona 14 Utah State 7 Southern Illinois 10 Saint Mary's 2 Oklahoma State 15 Southeast Louisiana 1 Washington 16 Montana 8 Pacific 9 Pittsburgh 5 Georgia Tech 12 George Washington 4 Louisville 13 Louisiana-Lafeyette 6 Texas Tech 11 UCLA 3 Gonzaga 14 Winthrop 7 West Vir inia 10 Creighton 2 Wake Forest Chicago :::.... h ........ 3 s a i 3 %; s Villanova 5 Syracuse New Mexico 12 Florida 4 Ohio 13 Wisconsin 6 .......... ----------------------- Northern Iowa 11 Kansas 3 Bucknell 14 Charlotte 7 N.C. State 10 Connecticut 2 0o L. . . .. . . . . .. . . .. . .. .. .. . . Albuquerque } z ' s, N 1 f s s t .~.... Central Florida 15 Duke 1 Delaware State 16 Mississipi State 9 Michigan State 5 Old Dominion 12, Syracuse 4 6l Austin Vermont 13 Utah. 6 A U. { b ' tt t I I z __ it UTEP 11 Oklahoma 3 40 ..._.. Niagra 14 -- - - ---- . . .... ......... .............................. Cincinnati 7 ..,Iowa 2Q: Kentucky 2 Eastern Kentucky 15 15 Chattanooga i <= V... .. Better Pizza. To be eligible for the Papa John's prize, you must bring in your completed bracket to The Michigan Daily (420 Maynard St.) before the tournament begins Thursday morning. Your Name Total Points In Championship game E-mail Phone I The first round games are worth one point, two inthe second round, then three, four, five and six for the other rounds. Fire up your brackets: It's Tournament time Break out the face paint and put on your dancing shoes. It's the most wonder- ful time of the year. March Madness has officially arrived, and the unveiling of the NCAA Tournament bracket yesterday only guarantees that most of us will be dreaming of upsets- and Cinderellas in class this week until we start skip- ping altogether on Thursday, when all the fun begins - on St. Patrick's Day, no less. Luck struck a number of bubble teams that snuck in during the past Dance Fl week. Five teams with Josh Hoir tj o n1 will represent the Big Ten this year, way up from last year's pitiful total of three. Iowa and Minnesota's wins in the Big Ten Tournament may have helped the conference match the ACC's five teams that made it into the tourney, an idea that would have seemed laughable at the beginning of the year. Granted, Iowa's athletic director is the chair of the selec- tion committee, but that's a topic best left to the conspiracy theorists. In an irony of all ironies, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish learned that they will not be playing on St. Patty's Day. But then again, they lost to Michigan this season, so let's not waste our time wondering whether or not they deserved it. Instead, it's the good teams like Illinois that always seem to be the lucky ones. The Fighting Illini finished the season with just one loss, light years ahead of any of the other No. I seeds. The selection committee rewarded them handsomely with a cake- walk into the Final Four. Assuming they can handle a legitimate Oklahoma State team in the Elite Eight, their toughest com- petition includes Arizona, a team notorious for choking come tournament time, and The region also holds the potential for the most intriguing subplot of the tourna- ment. North Carolina coach Roy Williams just might run into his old team if the Tar Heels and Jayhawks meet in the Elite Eight, forming about as juicy a reunion as college hoops could hope for. The Albuquerque bracket may not be as top heavy, but, top to bottom, it may be the toughest in all the land. It's loaded with teams full of momentum - nine of the teams in the bracket won their conference tournaments and four others made it to the final game of their conference tournament. Pittsburgh, UCLA and Wake Forest make up those three left- or over teams, and they're not exactly a n pushovers. In fact, Wake Forest may have the best chance of danc- ing its way out of that regional and into St. Louis. It shouldn't have a problem making it by the No. 1 seed Washington, which won the Pac-10 Tournament to squeak into the top slot. The Huskies are a good team, but nowhere near deserving of a No. 1 seed. They may not even make it to a matchup with the Demon Deacons, since they might have to go through the likes of Georgia Tech or Louisville, two