Easiest Road For A Number 1 seed: Tie, Kansas and Duke-

I think overall Duke and Kansas have the best brackets to propel them into the Final Four. Neither team should face much of a challenge as they advance through their bracket, and in fact I think in both cases they only have one real challenge facing them.

For Duke that challenge will come in the Sweet 16 as Texas is a team capable of matching up well with them. If they get past Texas neither of their two likely Elite 8 matchups, really scares me. UConn is a very good young team, but they are really a one man show, which I think Duke can handle. On top of that the Huskies just won 5 games in 5 days, including the last four against ranked opponents, to win the Big East Tournament. While that was an incredible feat, it might leave themselves worn down for an early exit. And although I consider San Diego State a very good team, I don’t know if they can matchup with Duke’s shooting ability.

For Kansas, their challenge probably won’t come until their Elite 8 matchup with likely Notre Dame. Notre Dame made a strong case for a potential number 1 seed, and are no doubt a dangerous team with their defense and slow tempo offense. The problem is I think Kansas is one of the better teams equipped to deal with them. Kansas is very deep and experienced so I think that will play into it. Also, they aren’t an outside shooting team, so if they can get the ball into the Morris Twins, Notre Dame can’t match up.

Hardest Road To The Final Four: Ohio State

I know Ohio State is supposed to be the number 1 overall seed, but it sure doesn’t seem like they are. Their 2nd round matchup is dangerous no matter who they face. George Mason has shown before what happens when you take them too lightly. Mason doesn’t have the greatest size and speed, but then again neither do the Buckeyes. Mason plays great team basketball, and have a couple excellent shooters. Villanova on the other hand looks like an easier opponent, b/c they only finished .500 in conference play, and have lost their last 5 straight, but I wouldn’t count them out. They have good veteran talent, and a very good starting 5, with three talented guards and two big men. They have a fairly weak bench, especially among their bigs, but if they aren’t in foul trouble they are dangerous. Either game could be a major hurdle for the Buckeyes.

Ohio State’s road doesn’t get any easier as both their Sweet 16 and Elite 8 matchups look pretty difficult. In the Sweet 16, they will either face Kentucky or WVU, two teams with talent and very good coaching. Both have some flaws, but are real threats to Ohio State. In the Elite 8, both UNC and Syracuse are talented, balanced teams that can upset Ohio State.

Tough But Doable Path To the Final Four: Pittsburgh

The Panthers have some tough matchups, but overall the path is doable for them. They could face a battle in round two against either last year’s Cinderella, Butlter, or Old Dominion. ODU also has the advantage of playing very close to home, so they should have a favorable crowd. While Pitt is better than either of those teams, they aren’t going to just flat out dominate them. In the Sweet 16 the Panthers could face a Kansas State team, that knocked off Kansas or a Wisconsin team that beat Ohio State. At the same time though there is such parity in this bracket that both of those teams could end up losing to either Utah State or Belmont, who are legit Cinderella team’s in their own right. In the bottom of the bracket, 2 seed Florida is a bit overseeded, but they do possess some serious future NBA talent on that roster. Three seed BYU, could be a bit short-handed, but when you have the game’s best scorer, you can never be counted out. Also, don’t forget that one of Pitt’s few losses came at the hands of 6th seed St. John’s. St. John’s is an inside/outside team with a great coach and a lot of veterans. They have a bit of an uphill climb, but they are talented to make a run.

Duke may have won the National Championship yesterday, but the Butler Bulldogs are the real winners. People may say there are no moral victories in sports, but all one would have to do is watch last night’s game to prove them wrong. Now it might not be a true ‘Cinderella Story’ since Butler was a 5th seed and was a highly ranked team all year. In fact if anything, Butler should have been a 3rd or 4th seed, but wasn’t because they play in a small conference. What this story is really is a ‘David vs. Goliath’, and while David didn’t win, it is a great story nonetheless.

Butler is the smallest school to reach the Championship game since the field expanded to 64 (65) teams in 1985. And while they might have been a highly ranked team, their seeding and respect level in the Tournament fell given their deficiencies. Those weaknesses should have long ago been exposed, but it was figured that they would be fully visible against Duke the ‘Goliath’. Butler couldn’t match up with Duke’s size, athleticism, and strength. And Butler didn’t have a chance to compete with Duke’s pedigree, not only with their school and coach, but their entire roster. Duke is made up of a whole stable of 5-star recruits, with a few 4-star players thrown in their. On paper the Bulldogs didn’t have a chance, and that’s exactly what we heard for 48 hours from every talking head in college basketball.

