Posted: Friday March 19, 2004 7:09PM; Updated: Friday March 19, 2004 9:18PM
Before each round of the Men's NCAA tournament, SI.com's Luke Winn weighs in with predictions. (Any serious insight should be taken as a mere coincidence.)
Second Round -- Saturday, March 20
Raleigh, 1:10 p.m. EST
(1) Duke vs. (8) Seton Hall
After an off-duty cop accidentally discharged his gun -- and shot himself in the behind --- at last week's ACC tournament, security at basketball events in North Carolina has gone way up. Chris Duhon even got frisked courtside by this overzealous security guard in Duke's first-round win over Alabama State. Never mind -- we've just been informed that it was a trainer. An overzealous trainer.
Blue Devils 87, Pirates 75
Seattle, 3:20 p.m. EST
(10) Nevada vs. (2) Gonzaga
Something feels weird about watching this game mid-afternoon on a Saturday. For normalcy's sake, can it be moved to Monday, at midnight on ESPN, with Jimmy Dykes and Bob Carpenter courtside?
Zags 77, Wolfpack (not Wolf Pack, per our deal from Thursday's picks. One word.) 69
Kansas City: 2:20 p.m. EST
(12) Manhattan vs. (4) Wake Forest
The Jaspers are St. Joe's -- tiny school, crazy good guards, goofy coach -- without the hype. And Wake is Duke -- preppy private ACC school, great guards, Final Four talent -- without the tournament moxie. If you're gonna call yourself the Demon Deacons, you can't let a guy whose name is Demonic spelled wrong (VCU's Domonic Jones) light you up in the first round.
Jaspers 76, Deacons 74
Buffalo, 5:30 p.m. EST
(1) Saint Joseph's vs. (8) Texas Tech
This may be the first time in the
history of Bobby Knight that the opposing coach is
much more liable to lash out at the media in the
postgame news conference. I don't think Phil Martelli
will be satisfied until Billy Packer is forced to
dress up as The Hawk, stand behind the St. Joe's
bench, and dab the sweat off of Martelli's dome with
the foam cover from his CBS microphone.
Hawks 81, Red Raiders 79
Denver, 5:40 p.m. EST
(4) Maryland vs. (5) Syracuse
Did I miss something in the 3,000 or so games I
watched this season? Because I wake up on Thursday,
and all of sudden Gerry McNamara and some guy named
John Gilchrist are the best players in college basketball, and Jim Boeheim is PLAYING MAN-TO-MAN DEFENSE! And every time there's a shot of a coach on TV, it
now has to say, "Dasani Sideline Cam." What the hell is going on?
Orangemen 82, Terrapins 76
Seattle, 5:50 p.m. EST
(1) Stanford vs. (8) Alabama
Congrats, 'Bama! Your No. 1-ranked schedule is about to get a sizable boost in its "toughness rating" from No. 1 Stanford ... and then come to an end.
Cardinal 91, Crimson Tide 78
Buffalo, 8 p.m. EST
(7) DePaul vs. (2) UConn
If you notice the Huskies running a little funny on
Saturday, it's not that they're tired, they're just
wearing cups. Welcome back to the court, LeVar Seals, and thanks for redefining the concept of
"hand checking."
Blue Demons 69, Huskies 68
Denver, 8:10 p.m. EST
(6) UNC vs. (3) Texas
Tar Heels, Longhorns, you know that commercial the
NCAA keeps running on CBS, the one that says, "There are
360,000 athletes in the NCAA, and just about all of us
will be going pro in something other than sports?" They were talking about the teams you let hang around for more than 30 minutes in the first round (Air Force and Princeton). Now, wake up and start playing like pros.
Tar Heels 77, Longhorns 74
