As most anyone who knows me can tell you, my love of college sports isn’t exclusive to college golf. So it was with great anticipation that I filled out my NCAA men’s basketball bracket last week, hoping that my hoops knowledge would help me win bragging rights among my former University of Michigan classmates who try to outsmart each other March.
Four days of basketball later, this much is clear: there will be no bragging this year. On the contrary, there will probably need to be a little groveling so as not to be the butt of jokes for the next six months, even if I do have all my Final Four picks still alive.
My busted brackets got me thinking, however, that there must be a better system to pick teams for the basketball tourney. What if, say, instead of trying to predict winners of the games based on how good I thought their hoops teams are, I tried to predict winners based on how good their men’s golf teams are? Sounds a little outlandish, I agree, but is it any more preposterous than somebody picking games based on their favorite colors? Or those who simply flip a coin for each game? (FYI: somebody did that in the pool I entered and is ahead of me by one point).
To test my theory, I’ve decided to go through this year’s brackets from the Sweet 16 on, picking each of the remaining games based strictly on how the schools’ golf teams have done head-to-head in tournaments they’ve played against each other to see if this might be my new method to March Madness. If the schools haven’t faced each other in a common tournament, I’ll use their overall win-loss records on the season, the better winning percentage advancing. If the schools have played against each other, but they have a tied record, I'll use stroke differential to break the tie.
So here goes ...
EAST REGION
Sweet 16
North Carolina vs. USC 
The Tar Heels won their opening tournament of the season (International Collegiate) and have four top-five finishes in six starts with an overall record of 57-22-3 (.813).
The Trojans won the their opening tournament of the season (Inverness Intercollegiate) and have seven top-fives in seven starts with an overall record of 89-13-1 (.869).
Winner: USC
Vanderbilt vs. Georgetown 
The Commodores have not won this season, but have four top-fives in seven starts with an overall record of 58-33-3 (.633).
The Hoyas won their last tournament of the fall (Hoya Invitational) and have three top-fives in five starts with an overall record of 37-32-1 (.536).
Winner: Vanderbilt
Elite 8
USC vs. Vanderbilt
Again, the two teams haven’t played in the same tournament this season, so using winning percentages we have …
Winner: USC
SOUTH REGION
Sweet 16
Ohio State vs. Tennessee 
Yes … a match-up where the two schools have “battled” on the links, both teams playing in last weekend’s Schenkel E-Z-Go Invitational. The Volunteers finished 10 out of 18 teams, but bested the Buckeyes by 13 shots (OSU finishing 15th).
Winner: Tennessee
Texas A&M vs. Memphis 
The Aggies have not won this season, but have six top-fives in nine starts with an overall record of 93-29 (.762).
The Tigers have not won this season, but have three top-fives in eight starts with an overall record of 51-58-2 (.468).
Winner: Texas A&M
Elite 8
Tennessee vs. Texas A&M
The Volunteers and Aggies have played in two tournaments together, the Isleworth-UCF Collegiate in October (Aggies finished third; Vols finished T-8) and last weekend’s Schenkel (Aggies finished sixth; Vols 10th).
Winner: Texas A&M
MIDWEST REGION
Sweet 16
Florida vs. Butler 
The Gators have two wins (Ping/Golfweek Preview, SunTrust Gator Invitational) and seven top-five finishes with an overall record of 94-28-1 (.768).
The Bulldogs have two top-five finishes in six starts with an overall record of 12-43 (.218).
Winner: Florida
Oregon vs. UNLV 
The Ducks and Rebels faced off against each other at the Ping-Arizona Intercollegiate in January, with Oregon finishing in ninth place, 33 shots back of the champion Rebels.
Winner: UNLV
Elite 8
Florida vs. UNLV
The Gators and Rebels, both top-10 programs in the most recent Golf World/Nike Golf coaches’ poll, have played in four events together this season:
Inverness Intercollegiate: Florida third; UNLV sixth
Ping/Golfweek Preview: Florida win; UNLV fourth
Callaway Match Play Championship: Florida fourth; UNLV ninth
Southern Highlands Collegiate: UNLV fourth, Florida 10th
For the curious, the Gators in head-to-head stroke play match ups are seven shots up on the Rebels.
Winner: Florida
WEST REGION
Sweet 16
Kansas vs. Southern Illinois 
The Jayhawks have two wins (Kansas Invitational, The All-American) and five top-fives in eight starts with an overall record of 64-37-2 (.631).
The Salukis have three top-fives in nine starts with an overall record of 53-54-1 (.495).
Winner: Kansas
Pittsburgh vs. UCLA 
The Panthers don’t have a varsity men’s golf team.
The Bruins have three wins and six top-fives in eight varsity starts, with an overall record of 74-13-4 (.835).
Winner: UCLA
Elite 8
Kansas vs. UCLA
The Jayhawks and Bruins have compete in the same tournament once this season, at the Prestige at PGA West last October. The Jayhawks’ T-5 finish was solid, but they needed 26 shots to catch the Bruins, who finished in second place.
Winner: UCLA
FINAL FOUR
USC vs. Texas A&M
The Trojans and Aggies did square off back in September at the Inverness Intercollegiate. Unfortunately for the crew from College Station, A&M finished in seventh place, 18 shots back of victorious USC.
Winner: USC
Florida vs. UCLA
The Gators and Bruins played in two common events: the Callaway Match Play and Southern Highlands Collegiate. Florida finished fourth in the match play to UCLA’s T-7, but the Bruins victory in Las Vegas trumps the Gators’ 10th-place showing. A match of strokes gives UCLA a 24-shot edge.
Winner: UCLA
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP
USC vs. UCLA
The battle of Tinseltown is a good one, as the Trojans and Bruins have played in four common events:
The Prestige: UCLA second (13 under); USC T-5 (13 over)—UCLA up 26 shots
Big Ten/Pac-10 Challenge: UCLA win (33 over); USC second (38 over)—UCLA up 31 shots
CordeValle Collegiate: USC second (28 under); UCLA T-7 (4 under)—UCLA up 7 shots
USC Collegiate: USC second (1 over); UCLA fourth (18 over)—USC up 10 shots
And there you have it … you heard it here first … the winner of the 2007 NCAA men’s basketball tournament will be the University of Southern California …
Thanks, of course, to the school's golf team.