No one thought Butler’s defensive style could slow down Duke, yet the Blue Devils managed just 61 points. And no one thought that the Bulldogs could run with Duke and keep the game close, but Butler never trailed by more than 6 points. It really was a fantastic game from start to finish, because the entire time Butler was in the game, and you believed that they could upset the Blue Devils. I was amazed with how well Butler dictated their game plan on Duke. And was highly impressed with their ability to avoid unnecessary fouls (for the most part), especially when some of their players were in foul trouble. Butler exceeded every expectation, and in fact when Gordon Hayward’s final shot left his hands I thought it was going to fall. Because Butler deserved to win that game, and very well could have if one or two plays turned out differently.

I think there was a blown call on the Hayward charge late in the game that unfortunately, should have been an and one situation. Those two points would have tied the game, and had Hayward made his free throw (he went 8 for 8 from the line), Butler would have been up by one as the clock ticked away. All-in-all though I don’t think you can blame this game on the officiating. While I think they let Duke get away with some extra contact in the 1st half, they called a much closer game in the 2nd half.  The difference in the game was Butler wasn’t able to capitalize on their opportunities.

The Bulldogs really did control the tempo of the game, but were plagued with some cold shooting. Their 34.5 % shooting was 11% off their season average. The worst part about it is a number were open shots, and a bunch more were drives to the basket that they were just too strong. I really think their inexperience and the big game played into their cold shooting day. Had Butler been able to shoot like they did during the season, they would have won last night’s game handily.

While we might have to endure a year of Duke being the National Champions, and inexplicably they will be a highly ranked team next year despite the fact pretty much everyone is leaving, Butler will finally get the credit they deserve. They will be back and if Gordon Hayward doesn’t turn pro, they will be a very dangerous team next season. And don’t be surprised if Butler makes a return trip the the Final Four and Championship game.

It was the tale of two games last night in watching the Final Four. The Butler vs. Michigan State game was indicative of the entire tournament. A mid-major team ‘upsetting’ a perennial powerhouse team. And to add to the drama the game came down to the last shot, with the ‘home team’ Butler Bulldogs surviving against Michigan State, one game away from turning their dream into a reality. Game two though was anything but reminiscent of the tournament, and can only be described as a nightmare for any West Virginia fan (or anyone who hates Duke). Not only did the Blue Devils dominate on their way to a 21 point victory, but WVU saw their star player Da’Sean Butler fall to a horrific knee injury (which of course the foul was called on WVU).

While Duke was well in control of the game, you could put a ‘W’ on the scoreboard as soon as Butler went down. He has been their most consistent player all season and if anyone could spark the comeback it would have been him. But with 9 minutes remaining in the game Butler was down on the ground and the Mountaineers were down for the count. Already without one key starter, the loss of Butler was too much for WVU to handle. And someway somehow, Duke played their best basketball of the season. They shot lights out yesterday, particularly from downtown, where they knocked down 52% of their 3-pointers.

Duke will now face the upstart Butler Bulldogs, who will not go down without a fight. Butler has been a surprise team this entire tournament and have knocked off teams with just as much talent as the Blue Devils, so the game isn’t written in stone yet. Though as tough as it is for me to admit, Duke seems unstoppable this season. If West Virginia’s length and athleticism, as well as their stellar defense wasn’t able to overcome Duke (or at least keep the game close), I’m not sure what Butler will be able to do.

One thing I do know is Butler will have the support of the nation, in Monday night’s showdown. Not only do people enjoy rooting for the underdog, but college basketball fans’ favorite past-time is rooting against Duke. The Blue Devils haven’t done themselves any favors of late to change their reputation, as Duke didn’t make any friends with their play this tournament, including last night’s game. Given the way this year’s Tournament has been going, anything is possible so Monday night could (hopefully will) be a surprise.

