It's That Time of Year Again

It's that time of year again... spring, flowers, and MARCH MADNESS!

So the brackets were announced the other day, and I breathed a sigh of relief when they announced MSU. After the initial euphoria though, it was back to sadness. Even if State gets past Marquette, they have to face off against Chapel Hill, and I have some bad memories of the last time that happened. I hate ACC teams from North Carolina, sigh...

All things considered the Big Ten did a decent job of placing teams in the tournament with a grand total of 5. Sure other conferences had more teams, and typically I don't mind... but the PAC-10? Come on! They (for the most part) play basketball worse than me, and while I play a mean game of HORSE, I am not sure that's saying all that much.

Not only did the PAC-10 get more teams into the tournament, they got them in at a higher average seeding. (See below.) Some of these teams came out of nowhere to earn these seedings. And while the guy who lead the selection committee may be a fellow Princetonian, I have a serious bone to pick with him!

Setting aside my PAC-10 hatred, the bracket does look interesting. I could jump on the bandwagon of those who think the mid-majors got screwed (I do think they did), but it would be rather hypocritical given that State might not have made it if Drexel and a few others had.

Here are some teams I like...

MidWest
Florida because despite Billy Donovan's used car salesman look, and the fact that OSU is rated No. 1 in the AP, Florida is still the team to beat.
Old Dominion because someone has to fight the fight for the mid-majors.
Wisconsin because they can slow down a game like no one else and make you fall asleep standing up.
Oregon because I was afraid of jinxing a team who shall not be named.

West
Kentucky because the Wildcats and Tubby have something to prove.
UCLA because they are bitter about not being a 1 seed, and because they are the only really deserving PAC-10 team.
Pitt because yeah, I don't know why. They are the 3 seed and shouldn't prove why?
S. Illinois because they are the Salukis and they got D.

East
Michigan St. because they are my boys!!
Texas because they got a big man, and I would love to see some USC ass-kicking!
Georgetown because they won the Big East, have little John Thompson, and Ewings' son.
George Washington because they have some legit wins and both Vandy and Wash St. are takeable.

South
Ohio State because Greg Oden is the man!
Memphis because they are huge, also perhaps seeded a little higher than they deserve, which should help early on.
Louisville because they can leverage the home court advantage
Long Beach St. Why not? They have a crazy winning streak, and a coach whose contract needs to be renewed.