We were watching the end of the Illinois Wisconsin game on Sunday, counting down the time for the bracket release. Yes, the conference tourney week was crazy, but now… the real madness begins. Let’s Dance!
As the brackets were revealed, I started thinking about the games that I liked. Of course, all the talk about the way the brackets were setup, the stupid decisions made by the committee regarding the seeding and who’s in and who’s out… ah yes, will there ever be a year that nobody complains? Locally speaking, we knew Illinois was making it; they made it official right before the announcement by winning the Big 10 tourney. Northwestern was somewhat on the bubble, but they got in too. Typically, there aren’t many that Illinois schools in the tourney; Loyola blew it and thus, missed the dance. DePaul was one of the worst teams in college basketball this year; they do have a new coach now, so watch out! Sometimes there may be a school like Illinois State get in; can’t recall if/when UIC ever made it. Bradley used to be a participant. Anyways…
The #1s were as expected. UCONN is far and away the best team in the country; doesn’t mean they’ll win, but they are the best. Purdue and Houston were already tagged, even though they both lost in their conference tourneys; Houston was an ugly one. North Carolina sewed up the #1 seed when Tennessee got knocked out earlier in their tourney, even though the Tarheels lost in their conference championship game; what a run by NC State. They earned their spot; now they get Texas Tech in the first round… can the Wolfpack stay hot? If I was a betting man, I would say no. UCONN’s region is brutal, but… I still think they prevail. Certainly don’t think Purdue will lose again in the first round, but maybe the second? Hopefully Houston forgets about their ugly loss to Iowa State; they have the defense, but can they avoid an offensive drought? Meanwhile, the Tarheels… have one of the best players in the country, a pretty good big man, and a kid who can knock down the three… we shall see.
Who else you like? Well, I will be doing my brackets, very soon. I usually fill out one bracket and let it rip. I plan on listening to a lot of tourney talk before proceeding. Although I think UCONN is the best, I hate picking chalk to win it all. This tourney is all about the underdogs; I want to see upsets, even if it messes up my bracket. What will be the biggest upset this year? You know there will be at least one; I’ll pick a few, hoping to hit that one, maybe two. Although the upsets will happen, and the underdogs will play well, at the end of the day, it usually is about chalk. If you don’t have at least 1-2 #1s in the Final Four, you’re probably not going to do that well. The cream usually rises at the end of the day.
Can’t wait for the games to begin. As of now, I’m scheduled to work on both Thursday and Friday; “work” should be in quotes, because I’ll be following along as much as I possibly can until I’m sitting my ass in front of the TV. Looking forward to another great few weeks of college basketball. Let’s do this!
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