Yesterday the NCAA announced that it was looking to expand the tournament, and while there are multiple options on the table, the most likely scenario would be expanding to a 96-team field. Now I realize just about every basketball pundit thinks this is the death of college basketball and the world is going to hell in a handbasket with this expansion, but I don’t believe that to be remotely true. And when you hear phrases like “it’s all about money” or “it will lead to a diluted tournament” they really need to be put into context before they should be digested.

Is the tournament all about money? Of course it is, but who gets this money and benefits from it? Well the short answer is the schools. Sure the NCAA themselves get a cut of the profits and host cities will sell more tickets, but the vast majority of the money will go back to the colleges, and since when is that a bad thing? That money will help fund not only the basketball program and facilities at these schools (and the facilities are used by multiple sports programs), but will also help pay for scholarships and fund other non-profit sports. And I’m not just talking about funding Men’s and Women’s Field Hockey.

Northern Iowa, this year’s tournament darling, had to close their baseball program (among others) last season due to costs and budget issues in the state. Baseball, America’s past time, was shutdown in America’s heartland.  And it’s not alone other baseball and even some football programs have been shutting down, given the state of the economy (and other issues). For some of these schools men’s basketball is their sole money maker, and if having more team’s in the tournament allows for a bigger windfall (not to mention the prestige of those extra teams who are now making the tournament) for these schools and consequently their athletes then what is wrong with that? Since when is taking money from whichever major network is broadcasting the games (actually their Fortune 500 company advertisers) and giving it to the education system in the country a bad thing? And if a couple head honchos at the NCAA and school athletic directors and coaches get a little more money in their pocket, so what? As long as the majority goes to the program, facilities and other sports programs on campus, I have no problem.

As for the other issue of ‘diluting’ or ‘watering-down’ the tournament. How can we really say that after the two extremes we’ve had these last two years. Last season top seeds pretty much won out in that tournament and upsets were few and far between. This year everyone expected either the veteran Kansas team or the NBA’s 31st team, the Kentucky Wildcats to win it all this year, yet all we have are upsets. Both tournaments have been incredible to watch, and goes to show that anything can truly happen in March. I really don’t think adding 31 more teams (remember in reality we are at 65 now, not the perfect 64 teams that everyone talks about), will make a big impact and change the way things are done.  And remember what we are really talking about here. These wouldn’t be 31 teams pulled out of the thin air, these would be 31 of the 32 NIT teams (boy it would suck for that 32nd NIT team who now gets nothing). Those are the next best teams in the nation and the ones who had their bubble burst on selection Sunday. Is it really a bad thing to give Mississippi State, who was 3 seconds away from knocking off Kentucky in the Big 12 Tournament and punching their ticket to the tournament, another shot?

For anyone who thinks that expanding the tournament will ‘dilute’ the field and favor the top teams, remember that the last time the field was dramatically expanded to 64 teams from 48 (technically 53 there were 5 play-in games the year before) in 1985, was also the year 8th seed Villanova knocked off top seed and defending champion Georgetown, to become the lowest seed ever to win the NCAA Tournament.

Now I realize there are plenty of logistical issues involved with expanding the tournament. Where those first games are played, how are the 32 byes awarded, is there any preference to regular season or tournament winners etc. But I like the idea of expanding the field and I do see the benefits for the schools and basketball across the country. I don’t think it will make March Madness any less exciting and instead bring to light the NIT schools that get largely ignored. There is some good basketball played there year in, year out and having them part of the tournament, means everyone who has a shot is now included. I think we should give the NCAA a break and remember that it has been expanded before and the world is still here.

Last season Michigan State lost to UNC in the National Championship game, now they are one game away from facing another of the Tobacco Road teams, the Duke Blue Devils. Yesterday both the Spartans and Blue Devils won close games to go back to a place they are pretty familiar with, The Final Four. Michigan State and Duke  have been two of the most successful programs of the last two decades, so the Final Four is nothing new to either one of them (unlike their two opponents).

Both Duke and Michigan State also have very veteran laden rosters, which have carried them so far in the tournament. Neither team entered this tournament as a favorite to win it all (though Duke had a few backers considering they were a 1 seed), but now both are just one game away from playing for a National Championship. They have taken vastly different roads to get to the precipice, but are now finally here.

