Sports N' Stuff: The Madness Rolls Onward

By Brian Flagg - March 31, 2008
iBerkshires Columnist

Well, two weeks ago in my column I professed that this would not be the year that NCAA Tournament boasted four No. 1 seeds in the Final Four. I was wrong. Yikes! 

Oh yeah ... I'm getting creamed in iBerkshires.com's March Madness contest, too. Great job to everyone who is still in the running. So how much do I really know?

I know this — here is what we are left with. The four best teams in the country are "all in" and will face off for the National Championship next weekend. UCLA, North Carolina, Kansas and Memphis held true to their top seedings in grand fashion.

Most of their Sweet 16 and Elite 8 games were cakewalks for the most part. We did see a possible "Cinderella" team in Davidson but their dream ended this weekend against Kansas.

UCLA will take on Memphis and UCLA should take this contest and move on to the finals. I picked them to go all the way and don't have any reason to believe differently. Kevin Love is, as my previous column stated, the premier freshman in the country and is probably one of the best players at any grade level. 

First of all, Love was chosen as the Outstanding Player of the West Region. In their game against Xavier he was 7 for 11 from the floor and 2 of 4 from three point range. Half of his rebounds came on the offensive glass and he added four assists for good measure. Combine him with Ben Howland's coaching and UCLA walks into the championship game with a 10-point victory over Memphis 67-57.

North Carolina and Kansas make an interesting game. I thought Kansas would get knocked out by Georgetown in the Elite 8, but wow, was I wrong. Kansas has proven that they are a very formidable opponent thus far. 

However, they cannot match up with North Carolina. I muttered enough in the last column about Tyler Hansbrough and how dominant he is. This game will be close but North Carolina will come out on top 78-70.  

I know this a shorter column than usual but what else is there to say. UCLA is the best team in the country and will win the whole tournament. See you next time and as always, let me know what you think.

Brian Flagg was co-host of "The Sports Page" on local public access stations for nearly five years. The North Adams resident has been coaching girls' basketball and softball for 16 years. His column appears every other Monday.