NJBIZ Brackets Domalewski hoping for Lehigh’s victory over ‘gold standard’

As a freshman at Lehigh University, Craig Domalewski cheered on the Mountain Hawks against a highly ranked Temple University in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

As a freshman at Lehigh University, Craig Domalewski cheered on the Mountain Hawks against a highly ranked Temple University in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

“They played a very competitive game,” Domalewski said, recalling the star players for the Mountain Hawks. “I think it came down deep into the second half before Temple opened up a lead on them … that one stands out as the most exciting thing from the tournament back in those days.”

But the Dughi, Hewit & Domalewski P.C. partner said today’s matchup against Duke University will likely pose a bigger challenge to the team.

Domalewski is matched up against Jon Vogel, of AvalonBay Communities, in the NJBIZ Brackets, but is hopeful his school will triumph over the “gold standard of college basketball.”

“What (Domalewski) said is accurate — we are the gold standard,” said Vogel, who attended Duke in the early ’90s when the Blue Devils blew past the South division for a championship and three consecutive Final Four appearances. “There’s absolutely no chance for them to win. There’s a better chance of the sun coming up tonight.”

But Domalewski hopes his team can make a deep run into the tournament like other mid-majors in the past few seasons.

“If you win the first one, and you get hot, anything can happen,” Domalewski said. “To be able to pull off the upset and move forward in the tournament would be fantastic, and something I’m going to root hard for and be very proud to be associated with.”

Betting on a ‘younger’ team

Wendell Collins‘ bracket looks a lot like President Barack Obama‘s, since her hopes are set on the No. 1 University of North Carolina winning the NCAA tournament. But before the Tar Heels can make it to the Final Four, Collins will face Tom Wilson, of Kaufman Zita Group, tonight.

“I was in college at Chapel Hill in ’82, when they won the tournament with one of the best teams Carolina’s ever had — James Worthy, Matt Doherty, Michael Jordan,” said Collins, the director of corporate relations at the Princeton University Bendheim Center for Finance. “Now, we have a well-rounded team that’s a little younger in some ways, but we were a great team last year and we’ll continue to be great.”

While Collins is elated that Obama didn’t hold back from endorsing a UNC championship during an election year, Wilson said the president will “look like a real fool when the final buzzer rings.”

“I feel comfortable saying that Carolina doesn’t know what they’re facing tonight,” said Wilson, whose alma mater, No. 16 University of Vermont, racked up points well beyond its season average to trump Lamar University in the First Four on Wednesday. “UNC’s offense will be more of a challenge, but Cinderella stories do come true.”

Collins can’t speculate about tonight’s game against Vermont, but she’s desperate to see the Tar Heels in a Final Four matchup with her sister’s alma mater, Duke University. That outcome rests on Vogel dodging an upset by Domalewski tonight.

“We had a very close loss to Duke earlier in the season, and it’s been a long time since we met Duke in the tournament,” Collins said. “With the rivalry (in my family), we have a lot of fun in March, so if they’re both in the Final Four, it will be madness.”

Collins said UNC will need to gain momentum at the start to win, but she fears that haywire three-point attempts and frequent fouls could “mess up the whole thing.”

“I see them building an early lead tonight and getting out front,” Collins said. “But anything can happen in the NCAA — that’s why they call it March Madness.”