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With the NCAA Tournament coming up, that means brackets will be filled out and they can ultimately lead to success or failure.

Here are some of my bracket stories since I started filling them out:

1999- I correctly got UConn, Duke, and Michigan State making the Final Four, but my pick to win it all- Auburn- didn't even make it to St. Pete that year, for they went down to HD's Buckeyesw
(BTW, Matt, could that 1998-99 Ohio State team have beaten the 2006-07 Ohio State team? Which team of Buckeye hoopsters was better in your eyes?)

2000- This was a bipolar thread. On one hand, I picked Michigan State to win the whole thing. OTOH, I crashed and burned when I picked Stanford and Arizona to make it to the Final Four, but lost to the two eighth-seeded teams I already talked about- boring-as-hell Wisconsin and a North Carolina team that had one of their worst seasons record-wise and standings-in-ACC wise.

2001- This stung. While I correctly predicted Michigan State and Duke to make it to Minneapolis, I got the other two wrong, but the way they went out could not be any more different. Stanford at least got to the Elite Eight before losing to a Maryland team that won it all the next year, while #2 Iowa State lost to #15 Hampton, and I'm sure you already know about why that stung.

2002- I correctly had Kansas and Maryland making the Final Four on one side of the bracket, but the other side destroyed me. I had Cincinnati making it all the way to Atlanta, only to crash and burn against a mediocre Bruins team, while I had Pittsburgh winning it all- and they lost in double overtime to Kent freaking State! I was ONE point shy of winning the bracket overall.

2003- Again, I picked Pittsburgh to win it all; this year, they go down in flames to Marquette- freaking Marquette! On the plus side, I picked Kansas and Texas to make it to New Orleans, but the East bracket blew up in my face. I had Wake Forest going to the Superdome, but they lost to Auburn. Noting s more infuriating than seeing a basketball school lose to a football school!

2004- I only got one Final Four team correct- Duke. My other three bracket picks flamed out- while Kansas and St. Joseph's at least got to the Elite Eight, but my pick to win it all- one-loss Stanford- lost to Alabama, maybe the flukiest Elite Eight team of my lifetime.

2005- This went better. I correctly picked Illinois and North Carolina to make the title game, but my other Final Four picks- Washington and Kentucky- went down in the regionals.

2006- I went 0-4- Villanova and Memphis go down in the Elite 8, Washington loses a heartbreaker to UConn in OT, and West Virginia lost in excrutiating fashion to Texas!

2007- Another 0-4- I picked Washington State to win it all, but they couldn't get past the first weekend. My other three Final Four teams- Oregon, Memphis, Kansas- flamed out in the Elite 8.

2008- This may have been my best one. I correctly picked Kansas to win it all and face Memphis in the title game, but my other two didn't work out- Xavier and Washington State. Perhaps my most humiliating moment involved Washington State vs. North Carolina. Anders can tell you all about it.

Those are my bracket tales.

One thing I learned after all these years- teams with HD MM ties will kill my bracket hopes (1999, 2002, 2007)

What about yours?