Hooray Hooray It’s Selection Sunday Hooraaaaaay

Today is a wonderful, joyous, miraculous day; it’s like Christmas to even the most casual of college basketball fans. After four months of ball, the stage is set for the best postseason in all of sports: March Madness. Here’s the complete bracket (pops to printable PDF) and below, our thoughts on each.

Arizona sucks
(SPOILER: Arizona doesn’t deserve to be in.)

MIDWESTH: Oh, sure, you may think that’s a typo. It’s not. We couldn’t resist the temptation to say “you can’t spell ‘Midwesth’ without ‘meh.’” We’re nothing if not slaves to cheap jokes. Anyway, this is not a particularly strong region. #1 Louisville should be able to cruise to the Final Four, as the other top seeds (#2 Michigan State, #3 Kansas, #4 Wake Forest) aren’t great this season. Michigan State, in particular, has shown a propensity for playing down to their competition. Remember that one when you’re filling out your bracket. If you’re looking for a 6-11 upset, Dayton over West Virginia could be enticing … but we could also see the ‘Eers running Dayton right out of the gym.

WEST: This is an intriguing region. #5 seed Purdue is the kind of team that could make a run at the Sweet 16 or Elite 8 … except they’ve got perennially pesky Northern Iowa in the first round. Washington at the #4 is also strong. Look for anarchy in this bracket; UConn may not last long, and mid-level seeds like BYU and even Maryland can wreak havoc on a bracket if you’re not careful.

EAST: FSU at #5 is your wild card. They’re just as capable of making a deep run as they are of getting bottled up by #12 Wisconsin right off the bat. Still, it’s hard to think the Elite 8 will consist of anyone other than Duke and Pitt (though Villanova getting to play in Philadelphia in the first two rounds is a total joke). As far as entertaining games go, be sure to watch UCLA vs. VCU in the 6/11; VCU, remember, bounced Duke just two years ago, while UCLA sleepwalked (sleptwalked?) through the entire season.

SOUTH: LSU as an #8 seed? Against Butler?! That’s ludicrous. Illinois and Gonzaga are the #4 and #5 seeds, and neither of them will be able to keep #1 seed UNC out of the Elite 8. In the other half of the bracket… nobody? Can we just write “nobody” to face UNC? Because we don’t think there’s a single Elite 8 team in that whole mess. #3 Syracuse? #2 Oklahoma? Both are reaches; we don’t feel any of them (and none of the rest of the teams look like good sleepers).

BUBBLE TEAMS: Arizona doesn’t deserve to be in. Whether you think it should have been Penn State or St. Mary’s or San Diego State instead … that’s tough to say. But Arizona had a f***ing dogsh*t resume down the stretch, including losing five of their last six games. Why these mid-major teams don’t get any respect for playing on the road so often (road games don’t even factor into the RPI) (DISREGARD I HAVE BEEN IN A COMA FOR YEARS) is absolutely mystifying. If you want a controversy, there you have it.

Our snap picks for the Final 4, subject to change at least 70 times before Thursday: Louisville, Memphis, Pitt, UNC

Who’s your sleeper? Who’s your biggest upset? Who’s in your Final Four? WHO YA GOT???

6 comments

  1. GravatarDoes to!
    7:32 pm on March 15th, 2009

    RPI does factor in road games.  Home wins are worth .6 whereas road wins are worth 1.4 with the inverse also holding true for losses.

  2. GravatarBarry Petchesky
    8:00 pm on March 15th, 2009

    Arizona's got some big wins and some bad losses. I'd rather have a team capable of the big upset than a merely competent midmajor.

  3. GravatarSharpie?!?!
    10:55 pm on March 15th, 2009

    watch out for vcu. they have veteran leadership and great inside play. villanova should not ignore them. the larry sanders show comes to philly!

  4. Gravatarmm
    4:36 am on March 16th, 2009

    Brooks - Less opinion on NCAA Picks and more on Chick Pics.   Post more Anyssa.

  5. Gravatarxx
    5:59 am on March 16th, 2009

    I agree with mm.  More Anyssa.

  6. GravatarSbBGirl Whitney's #1 Fan
    6:27 pm on March 16th, 2009

    I agree with Brooks: Arizona does NOT deserve to be in the Tournament. GO UTAH!!!

    P.S. More Whitney, please!!

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