Taking a mental break from preparing for this weekend's rivalry match against D.C. United, four Crew players took the time to make their picks in this year's NCAA Men's Basketball Championship. The trash talking commenced as the players filled out their brackets after training.
Rookie defender Drew Beckie is projecting a Final Four of Louisville, Ohio State, Kansas and Miami, but basketball may not exactly be his forte.
"Beckie, this isn't hockey!" fellow rookie Daniel Withrow teased the proud Canadian and Denver University product as he filled out his bracket. "The Frozen Four is later."
Eric Gehrig returns to the Crew Bracket Challenge this season after finishing in fourth-place last year behind Josh Williams, Justin Meram and winner Ethan Finlay. A native of Northwest Indiana, Gehrig is picking his home-state Hoosiers to win the National Championship.
Pumped for Akron's fourth tournament appearance in school history, and third since 2009, Homegrown midfielder Wil Trapp is picking his Zips to pull off an opening round upset against Dominic Oduro's VCU Rams. The Gahanna native is picking the hometown Ohio State Buckeyes to knock off Indiana in the National Championship Final.
Finally, forward Aaron Schoenfeld is picking the Miami Hurricanes to prevail in the Final Four against Duke, Gonzaga and Michigan-- all No. 2 seeds, except the top-seeded Gonzaga Bulldogs of the West Region.
The Scoring System:
- 3 points for each team correctly picked to advance to the Round of 32.
- 5 points for each team picked in the Sweet 16.
- 10 points for each team in the Elite 8.
- 25 points for each team in the Final 4.
- 50 points for each team in the National Championship.
- 100 points for correctly picking the National Champion.
Stay tuned to TheCrew.com to see which player will have bragging rights around Crew Stadium.
