The Brackets Are Out! The Brackets Are Out!

The 2009 NCAA Basketball Tournament has announced the seeds for the official bracket! In case you weren’t pumped, check out the CBS Sports viewable bracket and start thinking about where you’re going to go with it. Who is going to be your national champion?  Who is going to be your Cinderella? Do you foresee any upsets? Are you upset about Arizona getting into the Dance, while St. Mary’s was left off the roster?  So much to think about and so little time to do it. The sports media world is going crazy trying to come up with things to say about all of the first round matchups. This blog is much too small to cover it all, so we’ll just throw this little tidbit at you.

If you’re looking for a bracket-busting upset to predict, try Portland State over Xavier.

These 5-12, 4-13, 3-14, matchups are always upset central, so if you’re looking around for nice upsets, this is the wheelhouse.  Why do we like Portland State here? They enter the Tournament on a nice little streak.  They closed out the season with six consecutive wins, three of which were at away or neutral sites. Mid majors will need explosive three point shooting to win in the tourney, and PSU is well above average in three point shooting accuracy as well as overall offensive efficiency. Xavier enters the game having lost five of its last ten. Two of those wins were at an away or neutral site. Xavier shoots the three ball better than Portland State and plays much better defense. However, the Musketeers did most of their at-large bid resume building at the beginning of the season (wins over Memphis, Missouri, Cincinnati). They enter the Tourney a bit wobbly (losses to Richmond, Temple, Charlotte). You heard it here first. Portland State will upset Xavier.

To get NCAA basketball tickets, go to StubHub.com.

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