Michigan State in the quirkiest Tournament I’ve ever seen, will not have faced anything higher than a 4 seed until the National Championship game, if they advance. In addition to Maryland, the 4 seed, they have faced a 12th seed, 9th seed, 6th seed and now a 5th seed in the Final Four. Now that’s not to say that teams like Northern Iowa or Tennessee didn’t have talent, but just to say that they weren’t considered among the elite teams in their region. The Spartans have earned the right to be in the Final Four, but to avoid any 1, 2, or 3 seeds, does mean that Michigan State has had a little luck on their side.

As for Duke, their luck came on Selection Sunday, when the committee first of all gave them a 1 seed, and then put them in the easiest bracket. The best team in Duke’s bracket, Purdue was without their best player, and had fallen down to a four seed. Even without their star they still came close to knocking off Duke, as the game was tight until the last few minutes. And while Duke faced a more traditional path to the Final Four, including a tough game against 3 seed Baylor, they really haven’t faced a true challenge. While Baylor is a good team, they couldn’t catch any breaks (or get any calls) to go their way yesterday. And couldn’t match-up with Duke’s experience.

Now these long time powerhouses are a just one game away from facing each other, but they shouldn’t forget about who stands in their way. Both Butler and West Virginia are talented teams, that are looking for an upset. Michigan State and Duke will once again need their experience to shine through to advance.

If Kansas was considered the number 1 team in this tournament, the Kentucky Wildcats were 1A. They were stocked with NBA talent, including their talented freshman foursome who will all be likely lottery picks, either this year or next. And two of them, John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins could very well be the first and second picks of this year’s draft. When Kansas got knocked out they became everyone’s favorite to win it all, but West Virginia stood in their way to the Final Four. Last night showed why it’s dangerous to rely on a primarily all freshman team.

It did not seem like luck was on the Mountaineers side as they were without their starting point guard Darryl Bryant. Victory seemed even less likely, when they couldn’t make a single 2 point basket in the first half. Combine the fact that Kentucky out-rebounded WVU by 11, and the Mountaineers didn’t have a chance, right? Wrong, WVU took the lead with four minutes to go in the first half and never looked back. Despite shooting only 38.5% from the field (they did finally make some 2-pointers), they shot 43.5% from behind the arc (including 8 3′s in the first half). While their stingy defense harassed Kentucky all night. The Wildcats 34.3% from the field, including an awful 4-32 from the three point line. It wasn’t the prettiest of games from the start, and the unlikeliness of dominating wins, but the Mountaineers played a great job. And showed that a little experience can go a long way come tournament time.

The Butler Bulldogs aren’t your typical mid-major underdog. In fact this season, they have constantly reminded us that they are one of the top teams in the country. I have a feeling that they will start to get the respect they so rightly deserve. Just two nights after knocking of Syracuse, Butler took down the two seed as well, by beating Kansas State 63-56. While Kansas State did have a one point lead late in the 2nd half, the Bulldogs controlled this game from start to finish.

Butler shot 45.7% from the field and bettered that from behind the arc, shooting 46.7%. Gordon Hayward paced the team with 22 points and nine rebounds. The Bulldogs as a team out rebounded K-State 36-27. But the real key to Butler’s win was their defense. They held the Wildcats just 38.6% shooting, including just 5 of 15 behind the three point line.

Now I know Kansas State faithful will point to them just winning a double overtime thriller two nights ago against Xavier. But you can’t blame this game on being tired. Kansas State was the deepest team in the tournament, that will rely on any number of guys to score. They were beat and worn out last night because of Butler’s relentless defense, and just lost the magic from Thursday night’s game.

Now Butler heads home to Indianapolis, and although they’ve never played a game of this magnitude before, somehow I don’t think they will be intimidated.

Last night was a crazy night for the teams out West, as 1 seed Syracuse was knocked off by 5 seed Butler, and 2 seed Kansas State needed double overtime to hold off Xavier. It was almost going to be an all mid-major Elite Eight in the West, but Kansas State was able to pull it out at the end of the 2nd overtime. In retrospect I probably shouldn’t be so surprised that Butler won last night, though we should maybe ask the selection committee what they were thinking assigning them just a 5 seed.