grossly underrated teams. If the Cinderella angle is more your thing, we've got plenty of that. Hair will be pulled and glass slippers will be fly- ing toward jugulars when two possible Cinderellas battle it out in what might be the best game of the first round. Southern Illinois and Saint Mary's will square off in a rare pairing of two mid-major teams in the opening round in the Chicago bracket. The Salukis of Southern Illinois already destroyed its share of brackets, when it advanced to the Sweet 16 in 2002, while Saint Mary's is waiting for a chance to frustrate tournament pool participants. And since every bracket needs a No. 12 over a No. 5 - and we live in anti-Sparty territory - why not look to Old Domin- STAFF PICKS DESPITE THEIR LOUSY PRESEASON PREDIC- TIONS, THE BASKETBALL WRITERS MAKE THEIR FEARLESS PREDICTIONS FOR THE NCAA TOURNAMENT. Chicago region winner Albuquerque region winner Syracuse region winner Austin region winner National Champion Tournament Most Outstanding Player Cinderella team Biggest snub Most overrated Best first round game Biggest first round upset Best potential matchup Favorite mascot 0 Oklahoma State Wake Forest North Carolina Duke Duke J.J. Redick Iowa Notre Dame Boston College Pacific/ Pittsburgh New Mexico GT/Louisville Golden Knights Eric Ambinder Megan Kolodgy Illinois Wake Forest Kansas Syracuse Wake Forest Chris Paul West Virginia St. Joes Illinois GT/GW Iowa Illinois/BC Mockingbirds Illinois Louisville North Carolina Duke North Carolina Raymond Felton New Mexico None Washington SIU/St. Mary's New Mexico Kansas/UNC Salukis Josh Holman Ilini win title, coast to top seed Brian Schick Illinois Wake Forest North Carolina Syracuse North Carolina Rashad McCants Iowa Miami (OH) Washington SIU/St. Mary's UAB GT/Lousiville Lobos CHICAGO (AP) - As top-ranked Illinois celebrated its Big Ten Tournament title with the traditional net-cutting ceremony, James Augustine was trying to figure out what he was going to eat. Then in the middle of the euphoria came an announcement he wasn't expecting: He'd been voted the MVP of the tournament. "I was just over there talking to Nick (Smith) about what was going to be for din- ner," Augustine said. "He gave me a hard time, and I had to give a speech. I had no idea. I was surprised with it." With Augustine and Roger Powell clog- ging up the middle for most of the game, the Illini built a 16-point lead and held on yes- terday to beat No. 23 Wisconsin 54-43 for the Big Ten title. "(Augustine) said, 'I'm so hungry, what the heck are they going to have in that room?' He really wasn't thinking about being the MVP. They're all like that. They're loose and free and very competi- tive," said Illinois coach Bruce Weber, who coached his second straight game following Illini had held off a late Badgers run. The Illini didn't shoot well again yester- day - Dee Brown went scoreless and was 0-for-8 from the field - but they turned up the defense, especially on Wisconsin scoring leaders Alando Tucker and Mike Wilkinson. "We have showed all year we were able to run with people and go by them," Weber said. "And at the same time when they make it a slower game - Wisconsin, that's their style - we're still able to deal with it." Tucker, whose 3-point buzzer-beater in the semifinals carried the Badgers (22-8) over Iowa, managed just nine points on 4-of-14 shooting but was instrumental in Wiscon- sin's comeback. Wilkinson, Wisconsin's second-leading scorer, also struggled, scoring eight points on 1-for-7 shooting as the Badgers made only 14 of 54 field goal attempts (26 percent). Top reserve Zach Morley, who had 40 points in the first two Wisconsin wins, man- aged five yesterday. Augustine and Powell helped each other inside as the Illini doubled whomever had at Oklahoma City on Friday. "You can't get too down on yourselves after a loss. You have to take good with bad," Tucker said. "We'll look at this, see the things we can improve on and that's going to help us down the road." The Illini went up 16 when Head and Pow- ell hit 3-pointers and then Head raced ahead on a fast break for a dunk on a pass from Brown with 8:42 left. 0 IMILIMLL" } , f t-