ONIONS Exposed

As promised, today is the day we get to highlight the winner of the 1st Annual Show Us Your ONIONS competition. We are lucky enough to chat with one of Daily Onions earliest supporters, and he even helped name this lovely space. Here's a sit down, virtual interview with Show Us Your Onions winner, Brady Smith. 

Daily Onions: How many times did you fill out a bracket before showing everyone your Onions?
Brady Smith: It was hard, but I filled up two before I let my onions hang out. Umm, that's what she said??

DO: Why did you pick UConn to win it all?
BS: That's simple: they were the Big East champs, one of the hottest teams in the country with five straight wins, and had arguably the best player and "game closer" in the nation in Kemba Walker. Plus, picking Duke to advance out of that region made me wanna puke.

DO: Who is the dirtier coach, John Calipari or Jim Calhoun?
BS: Ahh, yes I’ll take, “Dude Whose Agent/Business Associate/Friend/Whatever is Nicknamed World Wide Wes” for $500, Alex. (Editor's Note: Yes, that is correct. Brady keeps control of the board.)

DO: If you were a high school senior and were being recruited to play basketball, what coach would you want to play for?

BS: Well, I actually WAS a highly recruited high school senior … Izzo, Bobby Knight, Coach K would not stop calling my house. It got really annoying, especially since I didn’t even play on an organized hoops team. I guess that’s what being a street ball legend with a killer sky hook will do for you. In all seriousness, I think most people would say Butler’s young, affable coach Brad Stevens, but I’m afraid if I go with Stevens that Mr. Daily Onions would morph into a teenage girl, become insanely jealous and de-friend me on Facebook (Editor's Note: True story, I would.). So because I bleed Gold and Blue, and because I highly value the ability to give a good face rub in times of adversity … I gotta go with my boy Bobby Huggins.

DO: Who is a better rebounder, Charles Barkley or you?

BS: Some basketball historians would argue that I was the first original Round Mound of Rebound. Others would say that’s freaking ridiculous, considering I was 4 when “Chuck Broccoli” was a rookie for the Sixers. So, I’d say it’s a toss-up.

DO: Is the 1st Annual Show Us Your Onions contest the coolest thing you've ever won in your life? If no, what was?

BS: I think it’s a cross between this, All-South Jersey Choir in fifth grade (Editor's note: Yes, he really was an All-South Jersey Choir member...flexing his golden pipes back in the day), and my Unsung Hero award in baseball for hitting .240 as a designated hitter my senior year of high school.

DO: How much money would you pay to spend a weekend with Bill Raftery?

BS: Forget spending a weekend with him – I’d pay $1,000 to anyone who can decipher what the hell he’s saying half the time.

DO: What is your favorite saying of Bill Raftery's?

BS: C’mon dude. There’s no better call in sports then a true Raftery ONIONS call after a big shot – a la Morehead State in the tourney.

DO: If you had to name your first born son after a player or coach from this year's tournament, what name would you choose?

BS: Shaka Smith has a great ring to it. But I guess Kemba Smith would be more appropriate, since I wouldn’t be writing this if it wasn’t for him. I think my son will look more like a Kemba then a Shaka, come to think of it. (Editor's Note: Interesting that Brady passed up on names like Jimmer, Momo, Shabazz).

DO: Last question: Crystal Ball - who wins the 2012 NCAA Men's Basketball Championship? 

BS: Whew – talk about a long way off. I think I’ll just stick with my formula of picking the Big East champ, so the question becomes – “who will win the 2012 Big East Championship?” Daily Onions will surely be psyched about this pick, but with the veteran Latin American core of Scoop Jar-diene, Brandon Tri-chey, Fabio Melo Yellow, and Hall-of-Fame coach Jim Boe-heimanos, I’m picking El Cuso to take the Big East and win the whole damn thing in New Orleans (Editor's Note: Don't even ask why Brady has turned Syracuse into the Latin All-Stars). You want more reasons to like the Orange? How about the Final Four is in New Orleans in 2012 – site of the Cuse’s last national championship win in 2003? What’s that - you want more? How about UConn cut down the nets one year later in 2004 … in the state of Texas like this year? Write it down. Cuse’s back in the house, OH MY GOD … Cuse’s back in the house OHHH NOOOO.

(Editor's Note: We absolutely LOVE the pick. In fact, Daily Onions was sitting court-side when the 'Cuse cut down the nets in 2003 in the SUperdome. Anyone up for a trip to NOLA next April??)

There you have it. We have officially completed year 1 of Show Us Your Onions (actually, the t-shirt is still in production). Thanks to over the 30 people that participated in our contest this year, and we REALLY appreciate everyone reading throughout the season. Make sure you stay with us for what should be an exciting NBA playoff season.

