It Is March, It Is Now Time For Five Bold March Madness Predictions

It is March 1. Well that was fast. It may sound cliche, but hasn't this college basketball season gone by so quickly? I can't even begin to think about being potentially three games away from documenting my damn lunch every day. Oh, the horror.

When the calendar turns to March, the spotlight gets brighter. Players become legends, coaches lock up long contracts on one magical run, and bloggers become unstoppable. Maybe that last one isn't true. Regardless, during March, everything is more important, which makes this prediction game dangerous. When we made five bold predictions at the beginning of the year, the stakes were lower. Some predictions were prescient (St. John's, Villanova). Some were asinine (Syracuse and Georgetown as the top two teams in the Big East). Some were lacking the proverbial, how do you say, NUTSACK (Duke won't win national title).

Now it is time to turn it up one more time. Time to take some chances to gain respect from quality writers like Mike Decourcey. Time to be that "professional outfit" so many people expect us to be. As an aside Mike, how's that Greg Monroe hate going?

After The Jump, five bold March predictions.

1. A Big East team will win the National Championship

For a conference that has been so strong throughout the regular seasons the past few years, the Big East hasn't won a championship since 2004, when UConn beat Georgia Tech, which is also the last time a Big East team has been amongst the final two. This year, that will change. Some team from the Big East is winning it all. Right now, the best bet would be Notre Dame. I just threw up. A lot.

2. BYU will not make it to the Sweet 16

Right now, BYU is reminding me of Boise State in football. They are media darlings, with Jimmer and the rest of his comrades, but I don't believe they will have much tournament success. I have no statistical analysis to back this up, just a hunch.

3. No #1 seeds will make the Final Four

Similar to 2006, there are no great teams this year. It's a matter of finding teams that are peaking at the right time, like Florida did then. I don't happen to think any of the teams in contention for #1 seeds are doing that right now, besides BYU, and I don't like white people.

4. North Carolina will advance deepest of all the ACC teams

I think they have more tournament upside than Duke right now. They have better athletes, and Harrison Barnes will have an enormous NCAA Tournament, vaulting himself back into top 5 NBA draft pick discussions.

5. Georgetown will make it to the second weekend of the tournament

This is a reprise of the prediction we made earlier this year. I still believe it. Right now I'd argue that Austin Freeman, Hollis Thompson, Julian Vaughn and Jason Clark are in pretty solid slumps. Chris Wright is currently out with a broken hand. I am going to assume that the four slumping players will snap out of it, and that Wright will be effective when he returns to the court. Personally, I wouldn't mind beating Cincinnati then losing in the first round of the Big East Tournament. This team plays best when it has a lot of time to prepare, and when it has its back against the wall. Both of those things would be achieved with an early BET flameout.

I look forward to not a single one of these coming true and then getting mocked relentlessly for ETERNITY. Such is life in March.