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LAGUNA NIGUEL, Ca. – The annual rite of spring:

Projecting the NCAA Tournament, round-by-round!

I came close to picking Gonzaga over Arizona in the West Round of 32 in San Diego but backed off at the last second, as was the case of nearly opting for Virginia over Michigan State in the Round of 16 in the East.

As you’ll see as you read on, I did bounce three No. 1 seeds before the Final Four.

Ultimately I elected to go with the team I projected as the 2014 national champion early last summer.

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LAGUNA NIGUEL, Ca. – Some of my reactions to the makeup and some of the matchups of the 2014 NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship Tournament’s field of 68 (long-winded, eh?):

*The field in the Midwest Regional is an absolute whopper.

Along with 34-and-zip Wichita State, others dropped into that portion of the bracket include Michigan (the Big Ten regular-season champion, which, apparently, was deep into top-seed discussion before its Big Ten tourney loss to Michigan State Sunday afternoon), Duke, Louisville and – if it wins its First Four tilt with Xavier on Tuesday night in Dayton – North Carolina State and its ACC leader scorer and rebounder and Player of the Year T.J.

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LAGUNA NIGUEL, Ca. – The CIF Southern Section’s “Open Division” squads continue to mow through the State Southern Regional competition Saturday night during Round II of play in Divisions I-V.

The 16 teams from the Section’s first-ever Open Division are now a collective 25-1 after Chino Hills, L.A. Loyola, Corona Centennial and Lakewood Mayfair (I), Bellflower St. John Bosco and Compton (II), West Hills Chaminade and L.A. Cathedral (III) and Chatsworth Sierra Canyon, Torrance Bishop Montgomery, Gardena Serra and Montebello Cantwell-Sacred Heart (IV) advanced into Tuesday night’s semifinal action of their respective divisions.

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LAGUNA NIGUEL, Ca. – There wasn’t much in the way of significant surprises during Wednesday evening’s opening-round games of the California State Southern Regional Playoffs.

And those teams in action that were among the 16 clubs that competed for the Southern Section’s first-ever “Open Division” title demonstrated why that playoff field was the strongest ever assembled in California sectional competition.

None of the 10 Southern Section Open teams lost Wednesday night, with the average winning margin of 32.6 points with only one of the games decided by fewer than 22 points (Lakewood Mayfair’s 58-54 decision over San Diego Torrey Pines in Division I).

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ANAHEIM, Ca. – There has have been more overwhelming and esthetically pleasing championships for Santa Ana Mater Dei Coach Gary McKnight.

But, undoubtedly, few have been as gratifying as was Southern Section crown No. 22 for McKnight’s Monarchs Saturday night in the Honda Center.

The Monarchs improved to 31-0 in 2013-14 with a gut-crunching 48-44 victory over Chino Hills in the first-ever CIF Southern Section Open Division championship game.

In a game in which the teams shot a combined 30 of 105 from the field — .286 —  it was up to the best player in California to provide the winners with just enough offense and key rebounds to extend their hopes for a mythical national title.

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