This is for all the ONIONS!

And then there were two. They both have diplomas from West Virginia University (yes, they actually give diplomas from WVU - I was just as surprised as you were), and they both have UConn in the National Championship game. Brady Smith has UConn winning, so if the Huskies do indeed win in what could be Jim Calhoun's final game as head coach, the Onions go to him. If Butler is able to win one more game in the tournament than they did last year, it will come down to a tiebreaker with total points, giving Lindsay Spieler a chance, and something to brag to her friends about.

It's Spieler vs. Smith for all the Onions

Just as there is plenty of media hype around the actual championship game tonight, also lots of festivities surrounding the finals in Show Us Your Onions. Yesterday there was media day, when Spieler and Smith posed for the camera in order to create some promotional photos for Monday night's matchup. No word on whether we'll be putting together a One Shining Moment video for the winner.

Luckily we won't be watching these two play tonight.

As far as our thoughts on the actual game being played tonight, our heart is in one place. Even though we tend to support the Big East, we are fine with touting to the haters that of all of the teams remaining in the NCAA tournament, 50% of them are from our conference. Take that Big 10, ACC and SEC! And even though we are developing a bit of a childhood crush on UConn's freshman Jeremy Lamb, who we partly hope stays in school, so he can add some weight to his frame, but also hope leaves so he doesn't terrorize the 'Cuse next season; we are still rooting for the Butler Bulldogs tonight. What Brad Stevens and the Bulldogs have been able to do over the last twelve months is one of the most impressive pure sports stories in the last 10 years (maybe more), as stated by Smith via phone interview yesterday (and we are in total agreement).

If you aren't rooting for Butler to win tonight, then you probably rooted for the team from South Bend in Hoosiers, you rooted for Roy Hobbs to strike out in his last at bat, you rooted for Rudy to not get a jersey, you rooted for the Soviet hockey team in the 1980 Olympics, and you probably couldn't see Shoeless Joe and Company playing baseball in a cornfield in Iowa. Get it? Many are saying that UConn is the more talented team and the Huskies should beat Butler. But many of those "experts" said the same about Old Dominion, Pitt, Wisconsin, Florida and VCU when they matched up against the Bulldogs. Does UConn have a more individually talented players...yes. No disrespect to what the Huskies have done over the last month of the season, but there is no better TEAM in college basketball than the Butler Bulldogs. Let's hope that by the end of the night, Stevens and Co. have the hardware to prove it.

Show Us Your ONIONS: And then there were three....

The 1st Annual Show Us Your ONIONS contest, which had over 30 people enter, is now down to 3 potential winners. No one had Butler or VCU in their Elite 8, while only one person had Kentucky. When we break things down to the Final 4, 10 entries have UConn in the Final 4, but only two have UConn in the Championship game. If UConn loses to Kentucky on Saturday, then our winner will be crowned that night. If UConn heads to the National Championship game, we'll have two West Virginia University alums matched up against each other for the Onions title. Here are the three finalists:

Lindsay Hampton: 150 total points (If UConn loses on Saturday, Lindsay is our winner)
Lindsay Spieler: 125 total points (Has UConn losing in champ. game - max potential points: 225)
Brady Smith: 125 total points (Has UConn winning it all - max potential points: 375)

Lots of things in common amongst our three finalists: two of them went to WVU, two of them played D1 -college volleyball (hint: Brady didn't play college VB), two of them share a name, two of them got married last June (not to each other), all of them dominate and all of them are loyal readers to Daily Onions. To find out more about one of these folks, you'll just have to wait to see who wins and gets their very own Daily Onions blog entry.

16 Sweet Things To Look Forward To: Part 2

Before we get into the next eight things on our list....let's have a moment of silence for Jimmer's college career (moment). We thank you Jimmer, it was a blast. Now we are excited about the MoMo Jones era (errr, weekend of the season). Florida, UConn, Butler (and Brad Stevens) and Arizona are still standing. We still have 3 of our 4 Final 4 teams still alive (thanks, Duke), so we're still in the running for predicting the National Champion. Now let's look ahead to tonight's action, and reasons 9-16 we like the Sweet 16.

9. Shaka...Gone? Will tonight's game be the final game of the season for the Rams, and coach Shaka Smart? Shaka was already on the "hot, young, up and coming coach" list this season, and victories over Georgetown and Purdue may have hoisted him to the top. With openings at Missouri, Tennessee, Oklahoma, NC State, and Monmouth (hi Ram!), there is a good chance Shaka will be gone from VCU once they are eliminated.

