March Madness 2012: Student and teacher brackets

March 15, 2012

Michael Kessler, Jake Davidson and JJ Friedman

Editor-in-Chief, Managing Editor and Staff Writer

Today it begins. The greatest three week period in sports is about to kick off. March Madness is here. Each year millions of “experts” fill out their brackets in pursuit of the elusive perfect bracket. Each year millions of “experts” have their dreams dashed within the first two days of competition. Upsets, injuries and suspensions make March a wild ride.

This year will the favorites, Kentucky and UNC, ripe with NBA talent, meet in the final? Or will a mid-major Cinderella bust the bracket like Butler, VCU and George Mason have done in the past? Will it be Wichita State, Long Beach State, New Mexico State or Murray State? These questions will be answered in the ensuing weeks and we can sit back and watch. Only one thing is certain, there will be madness.

Below are the picks of The Roar‘s staff members and expert teachers in the annual Roar March Madness competition. Since gambling is illegal in California, the winner will receive the satisfaction of coming in first!

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Michael Kessler ’12

Michael Kessler declined to comment.

Michael Kessler bracket

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Mr. Bloom

Steve Bloom picture

Mr. Bloom declined to comment.

Mr. Bloom bracket

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Jake Davidson ’13

Jake Davidson picture

Jake Davidson declined to comment.

Jake Davidson bracket

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Ms. Robbins

Out of the South I picked UNLV for as long as I could. I even have them upsetting Duke (sorry Mr. Alexander) as payback for that crazy Laettner shot more than 20 years ago (20 years?!?! Wow!). I have UNLV losing to Kentucky, and while it breaks my heart to pick against the Runnin’ Rebels, I have Kentucky winning it all. Some upsets out of the East… not sure how Melo’s ineligibility will effect ‘Cuse, so I have them losing to Kansas State early and have Ohio State going to the Final Four. I really went back and forth for the team to come out of the West… in the end I picked MSU but I will be kicking myself if it is Missouri. I erased this pick many times. Finally, out of the Midwest I have UNC. This is another heartbreaking pick for me. My mom is a Jayhawk and I hate that Roy Williams left Kansas to go to UNC. This being said, I think North Carolina is a better team with more depth and I have them in the finals. I will be elated if this pick is wrong! I have Kentucky winning it all… I have lots of Wildcat gear from working at Milken so this will be easy when selecting wardrobe for watching the games.

Ms. Robbins bracket

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JJ Friedman ’12

Florida State will win because they won the hardest confrence in basketball and they are the most complete team. There is no team in college basketball that can beat them when they are playing their best. They are the hottest team going into the tournament and that usually means success.

JJ Friedman bracket

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Mr. Lindsay

Beau Lindsay picture

Without much of a Pac-12 presence (namely the greatest NCAA basketball school ever – UCLA), this year’s bracket was particularly tough for me. But I like Kentucky, of course, and I have a good feeling about OSU. In terms of other upsets, I think LBS will make a good run and I have G’Town beating Kansas. We’ll see what happens… Bonam Fortunam Omnibus.

Mr. Lindsay bracket