Here are some of our instant thoughts on the 2010 NCAA Tournament Bracket. I haven't won a bracket pool since my senior year in high school. Looking at this year's field, I am supremely confident that Jessica Simpson and most 4 legged creatures have about as good of a chance as winning bracket pools this year as this blogger does. Let's try and analyze the crapshoot....*As we mentioned in our roundtable, this hasn't been a good year for NCAA Basketball. Looking through the field, both the top and bottom lines of the at-large teams are awful. Aside from penciling in Kansas and Kentucky in the title game, there aren't many teams that look capable of cutting down the nets.
*But then again... although Kansas and Kentucky have more than 30 wins, are they really unbeatable? Kentucky needed a desperation hoop and OT to beat Mississippi State yesterday, and Kansas has had several close calls throughout the season. Neither appears invincible, but they might not need to be.
*Look at the 2 seeds - Ohio St, WVU, Nova, Kansas St - Nova has the tourney pedigree, but lost 5 of 7 to end the year and K St can't beat the big boys. OSU and WVU are the most likely, but they are also matched up with KU and UK
3 seeds - G'Town, New Mexico, Baylor, Pitt - Excuse me? Yes, G'Town has the talent... and 10 losses, 16th ranked Pitt and 21st ranked Baylor are 3 seeds? Huh?
4 seeds - Maryland, Wisconsin, Purdue, Vandy - 29 losses between these teams including a crippled 27-5 Purdue team without their best player.
Can I be that guy who picks all 1 seeds? Is that allowed now after last year?
*My biggest problem with the at large selections are inconsistency. Virginia Tech finished 10-6 in the ACC while Georgia Tech finished 7-9. VT beat GT head to head. GT has good run to ACC Tournament Final and makes the tournament over VT. OK, so evidently we are rewarding conference tournament performance here.
Switch to the SEC. Mississippi State and Florida finish at 9-7. Both teams have solid resumes, FLA beating MSU on their home court. MSU beats FLA in the 1st round of the SEC Tourney, beats 4 seed Vandy, and comes within .1 seconds of beating Kenutucky. MSU makes it over FLA because of their great SEC Tourney run, right..... wrong. FLA is in.
Maddening.
*Kansas is the overall #1 seed - this means that Big 10 Champion Ohio State, who was in contention for a 1 seed, is the last 2 seed. They're behind Nova, WVU, and Kansas State. Does the selection committee know who Evan Turner is?? Ohio State is simply better than any of those teams, except maybe WVU, who beat the Bucks at home earlier this year. But the champs of the 2nd toughest conference in the country as the 8th overall seed? Again, insanity.
*The Midwest is the proverbial Group of Death. Kansas, Ohio St, G'Town, and Mich St, and Tennessee are the best seeds at their slots in the entire tournament. Tennessee, who beat UK and KU, and is ranked 14th in the country, is the same seed as Notre Dame, who supposedly slipped in this past week off the bubble. This is just crazy.
*The Group of TeleTubbies is the South, which in irony of ironies, is Duke's bracket!! Somewhere Dickie V is smiling. Duke has the weakest 2 (Nova), 3 (Baylor, yes, Baylor is a 3 seed), 4 (Purdue - without Robbie Hummel and coming off of an 11 pt 1st half in the Big 10 Semis), and 6 (ND). Glad to see the committee is doing all they can to get Coack K back to the Final 4. Only Duke's terrible recent tourney history can keep them from reaching Indy. Ridiculous.
*1st Round upsets to watch - Siena over Purdue, Utah St over Texas A&M, Cornell over Temple, Murray St over Vandy, Winthrop over Duke
The tournament doesn't look great on paper, but here's hoping for a March Madness full of upsets, buzzer beaters, and classic games... and bracket pool wins wherever you are.
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