10. College Basketball Capital of the World: Apparently it is Richmond, Virginia. Two schools that are just six miles away from each other, both double-digit seeds, both pulled a few upsets and both are in the Sweet 16. Oh and both will probably be looking for a new head coach after the season, as Richmond's Chris Mooney is also on the aforementioned coaches list at which bigger schools will start taking a look.


11. Two down, Two to go: As you all know, we picked THE Ohio State University to go to the Final Four back in December. Well, they've won their first two tournament games, and need to win two more for our prediction to come true. They got a young Kentucky team tonight in....NEW JERRRSEEEY. A classic match up for Daily Onions, since it includes one of our favorites this season (OSU), as well as one of our favorites to dislike (UK).

12. Kentucky and Calipari: As you all know, we aren't the biggest fan of Coach Calipari. We never have trusted his young squad, as they have struggled on the road during the season, and went home early last season thanks to a more disciplined, more mature West Virginia team. We also don't trust Coach Cal. Even a six page article in Sports Illustrated basically defending Calipari couldn't really change our opinion. Bottom line, he's taken two different schools to the Final Four, and both of those schools have had those trips revoked. Now Cal claims he knew nothing about the violations (maybe true), but where there is smoke there is fire. If Kentucky ends up winning two more games, will it even matter? Half his team will be gone in a few months, and who knows what potential violations are down the road.

13: Big East Pride: Not only are the Marquette Golden Eagles one of two Big East teams left standings, but they also sport the pair of shorts we are most likely to purchase on Eastbay. Gold or light blue, take your pick, you can't lose. Shorts aside, is anyone else a tad scared of Marquette right now? They are playing inspired ball for Coach Buzz, aka Coach Streetwise....."maybe on the way out" (Chicago joke). They play hard, they are athletic, they are physical, and they will most likely give UNC everything they can handle.


14. Rock Chalk: Apparently Kansas didn't get the memo that the Southwest Region is Cinderella's castle. The team's left in that region are seeded 10, 11, and 12. Oh yeah, and the Jayhawks are 1. That means one of two things. Kansas either has a very good shot at making the Final 4, or they are in trouble and are the next top seed to take a tumble.


15. Gus vs. Raftery: This is a match up where no one wins. Its bad enough this is the final weekend of the season that we'll get to hear these two vocal geniuses, but we don't even get them on separate nights. At least on Saturday, the games are staggered so we'll be able to enjoy the final 40 minutes uninterrupted, of both Gus and Raftery. That makes us want to put our lingerie on the deck (what?).

16. ONIONS! After Friday's games we'll have the first set of standings for the Show Us Your Onions competition. We lost Syracuse, Notre Dame and Pitt last weekend, and waved goodbye to Duke and San Diego State last night. Yep, we projected Duke in the Final 4. We were wrong. Tomorrow we'll be able to see who's been right, and who's been wrong, and who has the nicest Onions thus far.

Show Us Your ONIONS! Update

We had just over 30 entries in the 1^st Annnual “Show Us Your Onions” competition. Below you will be able to see who picked what, and who everyone has winning it all (the first team listed) and who they have in the Final 4 (top four teams). Any teams currently in red have been eliminated. Sunday was a rough day for many of us, knocking out Syracuse, Purdue, Notre Dame and Texas. There is one entry that has 7 of 8 teams still alive (Kenny Warner), a couple with 6 of 8 still alive, and lots of entries with 5 of 8. Games start back up on Thursday, and our first scoreboard will be released after the Elite 8 is set late Friday night.  Thanks for your participation and for your daily reads!

Show Us Your ONIONS! Who's got Who?

Daily Onions	JaLil	Lauren S.	Megan	Riley	Carter
OSU	Kansas	OSU	Syracuse	Duke	Syracuse
Kansas	Syracuse	Notre Dame	Kansas	Kansas	Florida
Duke	Duke	Pitt	Florida	Pitt	Notre Dame
Florida	Pitt	SDSU	Duke	Ohio State	Duke
Syracuse	BYU	UCLA	OSU	Syracuse	OSU
SDSU	Purdue	Syracuse	Uconn	Temple	Uconn
Notre Dame	Uconn	Duke	Pitt	Georgetown	Kansas
Pitt	OSU	Kansas	Purdue	BYU	Pitt

Day 4 of the Madness: Boom Goes the Dynamite

And on the fourth day, he ended the Syracuse basketball season. We'll save our thoughts on the Syracuse season for a post at a later date, but we'll include some brief musings in our recap of the final day of opening weekend.

