Let the Madness BEGIN

After a week of great Conference Tournaments we finally had Selection Sunday and now its time to start filling out your many brackets, convince yourself that you know something no one else in the country does and put yourself at the top of your office pools.

Here is a quick run down of the conference tournaments:

Best Game: This one is easy, could be one of the best games of all time and its airing on ESPN Classic as I write this: Uconn vs Syracuse 6 OT game.

Biggest upset winner: I need to give this one to Morehead State beating Austin Peay in double OT in the Ohio Valley Conference the other upset that is right up there is Missisippi State beating Tennessee.

MVP of Conference week: This might be a bias pick but to me it is hands down Johnny Flynn, who owned MSG and made fans of college basketball start to root for Cuse. Flynn played 67 of 70 minutes in the 6 OT game and the next night played all 45 minutes of the overtime game vs West Virginia. Flynn averaged 19.8 points and 9.3 assists in the tourny and became only the 4th player ever in Big East Tournament to win the MVP and be on the loosing team.

Yours truly went 9 and 16 in predicting the conference tournament winners, not my best work, but now its time to bounce back with the real tournament.

On To The Brackets:

Some quick notes:
-For the first time ever one conference has 3 #1 seeds, that being Big East: Louisville, Pitt and Uconn
-Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Arizona and Dayton all were heard their names and are dancing there way into the tournament
-Villanova as a 3 seed gets to play their first and potentially second in Philly where they play most of their games.
-Snubs: Creighton and Saint Mary, and PSU, but lets be honest they didnt do their jobs all season and now are heading to the NIT, no real snubs this year.

My most intriguing matchups of the first round:

In the Midwest the always dreaded 5 vs 12 seed Utah vs Arizona is just asking for an upset. I really like Zona here especially with them getting into the tournament, they are going to be ready to play and prove that they deserve to be here.

In the same bracket Wake Forest vs Cleveland State, now I am not going to say Cleveland State is going to win, but this team is much better than people are going to think of them as. This team beat Syracuse in Cuse and they beat Butler another tournament team. This team has talent inside and out and could cause a problem for many teams in the tourny.

Moving to the South region a very intriguing game is Clemson vs Michigan. Clemson isnt as good as people think they are. They have a great press and when they get going can be dangerous but too often they play lazy basketball and have to spend the entire second half trying to play catchup. Michigan another team proving why they belong here is going to be a very tough game for this team. This one is a must see opening round game.

In the same bracket Illinois vs Western Kentucky again the dreaded 5 vs 12. Illinois a run and gun team might not be what we think they are. I see Western Kentucky who had a upset or two last year is going to come out firing and they have the confidence that they can win because they have been there before. This one is calling for a 12 upset of 5.

Sleepers:

Here are the teams that are very capable to make a deep run into the tournament. Many of these teams can win a few games if not more in March.

1. Wake Forest, not much of a sleeper as a 4 seed, but this team is really good. They can win the whole thing if they get the right matchups. If they come out flat though they can be heading home after one game. This team definetly has the talent though to win many games and I think they will until they run into a road block from the Big East, Louisville.

2. Villanova, again not much of a sleeper as a 3 seed, but again this team has the talent to win it all. This team can very easily make it to the Final Four. They have inside and outside play and are playing really well of late. Watch this team to meet Pitt and then it is anyones game.

3. Texas, a number 7 season I guess my first real sleeper if they can escape their first round game vs Minnesota they can beat Duke and I think they will beat Duke. That will be the end of their run, but if they get their they might have just enough talent to keep it going.

4. Arizona State, GOD I HOPE NOT. This team is talented, and I wish they werent potentially going up against Syracuse in round 2. I wish they were on the opposite side of the brackets because this team can make noise. I hope they loose first round.

5. Michigan, this team is building confidence and can play physical enough in this tournament to give teams a problem. It is a funny thing what confidence can do and its even funnier what can happen when you need to prove to the country you belong. Watch Michigan win a game or two.

6. Maryland. I had them on the outside of this tournament, but they did what they needed to do in the ACC tourny and that was winning 2 games. Another team that can run with most teams in the country. A great coach who knows how to coach in this tournament and a team that is more than just happy to be here. I have them beating Cal and then if they can play their A game and keep it close early in the second half vs Memphis they can beat them. I am pulling for them, but I see at least one win for the Terps.

My Elite 8 matchups:
Midwest: Louisville vs Kansas
West: Uconn vs Memphis
East: Pitt vs Nova
South UNC vs Syracuse

No real surprises and in these matchups anyone can win but my final four are:
Louisville
Memphis
Pitt
UNC (my heart is with Syracuse on this and it can certainly happen)

Louisville vs Pitt finals where I have Pitt who I think is just the best team in the country to win this game. However, if Cuse can beat UNC if they got to that point I have Cuse vs Louisville in the finals, hopefully we avenge two 10 point losses to them.

I will make my pics for each game the day before just to see how I do and I want to hear your final fours, post them so we can see who is right.

I am running a pool for the tournament, it is $25.00 an entry and will be running it on CBS. If you want in post a comment or email/im me. I will update the standings on the blog with the top 4 after each night of games or round.

Before I go:

Last movie quote was Hoosiers. The classic sports movie, Gene Hackman is great in it if you havent seen it do yourself a favor and watch it before the tournament it will get you going.

Todays Movie Quote: "No, it ain't Coach. With all due respect, uh, you demanded more of us. You demanded perfection. Now, I ain't saying that I'm perfect, 'cause I'm not. And I ain't gonna never be. None of us are. But we have won every single game we have played till now. So this team is perfect. We stepped out on that field that way tonight. And, uh, if it's all the same to you, Coach, that's how we want to leave it."

Question of the day: Who is your Final Four? Post a comment with your choices.

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GIDDY UP!!