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Local Coaches, Editors Make their March Madness Picks

It's time for Match Madness and Patch Sports Editor Mike Baldwin has gotten in on the excitement.

It’s time for Match Madness and Patch has gotten in on the excitement. We are running our first annual friendly “Local Coaches and Editors” NCAA bracket competition, which puts coaches from local high schools against some of our local editors from Western Washington.

Below you will find the scoring system for the competition and Final Four picks from each participant, along with some insight on what led to the picks (complete brackets are to the right in the photo area). We will be posting leaderboard updates after each round. Let us know what you think and feel free to contribute your own Final Four thoughts!

Sports Editor’s Note: Some of the brackets have similar handwriting. Some of the coaches and editors relayed picks to me over the phone or via email and I filled out the brackets accordingly. Also note that not every coach or editor provided insight on their picks.

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Rules:
Scoring System:

  • 1 point for first round wins, 2 for second, 3 for Sweet Sixteen, 5 for Elite Eight, 7 for Final Four, 10 for championship game
  • Upset picks in the first round will receive one point, plus a bonus total equal to the disparity in the rankings up to five points. For example, if you pick a 10-seed to beat a 7-seed, you get one point for the prediction, plus a bonus three points for picking the upset. If you pick  a 13-seed to beat a 4-seed, you get the one point plus the max bonus of five points for the upset. All upset picks from the second-round on will receive two bonus points.
  • 25 point bonus if you correctly select all the Final Four teams
  • 10 point bonus for correctly selecting the National Champion
  • 1 Billion bonus points if you pick a perfect bracket.

 

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And now on to the picks:

Gavin Cree, Head Coach boys basketball Mercer Island High School Alma Mater: Pomona College (California)
Final Four: Ohio State, Duke, Kansas, Florida
Title Game: Duke, Kansas
Champion: Duke
Major Upset Picks: (7) Washington over (2) North Carolina, second round; (12) Richmond over (5) Vanderbilt, first round; (13) Belmont over (4) Wisconsin, first round; (11) Gonzaga over (6) St. John’s, first round; (6) Xavier over (3) Syracuse, second round

Insights:
On picking Duke to win:
“I like them. I like the way they played last year and, they certainly lost some pieces, but it seems like they were able to fill in pretty nicely. And the fact that they’ve got this point guard [Kyrie] Irving back for the tournament could potentially bode well for them…And [Kyle] Singler’s my favorite player in the country.”

On the Big Ten having seven teams in the tournament:
“That’s ridiculous to me. They’re so overrated every year. Their teams don’t really do all that well in that tournament. Michigan State always does really well, but I don’t know that anyone else has been very consistent in the tournament.”

On picking Washington to advance to the Elite Eight:
“I kind of like their draw. I’m not in love with North Carolina after watching them this weekend.”

Kerry Yousey, Head Coach Boys Basketball Peninsula High School
Alma Mater: Western Washington University
Final Four: UW, Duke, Gonzaga, Kansas
Title Game: Duke, Kansas
Champion: Duke

Major Upset Picks: (7) Washington over (2) North Carolina, second round; (9) Villanova over (1) Ohio State, second round; (6) Georgetown over (3) Purdue, second round; (6) Georgetown over (3) Purdue, Sweet Sixteen; (12) Utah State over (5) Kansas State, first round; (11) Gonzaga over (6) St. John’s, first round; (11) Gonzaga over (3) BYU, second round; (10) Michigan State over (2) Florida, second round; (11) Gonzaga over Pittsburgh, Elite Eight; (7) Washington over (3) Syracuse, Sweet Sixteen; (7) Washington over (4) Kentucky, Elite Eight

Insights:
Explaining his championship game picks:
They’re saying Duke's Kyrie Irving maybe back this weekend, I figure even if he's not back these first couple rounds as Duke goes deeper into the tournament and starts to face tougher competition by then he will be back for sure and ready to go.  And I think Kansas has a pretty easy path throughout the Southwest bracket.

On Picking UW and Gonzaga to both reach the Final Four:
When UW plays well I think they can beat anyone.  Gonzaga lost a few early and people thought their run was over but if you look back at those early losses a couple of them were to Notre Dame and San Diego State who are both now #2 seeds.

Nathan Davis, Head Coach Boys Soccer Shorewood High School
Final Four: Ohio State, Duke, Kansas, Pittsburgh
Title Game: Ohio State, Kansas
Champion: Kansas
Major Upset Picks: (11) Marquette over (6) Xavier, first round; (11) Missouri over (6) Cincinnati, first round; (10) Michigan State over (7) UCLA, first round; (6) Georgetown over (3) Purdue, second round
Dave Dooley, Dean of Students/Water Polo and Swim Coach Lakes High School
Alma Mater: Brigham Young Universiity
Final Four: North Carolina, Duke, Notre Dame, BYU
Title Game: Duke, BYU
Champion: BYU
Major Upset Picks: (10) Florida State over (7) Texas A&M, first round; (10) Michigan State over (7) UCLA, first round; (5) Kansas State over (1) Pittsburgh, Sweet Sixteen; (3) BYU over (1) Duke, Title Game

Insights:
On choosing BYU to win the title:
“You’ve got to show a little loyalty to your Alma Mater. I do think Duke’s probably going to win this, but I wanted to at least show some loyalty and reward what they did. I think they had an honest shot at a Final Four this year…in fact, without one of their star players, they’ve still got a good shot at the Final Four this year. I think they would have been even better off with Brandon Davies (Davies was removed from the team after violating the BYU honor code) in the picture, but I think they have a shot at winning some games, maybe getting to the championship game. They have the best player in the country, they’ve got some good things going for them.”