Domination Station: After starting the game trailing 11-2, THE Ohio State University got there stuff together and showed why they are the overall #1 seed in the tournament. The rest of the first half, they outscored George Mason 50-15. Put the money in the bag. OSU ends up winning 98-56, and will be headed to Newark, (Governor Patterson SNL voice) NEW JERRRSEY to take on Kentucky in the Sweet 16. Another #1 seed in action, Kansas, also cruised to a victory against Illinois. The Fighting Illini hung around, but never really threatened the Jayhawks, who will now face Richmond in the next round. While we are on the topic of domination, we need to throw VCU aka Southern Prep (South Jersey HS bball reference - thanks J5!) in there. For the third straight game, they've gone up against a team from a power conference (USC, Gtown and Purdue) and completely taken it to them winning by an average of 13 points. Purdue was a sexy pick for the Final Four thanks to the the freakish talents of JaJuan Johnson, who went for 25 and 14 on Sunday. That was not enough, as the Boiler Makers couldn't stop the Rams, who put up 94 points. Yes, this is the same VCU team that most "experts" said had no right even being in the tournament.
  
You Down with ACC? Both Duke and North Carolina were part of nail-biters Sunday afternoon in Charlotte. In a track meet, UNC held off Washington 86-83. Super Frosh Harrison Barnes has really come into his own after struggling at the beginning of the season for the Tar Heels. He dropped 22, including a 3 with four minutes to play, to give UNC the lead for good. In the second game of the afternoon, Duke and Michigan renewed the Fab 5-Laettner/Hurley/Hill rivalry. Duke went up by as many as 16 in the second half, only to see Michigan storm back and cut the lead to 1 point with 1:30 left, and then again with ten seconds left. 1 of 2 free throws from Nolan Smith and a missed Darius Miller runner as time expired sealed Coach K's 900th victory, and another trip to the Sweet 16 for the Dukies.

Five Seconds: Cue the controversy for the Texas-Arizona game. A questionable five second violation on a late game in-bounds play led to the ball going back to Arizona, trailing by two with 12 seconds left. Zona's Derrick Williams was then able to convert a three-point play the old fashioned way, finishing a layup and making the free throw. The Longhorns had two chances to win it around the bucket but could not finish, including a play on which some wanted a foul to be called. The refs (correctly, this time) swallowed their whistles. Zona will now face Duke, and Texas will once again go home early from the tournament.

Two for Eleven: That's the stat that everyone will talk about this week. The Big East got 11 teams into the tournament, but only two (Marquette and UConn) are still alive in the Sweet 16. They'll leave out the part that there were two games that matched Big East members against each other, so that number should technically be out of nine. But regardless, Syracuse and Notre Dame did nothing to help the cause on Sunday. When the brackets were released, Daily Onions looked at the Syracuse draw and said the first weekend scares us more than the potential second weekend match ups.  The reason was a second round date with either Xavier or Marquette. The Cuse got Marquette, a team the Orange lost to this season, a team that is athletic as heck, plays hard as all and can get up and down the court, and a team that isn't a great match up for Syracuse. Granted, 17 turnovers and some costly mental mistakes the entire game probably cost Syracuse the game as much as Marquette's play did. We won't talk about the backcourt violation (which isn't actually a backcourt violation - refs got that one wrong), but we'll get to Scoop, Dion, I'm Sorry Rick Jackson, Kris and the rest of the crew in a post later this week. Now, we'll pour another one out for the Big East because Notre Dame couldn't overcome Florida State. So what was supposed to be the battle for Indiana Basketball between ND and Purdue in the Sweet 16, has now turned into the battle for Cinderella between VCU and FSU.

Day 3 of the Madness: Party Foul

There were eight games on the schedule yesterday and the majority of them did not disappoint. We'll start with the games that weren't as close, and work our way to one of the most bizarre finishes in college basketball tournament history.

Teach Me How To Jimmer: We are betting that there are going to be a lot of babies named Jimmer popping up in about 9 months. The Cougs are in the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1981 after having no problems with Gonzaga, winning 89-67. Jimmer dropped 34, which means he is averaging a healthy 33 ppg so far this tournament. Now the Cougs will face Florida (who took out UCLA 73-65), in New Orleans. Make sure you brush up on that Honor Code boys.

Kentucky Split: The young Wildcats were able to avenge the school's loss to West Virginia in last year's tournament, beating the Mountaineers 71-63. The problem that hurt the 'Eers all year long was true once again on Saturday - no go-to, crunch time scorer. We miss you Da'Sean Butler. The other Kentucky squad still playing wasn't as lucky, as Morehead St.'s season came to an end at the hands of Richmond. The Spiders, the #12 seed in the Southwest, now await the winner of Kansas-Illinois.

