Jamie Mottram's Sports Blog - www.misterirrelevant.com

Sports Bloggers Live was fortunate enough to interview Syracuse icon and national spokesman for Mega March Madness on DirecTV Jim Boeheim earlier today as part of an "SBL Extra" for the NCAA Tournament. He gave us a good 10 minutes to talk about the Orange's improbable Big East Championship, Gerry McNamara's rating, their chances in the Dance and his Final Four picks. My favorite line is right off the top when he says they were almost dead last week, but "they just couldn't get the dirt on top of us."

-- Hear the Boeheim interview.

-- Download the full show. (mp3)

 It's all gravy from here.

Boeheim is followed on the program by Rivals.com's Bob McClellan sharing his upsets and Cinderellas for the opening weekend. With upsets being defined as 11 seeds or worse winning in the first round and Cinderellas being 10 seeds or worse making the Sweet 16, here's who he's picking:

-- Winthrop (15) over Tennessee (2)
-- Southern Illinois (11) over West Virginia (6)
-- Wisconsin-Milwaukee (11) over Oklahoma (6)
-- Seton Hall (10) over Winthrop in the 2nd round
-- Maybe Iona (13) over LSU (4)
-- Maybe San Diego State (11) over Indiana (6)
-- Maybe Southern Illinois over Iowa in the 2nd round

McClellan's got "Onions!" for that Winthrop pick. I'm with him on Wis.-Mil. and maybe Southern Illinois and Iona, but haven't gone out on a limb for anyone else yet. Who are your upsets and Cinderellas?

Bonus: Join the SBL hosts' bracket pool for blogging and podcasting bragging rights! Those entrants winning or losing by large margins will probably be discussed at length on internet radio.

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• #5 Comment from rayjkuj43 
  3/14/06 11:38 AM | Permalink

  1. UCONN – They have been in the top 5 the entire year, and they will prove why during the NCAA tournament. The Huskies have it all. They have the coaching, the guard play, great inside players, and excellent ball movement. They have 6 guys that could start on any team in the country, and that depth is unmatched in this years’ field. Jim Calhoun has been a winner since he came to Connecticut, and he will have his team ready to go when the tournament rolls around.
  
  Verdict: Gay, Anderson, Boone, Williams, Brown, Armstrong…..there are no holes in this team. They will out rebound you, out score you, and out think you on the court. Bottom line is UCONN will be cutting down the nets in Indianapolis on April 3rd.
  
  From: http://randomsportsbs.blogspot.com/2006/03/tourney-talk-johnny-vegas-road-to.html
• #4 Comment from qbdraw425 
  3/14/06 9:04 AM | Permalink

  Upsets=Kent State over Pitt
            Utah State over Washington
            Maybe SandiegoState over Indiana
            Wisconsin Milwaukee over Oklahoma
           Maybe BC over Villanova in Sweet 16
  Cinderellas=west Virginia, Michigan State both getting to elite 8 then losing (West virginia to duke and Michigan State to Uconn)
  
  Final 4=Duke,UCONN,Ohio State,Gonzaga
• #3 Comment from lhelix1965 
  3/14/06 12:59 AM | Permalink

  Since sdsu and ku don't play in the first round I don't think that upset is going to happen.
• #2 Comment from sportzassassin 
  3/14/06 12:39 AM | Permalink

  SD State plays Indiana in the first round.
  
  -Sportz
• #1 Comment from zachls5 
  3/13/06 11:37 PM | Permalink

  syracuse is on fire, but watch out for those Texas A&M Aggies. Played Texas heads up and nearly beat them for a second time in the Big 12 tourney. Also look out for SDSU beating Indiana in the 11/6 game.
  
  http://zachls.blogspot.com/