Final Tournament Predictions and Awards

Here are my final picks. I don't think that there is anything that can happen Sunday that will change this. Saturday night was a terrible night for bubble teams. Two major upsets have put two teams in that would never have gotten in. (Utah St., New Mexico[had a slim chance]) What is worse is that the teams they were playing were already in (Pacific, Utah) and were not already accounted for in the at large pool.

Looking at the picks we see the Big 10 back with 5 teams again. Who would have thought this 2 weeks ago. They were hoping for 4 and now have a solid 5.

Big 12 (6) - Kansas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma St., Texas Tech, Iowa St., Texas
Big East (6) - Boston College, UConn, Syracuse, Villanova, Pitt, W. Virginia
Big 10 (5) - Illinois, Michigan St., Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa
SEC (5) - Kentucky, Florida, Alabama, LSU, Mississippi St.
Conference USA (5) - Louisville, Cincinnati, Charlotte, UAB, DePaul
ACC (5) - N.Carolina, Wake Forest, Duke, Georgia Tech, NC St.
Pac 10 (4) - Arizona, Stanford, UCLA, Washington
Mountain West (2) - Utah, New Mexico
MVC (2) - S. Illinois, Creighton
WAC (2) - Nevada, UTEP
WCC (2) - Gonzaga, St. Mary's
Big West (2) - Pacific, Utah St.

Last 4 In - St. Mary's, UAB, UTEP, DePaul
First 4 Out - Wichita St., Notre Dame, N. Iowa, Buffalo
Next 4 Out - Indiana, Memphis, Georgetown, Maryland

The Pheonix Award (Awarded to the team that arises from the ashes into a new NCAA post-season life)
Iowa

The Overhyped Award (Awarded to the team that gets the most talk for an at large bid, but doesn't deserve it, also known as the Cincinnati Bearcat award)
Memphis (As I told you for 3 weeks now. They are not a tournament team)

The "Dookie-V" Award (Awarded to the analyst that created the most biased tourney prediction)
Interestingly enough it is Dick Vitale - Bracket (The ACC with 7, after Maryland and Miami loses in the 1st round, come on)

Note: The bracket has changed but the award and point remains. The first bracket was just awfully biased. Dick Vitale and objectivity just don't mix.

The Elvis Award (Awarded to the team that broke the hearts of bubble teams)
Tie (New Mexico and Utah St.)

The Finger Award (Awarded to the team that gave the committee the middle finger and played their way into an automatic bid after getting snubbed the year before)
Utah St.

Alien vs Preditor Award (Awarded to the game or moment that was absolutely painful to watch)
Darius Washington missing 2 of 3 free throws with no time left on the clock sending Memphis to the NIT. As unworthy as Memphis is, this was just gut wrenching. I feel terrible for the kid. He will have nightmares the rest of his life over this.

Best Overall Tournament Performance
West Virginia (They didn't win the Big East tourney, but they accomplished more than any team this week.