Aztecs, Huskies and Badgers, Oh my: The Fighting Dunphies gave #2 San Diego State all they could handle yesterday, as the Aztecs eeked out a 7 point win in double overtime over Temple. SDSU now faces Kemba and the Huskies in the Sweet 16. UConn disposed of fellow Big East member, Cincinnati. SDSU has a slight advantage, as the game will be played in Anaheim. Meanwhile, Bo Ryan isn't quite ready to vacation in South Jersey just yet. His Wisconsin Badgers ended Jacob Pullen's college career, despite the Beard putting up 38 points. Coach Frank Martin's scowl took over the final few seconds of the game, as he didn't look too pleased with a few of his player's non-execution of a final play - that seemed to be NOT drawn up for Pullen.

Doin' the But: On Thursday, Butler won their game with a put back basket by Matt Howard as time expired. On Saturday, as the Bulldogs took on #1 Pitt, it was the final seconds that once again dictated who won the game. In what was one of the most bizarre endings ever, Butler took the lead with 2 seconds left. On the ensuing inbounds pass, Gilbert Brown was fouled by Shelvin Mack (it was the right call). Brown at the free throw line, shooting 2, down 1, with .9 seconds left. He makes the first. Tie game. The second, clanks off the iron and Howard pulls down the board. For some reason, Pitt's Nasir Robinson fouls (it was the right call) Howard with .2 seconds left. Howard makes the first, misses the second on purpose, Butler is back in the Sweet 16 and Pitt is back to the Steel City early, once again.

Daily Onions, who normally is in the camp of "let them play" when it comes to officiating, completely agrees with both of the calls made at the end of the game. Officials you are off the hook. The way Pitt handled the late game situation is a teachable moment for basketball players and coaches of all ages. With .9 seconds left, and a tie game, why even risk the possibility for a foul on the rebound. I don't have a problem with Jamie Dixon keeping players on the lane, as this gives Brown a more "normal" look at the foul line (if normal exists at this situation in the game). But you need to be 100% clear with your players to not commit a foul on the potential miss (as Gilbert Brown said after the game - all I needed to do was make the 2nd shot and we wouldn't be having this conversation). Robinson also admitted that is was an awful mistake and that he's been playing basketball for way too long to know better than that. Robinson's foul didn't even look accidental, as he clearly grabbed and hung on to Howard's arm. A bizzare mental lapse by Robinson. It's unfortunate that the game had to end under these circumstances. Mack is lucky he is off the hook for his last second mistake. Unfortunately for Brown and Robinson, this one is going to sting for a while.

Day 2 of the Madness: Digital Getdown

With the NCAA tournament playing games in our backyard at the United Center, it was a must that we went to check out the action live and in person. That meant we'd be depending on texts, tweets, and the March Madness On Demand App on iPhones, iPads, etc to stay up to date on the action. With this year's tournament being shown on four channels (thanks to Turner Sports and CBS), ratings are up 22% compared to last year and the highest in 20 years. That is what we call bi-winning. Now let's get to some bite sized thoughts on some action from yesterday.

-Bruce Pearl, it was nice knowing you at Tennessee. We were hoping you and your team would show up for a win or go home situation. Instead it was Coach Beilein and his "do it the right way" program at Michigan that spanked the Vols all the way back to Rocky Top.

-Great to see Texas living up to the inconsistency and squeaking by Oakland, 85-81. Huge matchup for the Longhorns tomorrow against #5 Arizona who needed a Derrick Williams block (again) to save a win against Memphis.

-Big Least: Thank you Villanova and Georgetown for carrying the flag for the Big East. Gross. Nova let up a 10 point lead to lose by four to George Mason. Meanwhile, we watched the Hoyas in person, and it was really never a game. G-town looked tentative and out of sync all game, while VCU was on fire from outside and controlled the tempo of the game with their full-court pressure. Yesterday, CAA > Big East.

-Syracuse took care of the Fighting Larry Birds as expected. Now they face Marquette, who made the Big East look good by dominating Xavier the entire game. Cuse and Marquette met in Milwaukee ("the good land") back in late January the Orange losing by 4. Revenge is a female dog.

-We also got to see Notre Dame and Purdue in action in Chicago. If those two teams end up meeting next weekend in the Sweet 16, it could be one of the best games of the tournament. Lots of Daily Onions love for the Notre Dame team, as well as JaJuan Johnson and the Boilermakers.

Big day of hoops about to get underway. Enjoy! We'll catch up with you on Monday to preview the Sweet 16, and show you everyone's ONIONS!

