So it's NCAA Tourney time.

Last year was my most successful year ever, as I correctly predicted VCU would make it ALL THE WAY to the Final Four. It was so successful, that I even contemplated just retiring the method of coin flipping my bracket and finding a new random/arbitrary way to choose my tourney bracket. Just because I felt that there was no way of topping what happened last year.

But then I looked at my bracket from last year. And I noticed that I actually didn't *technically* pick VCU... and rather picked the person who won the play-in game between VCU and USC, because ESPN didn't allow me to pick between the two (my coin would have totally favored VCU, though.) Not only that, but Sara actually beat me with her own arbitrary bracket predicting method(which is... basing picks on the coolness of the college name), as she predicted both VCU and the eventual winner UConn making the Final Four.

Which means that stupid methods of predicting sports can pay off more than I had imagined. And that my coin flipping could produce two Final Four teams... or even three, or even four if I'm a little lucky. I just need to keep at it. And I need to believe.

So here we go. Everything that you'll read below you can most likely take to the bank:

SOUTH BRACKET:
I'm assuming that Kentucky is going to be the favorite to win it all in a lot of people's minds. Yeah, well... they lose in the 2nd round to #9 UConn. Who then lost to #13 New Mexico St. Who then lost to #6 UNLV, who are our representatives in the Final Four. Other highlights: #2 Duke losing to #15 Lehigh. Also, Duke losing in general.

WEST BRACKET:
Another #2 seed went down, as Missouri lost to the #15 powerhouse Norfolk St. But the main upsets belonged to #13 Davidson and #10 Virginia mowed down the competition to finally meet each other in the West final. Fortunately Davidson won... because double digit seeds seem disingenuous when they're from power conferences.

EAST BRACKET:
Our first upset of the tourney as a #16 goes over #1... as UNC-Asheville beats Syracuse. And really... I might as well put this in an actual bracket, because it seems like Syracuse could be the weakest #1 seed in the field right now. (Or at least this simulator says they are... I simulated the tourney 100 times, and they made the Final Four the least amount of times out of the #1 seeds by a large margin... also, never let me near a sports playoff simulator.) Other highlights include #13 Montana over #4 Wisconsin... and #10 West Virginia making it all the way to the Final Four.

MIDWEST BRACKET:
#1 UNC goes down to the #16 seed... which is either Lamar or Vermont. Again, ESPN doesn't let me predict the game, because they apparently put little stock in these types of games. Nothing else interesting happens, though. #2 Kansas wins the region... which is probably going to happen in real life.

FINAL FOUR:
In the battle of mid-major teams, #13 Davidson totally rolls over #6 UNLV. On the other side, #10 West Virginia goes over #2 Kansas.

So the championship is #13 Davidson over #10 West Virginia. If you had to ask me who I would have preferred to win, it would be Davidson. I'd think that God would also prefer them winning.

So the coin came up heads, and it was decreed that Davidson will be your 2012 NCAA champions. Congratulations, Davidson fans... if you're out there.

Let me see if I can link to my bracket or not...

BONUS BRACKET:

This is Sara's bracket, which is actually more interesting to talk/write about, but it's not mine... so I feel like most of my attention should be devoted to my own.

Here's the link to it in case it works...

SOUTH: Some interesting things happen here: one, last year's runner-up in UConn ended up somehow losing to Wichita St. I'm thinking that it was more of a matter of Sara not wanting to completely replicating last year's bracket... because usually teams with "State" in its name bow out pretty early. Also, Lehigh wins over Xavier, which is another perennial contender. Which is less controversial in my opinion, because it's a better name. And rightly, it goes to the Final Four.

WEST: This was a relatively straightforward bracket, as the most riveting contest happened in the first round, with Marquette facing off against Iona. Which the upstart Iona ended up winning. Again, this may have been a case of a name that has had multiple opportunities to win over the years in Marquette losing to the name that seems newer and fresher. Which I probably would have done anyway... but you know. Just trying to analyze this a little bit, as any reporter of best-name-based brackets should. Iona demolishes everyone else. It beat Memphis in the final. It was no contest.

EAST: This was the most interesting bracket. Last year's Final Four entrant Syracuse almost repeated... but lost in the Elite Eight. Also, another favorite in Gonzaga lost in the 2nd round to Loyola... which is a pretty great name. But technically, it's showing up as Loyola Maryland everywhere I go (I guess to differentiate between the other Loyolas), but I didn't report the "Maryland" part when reciting the bracket to Sara yesterday... and I'm wondering if that omission meant that Gonzaga lost a contest that it wasn't supposed to. Even then though, it produced the MOST INTENSE matchup of them all, in Loyola versus the behemoth in St. Bonaventure. It was so intense that Sara asked for more time for deliberation.

St. Bonaventure won. It was a good decision. It's in the Final Four.

MIDWEST: This was a terrible bracket. Vermont and Kansas were in the Elite Eight through sheer terribleness in the other teams' names. Vermont won. I'm pretty sure I clicked St. Bonaventure to defeat it before I even allowed Sara to make her decision.

FINAL FOUR:
For the record, the highest seed in the remaining teams is 14. Two 14 seeds, one 15 and one 16. So if Sara replicates her success from last year and gets two teams into the Final Four, it'll probably be the greatest tournament of all time.

IONA VS. LEHIGH

I believe this lasted in the second longest deliberation. I remember her stating that both had a nice lyrical quality to them that made it difficult to choose between the two. But eventually Lehigh won. I should note that I pronounce it as LEE-high... and I'm not 100% certain that it's pronounced that way (although it should be.)

ST. BONAVENTURE VS. VERMONT

Obviously.

LEHIGH VS. ST. BONAVENTURE

It had some really good competition this year, but obviously the tournament belonged to St. Bonaventure. I mean... he's a saint... and his name is Bonaventure. You can't really beat that. Ever. I might name my kid that, and it'd be the coolest kid in every room it would ever walk into. I think that's how it works.

That's all for now. Will report back in a week when Davidson and St. Bonaventure continue their crash course towards each other in the championship.