Nobody around the AFRO offices knows more about college basketball than staff writer and Georgetown basketball beat reporter George Barnette. You ever wondered how many minutes the eighth player in rotation off of Georgetown’s bench averages? Yea, me neither. But I’m sure George would have an answer for you.

That’s why he’s the one the AFRO Sports Desk calls on when it’s time for “March Madness” and the NCAA Tournament “bracketology” craze that sweeps through the nation annually. So if you’re looking for tips or simply another person to compare your own “genius” picks against, look no further. George is in the house.

George’s Picks –

Here are my NCAA tournament picks for each region, starting from the Sweet 16 down to the Elite Eight, then to the Final Four. I’ve also mentioned my possible sleepers: teams that may surprisingly eliminate the highly favored ranked teams in the tournament.

I’m sure most of these picks will turn out to be completely wrong. But hey, that’s the fun part, right?

South Region – I have a Sweet 16 consisting of No. 1 Kentucky vs. No. 5 Wichita State and No. 3 Baylor vs. No. 2 Duke. Kentucky and Baylor advance to the Elite Eight where Kentucky moves on to the Final Four.

West Region – I think we’ll see matchups of No. 1 Michigan State vs. No. 5 New Mexico and No. 3 Marquette vs. No. 2 Missouri in the Sweet 16. Missouri will beat Michigan State in the Elite Eight.

East Region – No. 8 Kansas State will upset the Fab Melo-less Syracuse Orange to move on to the Sweet 16 to play No. 5 Vanderbilt. The other matchup will be No. 3 Florida State vs. No. 2 Ohio State. Vanderbilt and Florida State will meet in the Elite Eight with the Seminoles moving on the Final Four.

Midwest Region – All chalk here. No. 1 North Carolina vs. No. 4 Michigan and No. 3 Georgetown vs. No. 2 Kansas in the Sweet 16. Kansas and North Carolina will move on to the Elite Eight where the Tarheels will prevail.

Final Four – Kentucky’s size and athleticism ends the dream season for Missouri and North Carolina exacts a measure of revenge on Florida State for beating them in the ACC tournament championship game.

National Championship – North Carolina’s transition game plays right into Kentucky’s hands. The Wildcats have the better athletes and are more dangerous playing in a full-court game than the half. Kentucky will win a classic 79-77 over North Carolina.

Possible Sleepers:

Long Beach State – The 49ers played on of the toughest schedules in the country and have one of the best players you’ve never heard of in Casper Ware.

Florida – The Gators were grossly under-seeded at No. 7. Their possible third-round matchup with Missouri could easily be a Sweet 16 or Elite Eight game.

Virginia Commonwealth – We all saw what they did last year and I wouldn’t be surprised to see them make another run at least to the Sweet 16.

Kansas State – The Wildcats are a great offensive rebounding team and may hit Syracuse where it hurts if the two faced off in the third round.

The only significant second round upsets I see are No. 13 New Mexico St over No. 4 Indiana in the South region and No. 11 North Carolina State over No. 6 San Diego State in the Midwest region.