Day 1 of The Madness: Best Afternoon Ever?

As long as you weren't stuck in a hole yesterday for the first four hours of the tournament, you know it was arguably one of, if not the, best start to the tournament ever. Of the first five games, four of them were decided in the final 5 seconds, and had a score differential of two points or less.

First, it was the Butler doing it, making sure they weren't going home after Round 1, with their right place, right time put back by Matt Howard as time expired. Bulldogs 60 - ODU 58. Then it was Morehead taking down Rick Pitino (low blow? whoops, nevermind), with a 3 pointer in the final seconds to win 62-61. Best part of this game....we had our first "ONIONS" call from Raftery, and boy was it a good one.This was also the first game where people started ripping up their brackets.

In the battle for Pennsylvania bragging rights, Temple nails a step through jumper with .4 seconds left, to make sure that Penn State remains only a football school. Then, we all hoped that the Princeton Fundamentals would take down Kentucky. With the game tied and 3 seconds left, freshman Brandon Knight made his first bucket of the game, giving the Wildcats a win. Definition survive and advance. One more close game in the afternoon session saw the Spiders of Richmond taking down Vanderbilt. 12 - 5 upset anyone?

To the night games we go, Florida, UConn and BYU take care of business as expected. Jimmer goes off for 32 points, as expected. Belmont hung around with Wisconsin for half of the game, but the Badgers eventually pulled away to win by 14.

In the 6-11 games with Big East teams, it was a split. Cincy sent Mizzou home with a convincing win, and as predicted in this space, the experience of Gonzaga was too much for the upstart Johnnies. We did whiff on the Utah State-K-State game, as well as the UCLA-Michigan State game, although the Bruins did everything possible to try and blow a 23-point lead.

A couple of games we are looking forward to on Saturday: Huggins vs. Calipari and the youth/athleticism of Kentucky against the grind it out physicality of WVU. We'll have a Big East match up of UConn and Cincy, and an upset special with #13 Morehead St. and #12 Richmond. Last but not least, we have Butler taking on Pitt. Bulldogs find ways to win games in March, but will they be able to continue that streak against the physical Panthers.

Show Us Your Onions Update: Thanks to the 30+ entries that we received for the first annual competition. At first glance, we have a few folks that lost some of their onions with the Michigan State and Louisville losses. A complete breakdown of all the Onions will come later in the weekend, so you can see who you are matched up against.

Daily Onions is headed to watch some hoops live and in person today in Chicago. This will mark the first time we've been to an NCAA Tournament game since 2003, when....you know, a certain team cut down the nets in New Orleans. Onions!

Big: East Region

We've saved the best for last. In my opinion, and the opinion of many others, the East Region is the toughest out there. Let's dive right in because there is lots to discuss.

'Cuse is in the House: The Orange are taking their talents to Cleveland for Round 1 and will take on the Fighting Larry Birds from Indiana State. If they are able to avoid the upset bid from the #14 seed, they'll either play #6 Xavier (in Cleveland - Thank you selection committee!) or #11 Marquette, a Big East foe that Syracuse lost to in January. Not going to lie, but the second round scares us. Xavier is a sneaky team and they'll have somewhat of a home-court advantage, while Marquette is a team that knows Syracuse, plays them every year, and has a victory against them two months ago. If Cuse can get out of Round 2, we'll feel better about things.  The East Region is located in Newark, NJ aka Syracuseville East. Potential Sweet 16 opponent is North Carolina, a match up we kind of like. Hold that thought.

Big East Tournament, Part 2: We know Cuse and Marquette are in this bracket, but there's also #9 Villanova and #5 West Virginia. Nova hasn't won a game in ages, so we are going to go with everyone's favorite flashback Cinderella, #8 George Mason. Meanwhile, Huggie Bear and the boys will actually tip in the first game on Thursday in Tampa, taking on Clemson (a team that just played late Tuesday night in Dayton - Thank you Selection Committee! Love, Clemson). What will definitely be a grind it out, physical game, we are going to take WVU. An added bonus would be Bob Huggins rubbing one of his player's faces, or at least getting nose to nose during a timeout. Potential second round game for WVU puts them against Kentucky, the team they upset last year to go to the Final Four. Huggins also owns Calipari, so while Kentucky looks to have more talent, don't count out the Eers.