Butler has been a dangerous team come tournament time for a couple of seasons now, even advancing to the Sweet 16 in both 2003 and 2007. It still seemed weird seeing them as a 5 seed though, but the reality is this team should have been at least a 3 seed. The Bulldogs finished 11th in the AP Top 25 poll, and 8th in the ESPN/USA Today poll. Why they weren’t a 3 or 4 seed is a fair question. Now I know some might ask, why does that matter if they were 1-2 seeds higher, but in reality it does matter. Seeding is a sign of respect, the higher the seed the easier road you have (theoretically). And I don’t know anyone who watched last night’s game that didn’t think, this is a top 10 team in the country, and their rankings prove that. Unlike teams like Xavier, Saint Mary’s and Northern Iowa, who were barely in the Top 25 or just missed, Butler had been recognized as a top team. Now I realize that seeding isn’t solely done by their final rankings, but remember Butler was an 8th seed in the ESPN poll, I don’t think it would be a stretch to put them down only a few spots as a 3 seed. And dropping them as low as a 5th seed makes them seem like they are more in the middle of the pack.

After last night, I don’t think anyone will take them for granted any longer. Butler controlled the game in the first half, leading by 10 at the break. But the top seeded Orangemen came storming back in the second half. With five and a half minutes to go in the game Syracuse held a four point lead, that’s when Butler took the game over. Scoring 11 straight points and holding Syracuse scoreless until just under a minute left in the game. Syracuse managed 5 points in that final minute, but it wasn’t enough as the Bulldogs won 63-59. Butler showed that they can play with anyone, and while Syracuse was missing their big man, the Bulldogs won that game outright. They out hustled the Orangemen, and to take over in the last five minutes of the game against a team like Syracuse is extremely impressive. The Bulldogs will now face Kansas State (oh so close to a fun mid-major match up) for the chance to advance to Indianapolis for the Final Four. For most teams the NCAA Tournament is ‘win or go home’, for Butler it is now ‘win and go home’, so don’t be surprised if the Bulldogs ‘upset’ another top team, because they have something extra to play for.

Kansas State needed 50 minutes to knock off Xavier last night, as the Musketeers just wouldn’t go away. The game turned out to be pretty much what was expected–a battle between Kansas State’s guards, Jacob Pullen and Dennis Clemente and Xavier’s, Terrell Holloway and Jordan Crawford. The game also turned into a 3-point shooting contest as both teams were over 42% from behind the arc. For awhile it looked as though the superior pure shooting ability of Xavier from the 3-point line and charity stripe would win them the game, but Kansas State’s depth and size did play a factor down the stretch. Xavier had one of their starters foul out, as well as three starters and one top reserve playing with four fouls at the end of the 2nd overtime. Kansas State on the other hand had two players foul out (one starter, one reserve) and another top reserve playing with 4 fouls. Their depth allowed them to handle losing two good players, spread the fouls out so none of their top guys were playing timid when the game was on the line. The Wildcats depth also helped them with the extra minutes as their guys weren’t nearly as tired at the end of the game. It was another great finish, in what has been one of the most competitive and exciting tournaments in the last 10 years.

With the way the West Region has turned out this year, nothing will surprise me in the Elite Eight match up between Butler and Kansas State. The only thing I do know is that it will be fun to watch (and to expect the unexpected).

The West Virginia Mountaineers received some devastating news yesterday for their Tournament chances, when they found out that starting point guard Darryl ‘Truck’ Bryant will miss the rest of the season with a broken foot. Bryant was the Mountaineers 4th leading scorer during the regular season and has been an integral part of the team since he arrived on campus fall of 2008. He was one of coach Bob Huggins top recruits his first year, and one of two true point guards on the roster.

Now the responsibility of the team will fall back on veteran Joe Mazzulla who had the starting job last season until he went down with injury. Mazzulla has been a solid player for the Mountaineers for years, but he’s never been a star. He is an okay ball handler, but I’d expect forwards Da’Sean Butler and Devin Eubanks to handle the ball quite a bit given their overall talent. While Mazzulla can offer a good option around the 3-point line, and be a solid defender, he lacks Bryant’s quickness and athleticism, as well as his ability to drive to the basket.

Now West Virginia fans will be quick to point out that Bryant hadn’t really made an impact in either Tournament game, and the Mountaineers did fine. While that is true, it does make me wonder if Bryant’s foot had already been bothering him and it was affecting his game. I’d also point out that WVU is about to play the Washington Huskies, who rely heavily on guard play. I don’t like the match up of Mazzulla guarding Huskies star point guard Isaiah Thomas, who is a dynamic scorer off the dribble.

