Here is the First Round and my predictions:


Loyola at Duke-Both these teams played earlier, and Duke won handily. And, since Duke is a much better team than Loyola and is so hungry, I say that they win handily again.


Ohio State at Cornell-Ohio State has had a good season and has pulled an upset or two. Cornell has surprised some people since this was supposed to be a rebuilding year. Since Cornell is more experienced in the tournament and is hungry to go far again this year, I say that Cornell wins.


Hofstra at Hopkins-Hofstra, coached by former Hopkins top assistant Seth Tierney, upset the Blue Jays in OT earlier this season. But Hopkins is much better than they were then, is much more experienced in the tournament, and will want revenge. Hopkins will get that revenge.


Navy at North Carolina-These two teams met in the First Round last year, too, and North Carolina was able to take care of business after Navy handled them in the regular season. Navy has a young team, and they have lost three games in-a-row. North Carolina is the better team and has played a tougher schedule. I want Navy, but I am calling North Carolina in what could be a very good game.


Canisius at Syracuse-Canisius is a much-improved team and has pulled a couple of upsets this season. However Syracuse is a much-improved team, too, and is hungry to get back to the Final Four after not going for the second time in three years last season after making 22 straight Final Fours. In addition, Syracuse will be hungry to get back on track after being upset by Colgate in their final game of the regular season. Syracuse will win, and this one could get ugly.


Colgate at Notre Dame-Both of these teams have surprised people this season. Colgate won the Patriot League Tournament and upset Syracuse in their final regular season game. Notre Dame lost their star player Yeatman, but they came together as a team and had a fine season. Since Notre Dame is more experienced in the tournament, since they have a more talented time, and since they are playing so tough as a team, look for Notre Dame to take care of business.

Denver at Maryland-Denver has surprised people this season and is the surprise team in this year's tournament. Maryland has a good young team, too, and they upset a powerful Virginia team earlier in the season. Since Maryland is the better team, since they have played a much tougher schedule, and since they are at home, look for the Terps to get the victory.


UMBC at UVA-UVA is loaded as usual, and they have had a fine season. UMBC, on the other hand, is more of a surprise. After making the Quarterfinals last season, they lost many great players. However, Coach Don Zimmerman, who won three national titles at Maryland, performed one of the best coaching jobs ever this season. His team upset Maryland, threw a huge scare into Hopkins, and has a huge winning streak right now. Because of this, Zimmerman should have the National Coach of the Year Award locked up. On paper, UVA is a much better team than UMBC. But UMBC is on a roll and has Zimmerman, one of the best motivators and Xs & Os coaches ever. As a result, don't be surprised if they give UVA a fight. However, since UVA is loaded and most likely won't look past UMBC after what happened against Delaware in the First Round last season, UVA will prevail.

Agree? Disagree?

Predictions?

And, by the way, Georgetown DID INDEED get shafted!