Mike Baldwin, Sports Editor Patch.com
Alma Mater: Seattle University
Final Four: Ohio State, Duke, Kansas, Florida
Title Game: Duke, Kansas
Champion: Kansas
Major Upset Picks: (12) Richmond over (5) Vanderbilt, first round; (12) Utah State over (5) Kansas State, first round; (11) Gonzaga over (6) St. John’s; (7) Texas A&M over (2) Notre Dame, second round; (12) Utah State over (4) Wisconsin, second round

Insights:
I may be the worst bracket competitor in the history of the world, given that I watch so much college basketball throughout the year, yet fail spectacularly at predicting March Madness. Two years ago, I finished first in a pool of 40 people. The three other years I competed in that pool, I finished 36th, 39th, and 33rd. Guess which year was the exception to the rule.
I’m worried about my Ohio State pick already, since there best player is a freshman, albeit a great one. Their bracket has so many of what I call “in-hindsight” teams, meaning teams that, when they make a run, you start your analysis with phrases like “In hindsight, we probably should have seen North Carolina/Syracuse/Kentucky coming…”
If Kyrie Irving is healthy and not rusty, I think Duke cruises. But I’m giving Kansas and Bill Self a chance to make up for last year (seriously, losing to UNI?!). I’m not too impressed by Pitt, so Billy Donovan’s coaching pedigree gets the nod in the Elite Eight.
And Utah State. I’m not sure how you’re considered the 19th-best team in the nation during the season, but end up as a 12-seed. Kansas State is a wild card, but I like the Aggies to surprise.

Tony Dondero, Editor Shoreline Patch
Final Four: North Carolina, Duke, Kansas, BYU
Title Game: North Carolina, Kansas
Champion: North Carolina
Major Upset Picks: (11) Marquette over (6) Villanova, first round; (11) Missouri over (6) Cincinnati, first round; (10) Penn State over (7) Temple, first round; (12) Utah State over (5) Kansas State, first round; (11) Missouri over (3) Connecticut, second round; (8) Butler over (1) Pittsburgh, second round; (12) Utah State over (4) Wisconsin, second round; (7) UCLA over (2) Florida, second round

Lauren Padgett,  Editor Bonney Lake-Sumner Patch
Final Four: Ohio State, Connecticut, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh
Title Game: Ohio State, Pittsburgh
Champion: Ohio State
Major Upset Picks: (13) Princeton over (4) Kentucky, first round; (12) Memphis over (5) Arizona, first round; (10) Florida State over (7) Texas A&M, first round; (7) Washington over (2) North Carolina, second round; (12) Memphis over (4) Texas, second round; (6) St. John’s over (3) BYU, second round; (3 Connecticut over (1) Duke, Elite Eight

Marques Hunter, Editor Lakewood Patch
Final Four: Ohio State, Duke, Kansas, Pittsburgh
Title game: Duke, Kansas
Champion: Duke
Major Upset Picks: (11) Marquette over (6) Xavier, first round; (11) Missouri over (6) Cincinnati, first round; (13) Morehead State over (4) Louisville, first round; (11) VCU over (6) Georgetown, first round; (12) Utah State over (5) Kansas State, first round; (11) Gonzaga over (6) St. John’s, first round; (11) VCU over (3) Purdue, second round; (12) Utah State over (4) Wisconsin, second round; (7) Washington over (2) North Carolina, second round; (7) Washington over (3) Syracuse, Sweet Sixteen; (11) VCU over (2) Notre Dame, Sweet Sixteen

Akiko Oda, Editor Gig Harbor Patch
Final Four: Ohio State, Texas, Kansas, UCLA
Title Game: Texas, Kansas
Champion: Texas
Major Upset Picks: (12) Memphis over (5) Arizona, first round; (11) Missouri over (6) Cincinnati, first round; (11) Gonzaga over (6) St. John’s, first round; (6) Xavier over (3) Syracuse, second round; (11) Missouri over (3) Connecticut, second round; (7) Temple over San Diego State, second round; (7) Texas A&M over (2) Notre Dame, second round; (7) UCLA over (2) Florida, second round; (11) Missouri over (7) Temple, Sweet Sixteen; (6) Xavier over (2) North Carolina, Sweet Sixteen;( 7) UCLA over (1) Pittsburgh, Elite Eight; (4) Texas over (1) Ohio State, Final Four; (4) Texas over (1) Kansas, Title Game

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