And remember if West Virginia gets past Washington, they will likely face a Kentucky, with their two star point guards, in the Elite Eight. You would be fooling yourself to think Bryant won’t be missed. He sometimes gets overlooked given the talent on the WVU roster, but he is a very good player. He might be the fourth scorer on this team, but that’s because West Virginia has so much talent inside. On a more average team Bryant would likely be the second scoring option.

I’d expect the Mountaineers to try to play big with 4 or 5 forwards on the floor at all times. They won’t be able to match the quickness of Washington and Kentucky on the perimeter, so they might as well play big and dominate in the paint (that could be a bit tougher against Kentucky), and try to force them to play their game. Despite the loss of Bryant, I still think WVU will make it to the Elite Eight, but I’m no longer too sure of their ability to get past Kentucky.

Wow if yesterday is any indication, this Tournament will live up to it’s nickname of “March Madness”. We saw seven upsets yesterday with lower seeds knocking off higher seeds including both a 4 and a 3 losing. We saw one of everyone’s favorite upset picks (UTEP), get killed by Butler. And perhaps the most exciting game was one of the first ones played, where 2 seed Villanova needed overtime to overcome 15 seed Robert Morris. Already we’ve seen a number of story lines forming and here are some of the first day impressions:

Bad Day For Big East Teams:  The Big East didn’t get off to a good start in this Tournament as three of their four teams playing yesterday were among those teams that got upset. What’s even worse is those were three of the four highest seeds to lose yesterday. Georgetown looked to be one of the strongest 3 seeds in this tournament. They were one basket away from winning the Big East Tournament, and had been ranked pretty much all year. They had big wins this year over some of the best teams in the country, including Pitt, Villanova, Syracuse and Duke. They looked like a balanced team with three top scorers, and a good inside-outside mixture. Well none of that mattered yesterday as 14 seed Ohio just dominated them. Ohio was in control for pretty much the majority of the game, and it was just a fantastic performance if you were rooting for an underdog. In addition to Georgetown losing, a pair of 6 seeds lost in the final seconds of the game as both Notre Dame and Marquette fell. Notre Dame lost to 11 seed Old Dominion in a close 51-50 battle. While the Irish kept the game close ODU really shut down Notre Dame’s offense particularly their three point shooting. Marquette on the other hand had little trouble shooting the 3, going 12-19 in the game. But it wasn’t enough to hold off 11 seed Washington. There were a number of times Marquette looked like they had the game in hand, only to see the Huskies battle back and win on a last second shot.

Villanova was the lone Big East team to win yesterday, and boy was it not pretty. Robert Morris led for a good portion of that game, and never showed any intimidation to their cross state foe. Even in overtime, their play was inspired, and they never gave up even when it looked as though the Wildcats were going to pull away. They kept it close and nearly sent the game into double overtime. For Villanova it was a pretty embarrassing game. This is a team that has Final Four or even Championship talent and pedigree but needed an extra 5 minutes to silence a 15 seed team. The Wildcats will need to figure out what went wrong and fast if they hope to get back on track this tournament.

High Seeds Struggle Early:  While both of yesterday’s 1 seeds cruised to victory, other top seeds did not. Villanova just squeaked by Robert Morris, and 3 seed New Mexico was taken down to the wire by Montana. Three seed Baylor didn’t pull away from Sam Houston State until about 2 minutes to play. Then of course we had the upsets. In addition to Georgetown losing big to Ohio, 4 seed Vanderbilt lost on a last second shot to 13 seed Murray State. Of the eight 1-4 seeds that played yesterday, two lost and three just barely advanced to the second round. This doesn’t bode too well if you believe that top seeds will dominate like they have the past few years.

Overtime and Last Second Shots Dominate Day One:  In all the games of last year’s tournament we saw a total of 15 overtime minutes, through the first 16 games of this year’s we saw 20. In addition to the overtime games we saw four games won by a shot in the final 5 seconds (including one of the overtime games). Another three games saw last second shots fall short that could have tied it and sent the game into overtime (2nd overtime for Robert Morris). One of the overtime teams that lost, Florida, had the final shot in both regulation and the first overtime, but couldn’t capitalize. All-in-all it was one of the most intense days in college basketball, with half the games going down to the wire.

