[sterlingice]

Every year, there are a few trap games that make or break brackets. My thoughts on ones for this year:

North Carolina-Gonzaga: That bottom half of the bracket is a mess and this one is for the F4.

Louisville-Michigan St: Like I said above, they just seem like they're on a collision course in the midwest.

Memphis-Mizzou: If UConn survives to the E8, I think the winner here takes them out

Arizona St-Syracuse: Winner has a good shot at the E8.

Utah-Arizona : For some reason, I just see Wake primed for an upset and that's if they get past Cleveland State.

Also, a couple of thoughts based on "common knowledge"

1) VCU is no lock to beat UCLA. I don't like any of the 11s over 6s this year.

2) People have fallen in love with Florida State and Syracuse after their conference tourney performances. I think Syracuse, in particular, is badly overseeded. But the problem is I could see that half of the South bracket fall apart as I mentioned above.

3) The more and more I want to mark UConn down for an early exit, the harder I have a problem seeing who can do it. That part of their bracket is just fluffy. I would pick their 8/9 over any other and is anyone scared of Purdue or Washington?

4) If Lawson is really gimpy or unable to play, aren't you scared of putting North Carolina even past the winner of LSU/Butler?

5) The more and more that I look at it, the more and more I'm scared of KU's game with West Virginia. I'm not overly worried about North Dakota State but I don't think WVU has much to worry about with Dayton either- it's a good matchup for them.

SI