You Never Forget Your First: Get your mind out of the gutter. Just about three months ago, Daily Onions made our first Final Four projection of the year. Since then, we've been riding the bandwagon of Sullinger, Diebler, Lighty, Buford, Lauderdale and Craft, aka THE Ohio State University. In case you forgot, this is what we wrote back on December 21 on why OSU would make the Final Four: Dominant Player (Sullinger) + Experience (Lighty played with Havlicek) + Tough, but not too tough of a schedule (Two road losses to the second and third best teams in the conference) = OSU in Final 4. We are sticking to our guns, and Ohio State will be in Houston. It pains me to say, but after taking down Kentucky, OSU will take out Syracuse in the Elite 8 (who would have beat UNC in the Sweet 16) to cut down the nets in Newark.

And then what? Our Final Four includes OSU, Duke, Kansas and Florida. When we first filled out our bracket on Monday, we had OSU beating Duke. Even with new information available and all signs pointing to Duke's Kyrie Irving ready to see some action this week, we are still going to go with OSU. (By the way, the "Chance Irving plays this week" news on Twitter on Tuesday was the equivalent of the public address announcer saying "Daniel LaRusso is going to fight" at the All Valley Karate Championship in 1984. I can only imagine what Twitter would have looked like if people heard what Myagi did in the locker room). OSU will face the Rock Chalk Jayhawk in the National Championship Game, and with a final score of 70-66, Jared Sullinger does his best Carmelo Anthony impression and leads his team to a National Championship as a freshman.

Now that we've gotten that all taken care of, we can watch some basketball! Odds that our picks are even relatively close to what actually happens....no chance. Odds that your picks are close...you tell us! Show us YOUR Onions. Lots of entries came in on Wednesday, so make sure you don't miss out on the fun. I mean who wouldn't want an entire Daily Onions post about them??

How It Will Be Won: West Region

We've digested the weaker side of the tournament with the Southwest and Southeast Regions, now we head to the big boy brackets and we'll start with the West.

Like A Box of Chocolates: Cause you never know what ya gonna get, when it comes to teams like Tennessee, Texas, Missouri, with a little side of UConn thrown in there as well. All these teams have shown signs of greatness (Tennessee beat Pitt early in the year; Texas won at Kansas and was in the Top 5 most of the year; Missouri was great at home and awful on the road; UConn won the Big East Tournament with 5 games in 5 days, but struggled in the month of February), but who is to know which ones show up with their season on the line. We like UConn to win a few games, but not sure how long their legs hold up. Texas and Tennessee each win a game, but bow out in Round 2 to Arizona and Duke respectively. We'll lean in favor of the Big East when Cincy takes on Mizzou.

Pennsylvania Pride: How do you like your PA basketball? Heart of Philadelphia Temple style, or Big Ten Penn State style? We'll see which one prevails in this 10-7 match up, but we are picking Temple to advance to face #2 San Diego State. The Owls could give the Aztecs trouble, but we think Temple will be headed back to the City of Brotherly love after Round 2.

Don't I Know You? Thanks to 11 Big East teams getting into the Tournament, there is a chance this bracket could see UConn going up against Cincinnati in Round 2. For those of you scoring at home, the Huskies defended their home court and beat the Bearcats by 8 in late February.

What will happen? Call it chalk, call it boring, call it what you will, but we have #1 Duke playing #5 Arizona, and #2 San Diego State playing #3 UConn in the Sweet 16. As we predicted back in mid-February, Duke will advance to the Final 4, after ending San Diego State's storybook season.

Our next post will breakdown the toughest region of them all, the East. Funny how the Big East is the best conference, and the East is the best region on paper.

Now that you've seen our picks for region, show us YOUR onions. Send us an email (jrsacks22@gmail.com) with your Elite 8, Final 4 and Championship game (winner) picks, or post them in the comments section!

It's On: Southwest Region

Not as easy as the Southeast, but not as tough as the East or the West. That's where the Southwest Region lives right now. In many of the media picks we've seen thus far, Kansas seems to be the favorite coming out of this region, and we'll most likely agree. As there are in each region, some interesting match ups along the way. Let's take a look:

Upset Alert: #12 Richmond vs. #5 Vanderbilt. Not really sure what we are thinking here. Maybe we aren't that high on Vanderbilt because their home court has benches on the baseline instead of the sidelines. Maybe we like Richmond because they are Spiders, or because they won their conference tournament in Atlantic City ("Always Turned On"). Either way, we wouldn't be surprised to see Richmond knock off Vandy. Regardless of who wins this one, that will be their only win of the tournament and will exit stage left in Round 2 against Louisville.

Rock-Chalk: Another double-word score with Chalk. The top of this bracket should have Kansas cruise past their first and second round opponent. We say "cruise" in the sense that Kansas doesn't soil themselves like they did last year against Northern Iowa, or previous years against Bradley and Bucknell in the early rounds.We think they'll meet Louisville in the Sweet 16, before taking down a team from Indiana (suspense!) in the Elite 8.

