NBA Great Gary Payton Seeing Orange in his March Madness Bracket

Gary Payton, one of the expert commentators on BetFlix, attended Oregon State, and I bet if there was a bracket contest for the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) he would have had his alma mater, the defending champion in that event, going all the way again.

But when it comes to the tournament where the "big boys" play, Payton sat down with pencil and paper and got involved in the BetUS March Mayhem contest for his own shot at the $5 million prize.

Payton has some first-round upsets on his mind, which is obviously nothing unusual for the Big Dance. But Murray State? Yes, Payton has the Ohio Valley Conference champion, seeded 13th in the West Regional, beating fourth seed Vanderbilt in opening round action.

Payton also strikes one up for the Ivy League, with Cornell, the 12th seed in the East, scoring the upset over Temple, a team that turns the ball over oh so few times and won the Atlantic 10 Conference regular season and tournament title.

Payton apparently does not have a lot of regard for the brand of ball they play in the A-10, as he also has Richmond, the conference runner-up and seventh seed in the South, suffering a defeat at the hands of the Gaels of St. Mary's, who romped over Gonzaga in the West Coast Conference title game. In all fairness, though, he does have Xavier beating Big Ten rep Minnesota in the West Regional, before falling to Pittsburgh.

OK, so what about the Pac-10, which was Payton's place, so to speak, and which fielded just two representatives in the tournament? Well, he's got them both making quick exits, with 8th seed California losing to #9 seed Louisville in the South, and Washington, the #11 seed in the East, going no farther than their first-round game against Marquette. Will Husky fans, many of whom were Sonics fans, be sore at him for that?

I suppose it might be something of a surprise that Purdue, a team that was in the Top 10 all year but found itself on the short end of a couple of embarrassing scores after star player Robbie Hummel went down with a knee injury, would be advancing past two rounds in Payton's bracket, even though they are a higher seed than Siena, the first-round opponent, and either possible second-round foe, Texas A&M or Utah State. They had better improve on the dreadful 69-42 loss against Minnesota, or Payton's bracket could be "busted" right from the jump.

Other than perhaps Purdue, are there Sweet 16 surprises to be had? Not really, with the possible exception of Butler, the West's #5 seed who he has beating UTEP and Murray State to advance against Syracuse. In three of his four regions, Payton has the #1 and #2 seeds going into the Elite Eight, and Georgetown, who he has paired with Kansas in the Midwest Regional final, is the third seed there.

As for Payton's Final Four, well, he has Duke advancing past Villanova to get out of the South; West Virginia scoring a mild upset over Kentucky to win the East; Syracuse to beat Kansas State in the Midwest, and Kansas to move past Georgetown in the Midwest.