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Everybody into the pool.
All hail the selection committee in places like Eugene, Ore., and Philadelphia; all curse the committee in Columbus, Ohio, and Tempe, Ariz. The Oregon Ducks made it, as did both Temple and St. Joe's, but Ohio State and Arizona State were left home.
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| Can the quintessential Cinderella do it all again? (AP) |
Who are your first-round upsets? Maybe Villanova over Clemson? George Mason over Notre Dame? The 8-9 games don't count, they're not upsets. How far can Temple go? Can Tennessee handle North Carolina in the East Regional final? Bracketeering might have replaced racketeering in this country.
Georgia played 85 minutes of basketball Saturday, emotional, gut-wrenching basketball. Bulldogs coach Dennis Felton told his team, "I promise you that your bodies have more to give than you know, so don't pace yourselves or we'll be out if it."
The Bulldogs turned in another dazzling 40 minutes Sunday, beating Arkansas by nine as the Georgia band played Beethoven's Ode to Joy and Felton had no voice.
Did Georgia knock Arizona State out of the tournament? And how many teams were rooting for Arkansas or Wisconsin?
Kentucky lost to Georgia in the tournament quarterfinals, but with 12 SEC wins, coach Billy Gillespie said, "we never politick, but I don't know anyone who played more close games that we did -- we're battle-tested," which sounds kind of like politicking me.
Virginia Tech coach Seth Greenberg said the selection committee would have to be "certifiably insane" to leave the Hokies out. The Hokies will be staying home.
What's your bracket plan? You could go with coaches like Mike Krzyzewski, Rick Pitino or Jim Calhoun. All three are back in the tournament, with nice suits and championship rings. But none had a good tournament last year. Duke lost in the first round to Virginia Commonwealth, Louisville won only one game and Connecticut didn't even make the field.
What trends do you like? Since 1985,(the first year for 64 teams; it's now up to 65), the tournament usually includes good guard play and solid defense, so expect lower scoring games. And it doesn't matter whether the players are sophomores or seniors -- all have savvy in the postseason.
How will you pick your winner? In the past 23 years, only two of the champions have come from lower than a No. 4 seed. In 1985, of course, eighth-seeded Villanova upset defending champion Georgetown. And in 1988, Danny Manning did what Wilt Chamberlain was never able to do -- put a Kansas team on his back and win. In 1988, Kansas was a sixth seed when the Jayhawks beat top-seeded Oklahoma.
The Darlings of March could come from the mid-majors -- from Butler of the Horizon League or Drake from the Missouri Valley Conference. Arizona is making its 24th consecutive tournament appearance and Kentucky its 16th, but both Wildcats had to sweat it out a little.