Indiana's Finest: We don't see too many upsets at the bottom of the bracket, maybe #10 FSU over #7 Texas A & M. If all goes to plan, we'll have an Elite 8 match up between two of Daily Onions favorite teams throughout the year #3 Purdue and #2 Notre Dame. Two teams from the great basketball state of Indiana, two teams with senior leadership, two teams with solid coaches, two teams battling deep in the heart of Texas (San Antonio) for a chance to go to the Elite 8. It pains me to go against Daily Onions crush, JaJuan Johnson, but we'll take the Irish in this one. Early on, this is our favorite Sweet 16 match up to watch.

Now that you've seen our picks for region, show us YOUR onions. Send us an email (jrsacks22@gmail.com) with your Elite 8, Final 4 and Championship game (winner) picks, or post them in the comments section!

The Big Easy: Southeast Region

Daily Onions gets a double word score for today's title, since the Southeast Regional final will be held in New Orleans, and it seems to be the simplest road to the Final Four for the top seeds. Here's our in-depth analysis of this region, with who we think will be headed to Houston in two and half weeks. 

Toughest First Round Match up: #8 Butler vs. #9 Old Dominion. If these two teams were playing anyone else, I'd bet that most people would have them both advancing. A battle of two of the best mid-majors in the country, Butler struggled for most of the season but put things together down the stretch and ended up winning the Horizon League. Old Dominion has won 14 of their last 15 games, and has stacked up SIX wins against this year's tournament field. As much as we hate to say it, Daily Onions is leaning ODU here.

Most Historical Matchup: #7 UCLA vs. #10 Michigan State. We've discussed Michigan State's problems all year long. It is March though, do you pick against them? Regardless of who wins this game, we think they'll be sent home by #2 Florida in Round 2. If it ends up being Florida and Michigan State, it will be a rematch of the 2000 Finals, in which the Spartans won.

Upset Special x 3: #11 Gonzaga (vs. #6 St. John's), #12 Utah State (vs. #5 Kansas State) and #13 Belmont (vs. #4 Wisconsin) are all higher seeds that could be trendy upset picks in this bracket. St. John's will be short-handed after losing DJ Kennedy in the Big East tournament, while Gonzaga is tournament tough, making their 87th straight Big Dance (13th, actually). Utah State has been ranked in the top 25 this year, won 30 games and has an RPI of 15. When they were announced as a 12 seed, they did not look happy about that. Might be leaning that way, instead of going with a hot and cold K-State team. We think Wisconsin, who is coming off a loss to Penn State in which they scored 33 points, will bounce back and take care of Belmont. Bo Ryan isn't ready to vacation in South Jersey just yet.

What Happens? We are going to go with Pittsburgh meeting Florida (who will end Jimmer Mania in the Sweet 16) in the Regional Final. Yes, we know that's very chalk-y, but get used to it. Game being played in New Orleans, Florida has the advantage and Pitt goes home w/o a trip to the Final Four once again.

Now that you've seen our picks for region, show us YOUR onions. Send us an email (jrsacks22@gmail.com) with your Elite 8, Final 4 and Championship game (winner) picks, or post them in the comments section!

Show Us Your ONIONS - Reader Participation!

Three and a half months after Daily Onions was born, we are now to the moment we've all been waiting for. And since we've been waiting for so long, we want YOU to be involved in our Tournament fun!

Here's what we want you to do. Fill out your bracket, check it once or twice, and then let us know who you have in your ELITE 8, FINAL 4 and who you having playing (and winning) the NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME. We'll collect all the responses and post once the tournament gets underway (please submit your picks by Thursday afternoon). Tell your wife, tell your kids, and have them join the fun as well. You'll receive points for the correct number of teams you have left from the Elite 8 on. For example, 25 points for your Elite 8 teams, 50 for your Final 4 teams, 100 for the Championship and 150 for the winner.  Whoever ends up with most points when its all over gets a post on Daily Onions dedicated to them (who doesn't love to see their name in lights), as well as some Daily Onions SWAG, and bragging rights for the next 365 days. I mean who else can say they are the champion of the Show Us Your ONIONS competition....that's right, no one.

You have three and a half days to do your homework and pick your teams, and make sure you email your picks to the official Daily Onions email address (jrsacks22@gmail.com), or you can post them in the comments section below this post.

We appreciate your readership throughout this season and hope you (and your friends - pass it on!) will participate in our 1st Annual Show Us Your ONIONS!

Coming later today: We'll start our in-depth analysis of this year's bracket, breaking things down region by region. Stay tuned!