The Captain’s Brilliant Bracket Breakdown- Sweet Sixteen

This is the third section of my continuing series of March Madness predictions. To understand what I'm doing here, you had better read my first and second round predictions.

Sweet Sixteen

Atlanta Region

(16) Southern’s LaCumba the Jaguar against (4) LSU’s Mike the Tiger- Wow. We open up the Sweet Sixteen with a fantastic mascot match-up. We should hire some people from the Discovery Channel to break down the possibilities of a fight to the death bewteen a tiger and a jaguar. I have to believe that the tiger has the size and strength advantage. My pick: LSU.

(6) West Virginia’s Mountaineer against (10) N.C. State’s Mr. and Ms. Wuf- It looks like the Wufs’ numerical advantage isn’t much help here. After all, mountaineers are well versed in taking down wolves. I think once the first wolf is bested the other will run away frightened by what the grizzly outdoorsman might do next. My pick: West Virginia.

Oakland Region

(1) Memphis’s Pouncer against (4) Kansas’s Jayhawk- Rock chalk, baby. My love affair with the Kansas Jayhawk continues as they advance on. My pick: Kansas.

(11) San Diego State’s Aztec Warrior against (15) Belmont’s Bruiser the Bruin- The Aztec has already made it to the Sweet Sixteen and I am very interested to see how far he can get. I know Aztec’s have little experience with bears, but I believe the SDSU Aztec can adapt. Bruiser’s nasty streak is surely going to keep this one tight, but the Aztec will be too much for the poor, overmatched bruin. My pick: SDSU.

Washington, D.C. Region

(9) UAB’s Blaze the Dragon against (13) Air Force’s Falcon- This one will take a while, because the falcon will have a hard time to find a soft spot and Blaze is too clumsy to take down the raptor. In the end though I think a falcon is more likely to do serious damage to a guy in a costume than a guy in costume is to take down a bird of prey. My pick: Air Force.

(3) North Carolina’s Ramses against (10) Seton Hall’s Pirate- Pirate vs. Ram. Pirate wins easily. This Pirate is turning into a juggernaut. Billy Packer should do a halftime feature on him, because he is big time news. My pick: Seton Hall.

Minneapolis Region

(1) Villanova’s Wildcat against (12) Montana’s Monte the Grizzly- The Wildcat -which had gotten by so far largely by beating weak competition- finally meets his match. Monte pounds the Wildcat like so much dough. He has clearly proven that he was the most underrated mascot going into this tournament. Now he’s rising to Rocky like status. My pick: Montana.

(3) Florida’s Albert the Gator against (2) The Ohio State University’s Brutus Buckeye- I think this one could get ugly. Any fight between a big, fat alligator and a guy with a giant nut for a head is bound to be violent. I think the bout is ultimately decided by the fact that Brutus is more athletic and has the endurance to out last Albert. My pick: OSU.

Move on to my Elite Eight picks here.