Yesterday was proof for what this Tournament is all about. We saw some fantastic basketball being played, filled with great drama. This year’s tournament could ring with parity, as there didn’t seem to be much difference between a number of the seeds. Power conferences fell hard yesterday, showing why exactly we give automatic bids to the Mid-Majors and lower conferences. The best part about it all is the Madness has just begun, so sit back, relax and watch your brackets get destroyed.

1 Kentucky:  There is no doubt that the Wildcats have the most talented players in the nation. And if this tournament was solely decided by NBA future talent they would be a shoe-in for cutting down the nets in April. Fortunately for the rest of the teams in the country, this tournament is decided by a lot more than NBA talent. Even still Kentucky is one of the favorites of this tournament and have the talent, depth, and skill to win the title. The Wildcats are a very balanced team with star talent on the perimeter in John Wall and Eric Bledsoe, and underneath with Patrick Patterson and DeMarcus Cousins.

While it’s easy to love Kentucky, there are some hurdles they will have to overcome. Not the least of which is their freshman-centric starting lineup and rotation. We’ve seen a number of great freshmen and freshmen classes lead their teams deep into the tournament over the past few years, but the only freshman class to cut down the nets was Syracuse in 2003. That is not a great precedent for this Kentucky team, and something they will have to overcome. Something else they have to overcome is a pretty tough potential schedule. In the second round they will likely face a Texas team, that at one point in time was considered just as good of a team as Kentucky. And though they collapsed some down the stretch, the Longhorns have the talent to be extremely dangerous in this region. If Kentucky survives them, as they will likely face a dangerous Wisconsin team in the Sweet 16. That is almost as tough as a road that Kansas will face and, much tougher than Syracuse or Duke. Kentucky has the talent, but it will remain to be seen if their lack of experience will be their down fall.

2 West Virginia:  The West Virginia Mountaineers are my pick coming out of this region. They have tremendous talent, and athleticism and can run the floor with anybody. Though they lack a true big man, the Mountaineers have enough length to succeed in this tournament. They have one of the most underrated players in the nation in G-F De’Sean Butler. Butler was huge for West Virginia on their way to winning the Big East Conference Tournament.

WVU isn’t without weaknesses, they can be inconsistent and lack great depth, but have been able to overcome those issues this season. They do rely on their starters a bit to much and don’t do well if they get in foul trouble or overtime games. But few teams go deeper than 7 guys, so it hasn’t been a major issue for them. One thing that has haunted them this season is their consistency. They have struggled against the top teams in the Big East, and didn’t separate themselves from the pack. And while they did win the Big East Tournament, they didn’t have to face any of the other top teams (Pitt, Villanova, Syracuse). That being said, West Virginia could have made a solid case for deserving a number 1 seed, and even without facing some of the top teams winning the Big East Tournament is extremely impressive. I think the Mountaineers have a pretty clear path in the bottom part of this bracket, and have the ability to knock off Kentucky.

Rest of the games:

3 New Mexico over 14 Montana:  The Lobos are a talented team that might struggle early against Montana, but should be able to pull it out. I don’t see them going too far in this Tournament, but round 1 should be no problem.

4 Wisconsin over 13 Wofford:  The Badgers are a dangerous team and could end up busting a lot of brackets later in this tournament. As long as they don’t look ahead, Wisconsin should have no problem getting past Wofford.

12 Cornell over 5 Temple:  Temple not only drew the dreaded 5th seed, but also a tough match up against Cornell. Cornell has the ability to beat Temple inside, and if that is the case I don’t see Temple surviving this game.

6 Marquette over 11 Washington:  Marquette is a quality team with one weakness, size. Luckily for them Washington isn’t a great interior team, which should allow Marquette to get past them with their excellent guard play.

10 Missouri over 7 Clemson:  In the battle of the Tigers I’ll take Missouri by a hair over Clemson. Missouri has some consistency questions, but they create defensive headaches for every team they play. I think a team like Clemson who hasn’t really seen their style before will struggle and give up a number of turnovers.

8 Texas over 9 Wake Forest:  Both teams have a lot of talent but I like the Longhorns in this match up. I feel they are the more balanced team and will be more then the Demon Deacons can handle.