selection sunday rambling thoughts

Well, one of my five favorite Sundays of the year is here* – Selection Sunday!  The day the tournament field gets filled out, the day that leads to a nearly sleepless night of bracket analysis and typing up the “world’s longest ncaa picks post” that’ll go up sometime tomorrow.

(*: my five favorite Sunday of the year, in calendar order: Selection Sunday, the final round of the Masters, the first Sunday Tailgate at the K, the final round of the US Open, and the “Day I Live For”, donkeys Day.  Although if donkeys Day falls in a prime time non-Sunday slot, you can just sub in “Chiefs home opener” into that slot.)

And yet, as we sit barely five hours out of the bracket announcement, and barely 30 minutes out from my favorite announcing team reuniting for at least one final time*, I can’t help but feel that so far, Championship Week has been one gigantic disappointment.

(*: that would be Verne Lundquist and Bill Raftery.)

Every power conference, the top 10 conferences, which I would define as (in no particular order) the ACC, the Big Ten, the Big XII, the SEC, the Pac 12, the Big East, the Colonial, the A-10, the Mountain West, and the Valley, has delivered a dud of a final (save for the Big Ten, maybe).

Unless you’re a fan of Florida State, you had to feel outraged at Duke going down yesterday, denying us Duke / UNC to end the ACC season.  Unless you’re a fan of Baylor, you had to feel disappointed at KU going down Friday, to deny us one final Mizzou / KU Border War.  UNLV lost in the Mountain West semis, denying us a San Diego State / UNLV final that would have rocked late into the night last night.

Temple lost its opener in the A-10.  Tennessee lost its opener in the SEC.  Cal and Washington both failed to reach the Pac 12 final (although Colorado / Arizona was an entertaining contest).  Creighton won the Valley … but didn’t face Wichita State, who lost in the semis.  And Syracuse and Georgetown crapped out in the Big East semis, meaning (hang on, let me grab a stiff drink before I type the rest of this sentence) we may NEVER again see an Orange / Hoyas showdown.  Let that sink in – we may NEVER AGAIN see the Big East’s defining rivalry occur.  F*ck you, conference realignment.  F*ck you, greedy bastard schools selling out centuries of rivalry for a couple extra dollars.  I’m looking solely and completely at you, Mizzou / Nebraska / Syracuse / Pitt / West Virginia / and my alma mater, TCU.  (Colorado’s off the hook because their only semi-rival bolted before they did in Nebraska).

The Colonial delivered an epic final between VCU and Drexel … for about the last two minutes, as Drexel starting hitting everything it threw up, and VCU bricked every foul shot, to turn a 15 point margin into a three point victory.

Only the Big Ten delivered a 1v2 potential classic showdown between Ohio State and Michigan State, and I say “potential classic” because it’s the Big Ten.  That conference has never met a 39-36 unwatchable brickfest it could resist playing.

So, here’s what I’d like to see from today’s remaining games, and what I hope to see when the Brackets are unveiled later today:

* I want to see John Henson healthy.  I hate UNC with a passion, but I also hate to see a great player go down right before the tourney starts.  (The worst example of this being Kenyon Martin for Cincinnati back in 2002.  With a healthy Martin, Cincy reaches at least the Elite 8.  Without him, they lost to UCLA in the second round.)  Here’s to hoping he’s able to go with no ill effects from re-injuring his wrist on Friday.  Or, if he can’t go today, here’s to hoping he’s able to go pain-free on Thursday or Friday, whenever the Heels open.

* I want to see a repeat of last Sunday’s epic Ohio State / Michigan State showdown.  I say this, because I fear one (or both) teams will tank today’s game to secure the two seed in St. Louis, versus the one seed in Phoenix.  Personally, I think both Coach Izzo and Coach Motta have too much pride and integrity to intentionally “tank” the game … but they both HAVE to be thinking about it.  Especially if one side or the other races out to a 30-13 lead at the under eight timeout.

* I want to see a bid thief emerge from the A-10.  Yup, I’m rooting for St. Bonaventure.  Xavier is in, and can only improve seeding.  The Bonnies beat all of the top four teams in the A-10 this year (Temple, Xavier, St. Louis, and St. Joe’s, at least three of whom are going dancing), and if it was up to me, I’d much rather see an upper level mid-major make the field over some middling “Power Six” squad like NC State (who beat nobody worth mentioning) or Texas.

