fingers crossed?

i know i'm about to jinx this, but i just had to share.

i really love march madness. i always fill out the maximum number of brackets on yahoo just to see what happens. i also always sign up for the "best bracket contest" in the hopes that - somehow, out of the millions of entries - mine will be the greatest.

well, as you can see from the following picture, through the first four, second, and third round of the tournament....i think i have a chance.

one of my brackets (feel free to judge the name...i named all of my brackets after animal sounds) is doing exceptionally well. yes, i had florida gulf coast beating georgetown. no, i did not have them beating san diego state. no, i did not have harvard winning. yes, i did have wichita state in the sweet 16.

what i am most impressed about this bracket is that i went 8/8 on the 8/9 and 7/10 games. i feel like those really are the true toss-ups. as is always the case, in just about every other bracket i had ole miss beating wisconsin...except in this one. also, in every other bracket, i had la salle over kansas state...except this one. so that part of the bracket is really the only major blemish.

with the exception of fgcu in the sweet 16, i have a perfect right side of the bracket. i'm ok with that.

what gets me really excited about the chance of contending for the top prize, however, is that i have a not-so-likely final 4. if it hits, i guarantee i'm one of the few to have it:

(1) louisville

(6) arizona

(4) michigan

(1) indiana

you best believe the entire osu/isu game i was pleading for iowa state to pull it off. the west bracket is in such chaos that i feel like arizona would have had a cake walk to the final 4 had that happened. unfortunately their next game is against ohio state, so i will be quite nervous as that game progresses. really though, how many have arizona in the final four?

michigan was my outside pick as i think the south bracket is probably the toughest. kansas and florida are both great teams. i was hoping that unc would beat kansas to set up an easier path for michigan. nonetheless, KU's struggles against unc make me hope that trey burke and company can pull off an upset. i still think florida is the best team in that bracket (i have them in all of my other final 4s) so i might just be depressed. nonetheless, if michigan makes it to the final four, i think i'll still be one of the few to have them.

louisville has looked good. i think they have way more talent than oregon. one always needs to worry about coach k and coach izzo, so whichever team they face in the elite 8 could pose a big threat. either way, i still like their chances.

indiana, if you ask me, is the most talented team. i understand that syracuse is a tough matchup, but i don't think syracuse has the depth they have had in previous years to compete. oladipo can run circles around any of their players. i'm not a huge fan of marquette, and their close games against davidson and butler prove they are vulnerable. i like miami to make the elite 8. that will be a brawl of a game, and i can't wait to see who wins the miami-indiana matchup. 

anyway, i know the remaining permutations/combinations/possibilities of elite 8, final 4, and championship games are substantial. i'm not counting my hens before they hatch, but i've never had a bracket this good this far into the tourney. one can dream.