Nurse the Hate: Tournament Locks Day 4

After spending Friday at the Quicken Loans Arena with Ohio State Guy, I am looking at another long day with him starting at 5pm. A curious thing about Ohio State Guy. He loves the nylon OSU pullover. Absolutely loves it. Every other person you see is wearing one. They must hand them out at the Bland Factory Outlet Stores off of I-71. They must match Ohio State Guy's pleated Dockers, golf shoes, and golden retriever. Ohio State Guy loves the high five, and screaming out "O!" in the hopes some other dope will yell out "H!". All Ohio State fans look roughly the same, and act in the herd mentality that is perfect at sporting events. Right now he is at Panini's, Harry Buffalo, or other charmless Sports Bar throwing back Bud Lights and talking about the OSU men's basketball team with an emphatic "we" as if he will be running out on the court at 5:15pm. It doesn't matter how many OSU fans are in the arena though. They would win big if they played on my neighbor's driveway. George Mason has no answer for what OSU brings inside. If they double, they'll get killed by one of three Buckeye outside shooters. OSU is the real deal in 2011. Take Ohio State -11.

Krusty, who is still reeling over a Pitt money line disaster, convinced me that Michigan will stay in the game against Duke. Normally I would not trust the advice of someone that had has entire world turned upside down in the span of 2.7 seconds. However, he did have the luxury of being home when he melted down, instead of being in a public place and having law enforcement called in to hit him with a taser. His logic is that Michigan has stayed close in almost every game they have played vs an elite opponent. They have too. Look it up. Sure, Duke was bad news before that freshman point guard kid hobbled out on the court Thursday and dropped 15 points on Hampton. Still, Michigan will keep it interesting. Sounds reasonable to me. Take Michigan +12.5.

I haven't seen Arizona play all season. I haven't seen more than 13 seconds of Texas. But I do know that Texas does have a tendency of playing to the level of their competition. Texas seems to rush out to a 12 point lead and then allow the other team to chip away until they get to within 4. Since the spread is 5.5, I will take Arizona +5.5.

I was sitting deep in the heart of the Indiana State section when they played Syracuse on Friday night. As expected, the Indiana State fan base was filled with folks with physical maladies, odd deformities, and weathered ballcaps. There's nothing like seeing a 40 year old woman that absolutely reeked of cigarette smoke knock her cane into her 4 year old. When the boy's mouth opened up to cry and revealed teeth like those from a 1700's English seahand, I said to myself, "Ah yes, so Indiana does have more than just RV Superstores. They also have a desperate need for quality affordable dental care." These were cornfed Midwestern salt of the earth folks that know what a hearty meal is all about. The Sycamore dance team had legs that would have been considered "husky" on a video on BET. It must have been devastating to drive from Terre Haute to see your team get absolutely fucking crushed by Syracuse. The good folks of Marquette will experience the same thing today. I love Syracuse -5. Yes, they lost to Marquette this year in Marquette. But I feel the ship has been righted. Things have changed. Answers have been found. Stay with me here and take Syracuse -5.


Current record: 10-6