* When the seeds are announced, I want to see KU and MU as the 1 and 2 seeds in the St. Louis regional.  I know it won’t happen.  But somehow, this game HAS to happen one more time.  That, and if you’re going to reward the two best teams in the second best conference in America (and I’d argue it’s the best, sorry Big Ten fans, but your version of hoops is utterly unwatchable most of the time), let them BOTH “win” the right to play in St. Louis.  We’ve had conference rival showdowns in the Elite 8 before.  Both KU AND MU have faced a conference rival in the Elite 8 in the recent past – KU / KSU in 1988, MU / OU in 2002.  What’s wrong with setting it up to occur again?

* If that isn’t possible, and if KU isn’t in the St. Louis regional, then please, committee, put us in North Carolina’s bracket.  Make your Elite 8 matchups as great as possible, please.

* Please, committee, take solid mid-majors over middling power teams.  PLEASE.  The committee last year took the Colonial regular season champ (VCU) over the Big XII’s fifth place finisher (Colorado).  How did that work out?  Please, committee people, take Iona, take Drexel, take Southern Miss, over Ole Miss, NC State, and Texas.

* There are two power six teams on the bubble the committee SHOULD take: Tennessee and Washington.  Yes, the Pac 12 is down, but Washington was the undisputed regular season champion of the conference, finishing a game clear of every other team.  If you win a regular season title in one of the major ten conferences (listed way up above in like paragraph three), you should get an auto-bid.  Washington deserves to be in.  Ditto Tennessee, who finished 2^nd in the SEC, a league likely to send at least four, and probably five, to the tourney.  Which means at least two, and probably three, teams that finished BELOW it are dancing?  That’s outrageous.  I get that non-con scheduling is important, and Tennessee was .500 out of conference.  Having said that … shouldn’t conference play be MORE important in the top ten conferences?  If you’re playing in a conference guaranteed to get multiple bids (and all the top ten conferences should get at least two, and most will get at least three), then shouldn’t finishing 2^nd matter?  I say it should.  Take Washington and Tennessee, dump Seton Hall and Northwestern.

* Finally, to CBS Sports: please, please, PLEASE, assign Verne and Bill to the Omaha sub-regional.  Please.  Because both KU and MU fans deserve the best broadcasting team alive calling their teams’ first two victories in this year’s Madness …

it's here! selection sunday is here!

Other than the Chiefs home opener, and possibly Sunday at the US Open, there's no Sunday I look forward to more than Selection Sunday.

The hoops gods gave us one last sweet parting gift to the regular season: Duke vs North Carolina, at noon today. Hopefully the Devils do what Clemson could not yesterday, and beat the Rat Bastard by 50 today to start a season-ending two game losing streak for his Tar Heels.

Congrats to KU, for winning the Big XII Tourney in convincing fashion over Texas. I never thought it would be that easy. KU led by double digits early, and never looked back.

Also gotta say, nothing in life is sweeter than sitting back, watching KU play, and with about 90, 95 seconds to go, you start hearing from the rafters "Rock Chalk ... Jayhawk ... K U ..."

Speaking of "The Big Ten (plus two) Is the Worst Major Conference in America", anyone catch that Penn State / Wisconsin abortion of a battle Friday night? State 36, Wisconsin 33. Yes, that was the final score. Tell me again why Penn State deserves a NCAA berth, and an entertaining as hell mid major like UTEP (who led for all except 7.8 seconds yesterday before falling to Memphis) doesn't deserve one? I hate these horrific, crappy, utterly unwatchable middle of the pack power conference schools taking the 11 and 12 seeds every year, while fun to watch, entertaining mid majors sit at home. It's an outrage.

My early gut feelings on how Big XII(ish) teams will do come next week:

KU: prime for a second round upset if the right 8/9 team catches them. Just like last year, as I noted in my picks "this (Northern Iowa) is the scariest game KU will play in the entire regional". Not much is different between this Hawks team and last year's, other than the free throw shooting is worse, and the confidence might be higher. I do not want any part of George Mason, Old Dominion, Utah State, or Washington in round two.

KSU: feels like a six seed and a second round upset if it's an overseeded Big East school (like St. John's or UConn). And for anyone who says this KSU team can't reach Houston, remember 1988, when a one-man band of a team from Kansas landed a six seed, and six wins later, was cutting down the nets.

Texas: oh boy. Give Rick Barnes this -- either they flame out in horrific fashion early, or they're running to at least the Elite Eight. There's no in between. For some strange reason, the strength of this team (defense) went completely down the toilet yesterday against KU. Yes, the Morris twins are that good, but still. I'll pencil them in for the Sweet Sixteen, pending seeing the brackets.

Texas A&M: if they snag a 5, I'd bet the farm on whatever play-in team faces them. Especially if it's a VCU or even a Virginia Tech, as much as I hate middle of the pack power conference teams, Malcolm Delaney is that awesome to watch play. I'd be cool with Va Tech sneaking in.

Colorado: I think they're in, and I think they'll snag an 11 or maybe a 10. They won't be in the First Four. If Alec Burks is on, they can absolutely win in round one. Congrats to Tad Boyle, what a tremendous first (and final) season in Big XII(ish) play. I can see CU landing a top 5 seed thanks to the Pac 12 next spring. They've already gotta be the third best team out there, behind Arizona and Washington, and about on par with UCLA.

Mizzou: I know, I am in the drunken, delusional minority ... but I still think this is the Big XII(ish)'s best chance to reach Houston. A lot though, depends on the draw. If they get a 7, I can absolutely see them taking out a Pitt or Notre Dame or UNC in round two, they've got the athletes and the defense to do it. If they draw the 8/9 though, they're likely staring Ohio State or Duke in round two, assuming they survive an Old Dominion, George Mason, Utah State type in round one. I hope they get the seven. MU can absolutely have a 2002 type run from the lower half of the bracket. From the top half, well, there's a reason why most 1 seeds advance to the Sweet Sixteen (save for KU, or so it seems). Would love to see a MU / Duke showdown in Chicago in round two. Great contrast in styles.

If I had to pick an Elite Eight right now, based solely on taking what I think the eight best teams are, based on what I project their draws to be (or what Joe Lunardi projects them to be this morning), I'd go with:

East: Florida (3) vs Syracuse (4). This Gators team has impressed the hell out of me the last two nights, rallying from halftime deficits to blow out two decent squads (Tennessee, Vandy). Syracuse? Simple -- they're the only Big East school with a better scoring differential on the road than at home. They're built to win in March.

Southwest: Kansas (1) vs UNC (2). Please God, let this happen again, ironically in the same facility where it happened last time (The Alamodome). There's not much in life that gets me as excited as the chance to whip the Rat Bastard on national TV.

West: Pitt (1) vs San Diego State (2). I don't feel strong about Pitt at all ... but the 4/13 game has upset written all over it (Purdue / Belmont) as does the 5/12 (Vandy vs Clemson). And the 8/9 is a coin flip between Butler and George Mason. Lower half of the bracket, State cruises.

Southeast: Arizona (5) vs Duke (2). Notre Dame has "out in round of 32" flashing on them in neon lights at this point. (Especially if they draw Mizzou, as projected). Lower half of the projected bracket, how sweet would a KSU / BYU round of 32 matchup be? To say nothing of KSU / Michigan State to open, and a KSU / Duke Sweet Sixteen matchup? (Or Duke / Tennessee in the round of 32, first team to 135 wins?)

We'll know for sure in barely six hours. I freaking love Selection Sunday.

Kudos to the Bucks, who did what they had to do, and blew out the 76ers last night. The Bucks are now 1/2 game out of the eight seed, thanks to Indiana's now six game losing streak. (The "they should do everything short of pimp themselves out to bring Nathan Scott out of retirement" Bobcats are tied with the Pacers for the last spot currently). All three squads play today, and all three should lose on paper. Bucks / Celtics at 5pm on NBATV. Fear the Deer!

One hour to Duke / UNC. Come on Dukies. Come on. And if you want to throw a few Gerald Henderson memorial elbows at Drew Henson or Harrison Barnes while you're winning 95-50, please, feel free to do so ...