Updated throughout the day with quick takes from staff.
So, over the next hour there will be some rejoicing and even more unhappiness as more teams are left out than get in. Follow along with all of it here, as we liveblog the selection show and provide instant, and extremely in-depth, analysis (as always). Use the comments section to let us know how wrong we are.
No. 1 Seeds: Your number one overall seed is Louisville. Seems like the obvious choice given they won the regular season Big East title and the conference tournament. And we have our first surprise (sort of): UConn gets a 1-seed over Memphis, giving the Big East three of the four top spots. So much for my planned "Is Memphis is the weakest 1-see of all time?" argument.
Midwest: There goes one of the bubble spots to Arizona, which gets in as a 12-seed. They'll play No. 5 Utah. The committee did them a double-favor by letting them in and giving them such a favorable match-up. This is also one strike for Joe Lunardi, who had Arizona out. Bracketology is clearly not an exact science.
As far as my Final Four pick from this region, You have to like L'ville, although I also kind of like Kansas (3-seed) and West Virginia as a sleeper at the 6-spot.
Award for best fans from the Midwest region goes to the Bison faithful:
West: There goes another bubble spot, this one to Maryland, which earns a 10-seed. Although the Terps seemed to be a lock after beating Wake in the ACC tourney. Elsewhere in this region, UConn, Memphis and Missouri are the top three seeds, in that order. I'm not crazy about any of those teams. This could be a region that No. 4 Washington has a legit shot at taking.
East: We've got two Big Ten bubble teams in here with Wisconsin and Minnesota officially making this the most boring region in the bracket. This also likely means that either Michigan or Penn State is going to be left out. Elsewhere, it's hard to pick against No. 1 Pitt in this region, but I also like No. 5 Florida State a lot. VCU, who has been anointed as this year's Mason/Davidson, gets UCLA in the first round, a very winnable game for the Rams.
South: Penn State, St. Mary's and San Diego State all see their bubbles burt. Michigan is the final bubble team to get the nod, and they'll take on 7-seed Clemson. The top two seeds here are UNC and Oklahoma -- it'll be awfully tricky to pick between those two for the Final Four. Gonzaga, at a four, is also a tempting upset pick to advance.
Other Thoughts:
-- We knew this was going to be the case, but the lack of mid-majors really stands out this year. CBS was nice enough to break it down in graph form:
-- The Big Ten gets the same amount of bids -- seven -- as the ACC and Big East. This is surprising, but I still don't understand it. I'd put in Virginia Tech, Miami and Providence over about half of the Big Ten teams that made it in. If I'm not making myself clear: I think the Big Ten is awful.
-- The toughest team for me to pick one way or the other is Memphis. It's so hard to say how good they really are based on the competition they played. They really need to swtich to a real conference.
-- Of all the one seeds, UNC really has the most difficult road to the Final Four. Oklahoma, Syracuse and Gonzaga are quite possibly the best 2, 3 and 4-seeds in the entire bracket and they're all in UNC's region. On the flip side, UConn has the easiest region, which seems unjust given that they're the worst of the ones.
-- With more parity in college hoops this year, I thought it would be easy not to go chalk, but I'm struggling to pick against any of the one-seeds. Non-one seeds that I like: Washington (4), Oklahoma (2), Duke (2), Florida St. (5), Wake (4), Gonzaga (4), Syracuse (3) ... and that's about it.
-- Re: my last thought. I take back the bit about liking Duke. There's simply no way to compete with The Great Unibrow of Binghamton:
This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.
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why is the west not getting any respect? I got Mizzou in the sweet 16, UCONN in the elite 8 and Memphis in the championship. There is a good possiblity that someone from this group will win it all.
by tcote13 on Mar 15, 2009 7:44 PM EDT reply actions
Pitt will prevail.
by Tileking59 on Mar 15, 2009 8:05 PM EDT reply actions
I think Carolina acutually has the easiest road to final four of No 1’s, i thought the right team could have beaten Carolina in second round this year, but it sure won’t be LSU or Illinois. Yeah Gonzaga is playing great lately but i still think overrated, and i don’t buy Oklahoma as a two seed that has much of a shot. I think Memphis has great shot at atleast a elite eight performance, and its supposed to be a rebuilding year. These guys aren’t overrated its underrated after this year and next year peops in the tank will realize Memphis a true powerhouse even over the likes of overrated hyped teams Power Conf’s. If UCONN can make it to elite eight which i think they will what a great matchup. U don’t know how to gauge Memphis cause in my opinion u don’t know BB, those old UNLV teams used to come out of even weaker conf’s than Conf USA. Your play in a real conf statement about Memphis is sad, your let me guess prob an ACC fan, hmm how would it be. I love PAC but don’t think Washington has much of a shot and its 50-50 if they make second round, i don’t really buy Cal either to be honest, and agree with u in that U of A got very favorable matchup. Big Ten not as bad as you say get a clue, Penn St should have gotten in over a few of the other Big 10’s teams. BIG Ten good conf, but a very boring conf. PAC and ACC have two huge matchups in first round, they will be pivitol to conf supremacy in this tourny. San Diego St should have made it, or even New Mexico for winning share of MTN reg season Lobos sure didn’t get a shot! Mtn West getting two teams is a slap in the face. BYU and Utah could as easily be 4th or 5th best team in that conf as 1st and 2nd. I thought MTN West was 6th best conf this year even ahead of SEC. And lastly VCU who has been annointed next Davidson or Mason. By whom? Yeah VCU has been hyped since the Duke upset few years back but if i had to rank VCU against some other Mids that made Dance this year they wouldn’t make top 5, they couldn’t even beat Nevada a few weeks ago, they would have had better shot against up-tempo team that doesn’t play Defense like Duke was few years back, UCLA will suffacate them defensively winning by atleast 10.
by Woodville Cedars on Mar 15, 2009 8:08 PM EDT reply actions
correction, excuse me…. Illinois(to slow) and Butler(to young) not LSU potentially playing and losing versus Tar Heels in second round.
by Woodville Cedars on Mar 15, 2009 8:24 PM EDT reply actions
O.K. Chris. Go ahead and inform the ACC conference that we will be joining effective next year. You know what, lets make it the Big East, what the hell. You freaking talking heads make me laugh. If it were that easy we would have been gone from Conf USA. It is a terrible league and I hate playing basketball and football in it but it is what it is now and we make the best of it. Maybe we can get you to head the team that will get us in a BCS league. You are a tool that probably got cut from your high school JV team.
I am in the minority of Memphis fans because I did not think we deserved to be a #1 seed, but what I find funny is that the majority of the people that say "It’s so hard to say how good they(Memphis) really are based on the competition they played" have not taken the time to watch us play at all. They assume since we play in a terrible conference that everything we accomplish is not valid. I agree whole-heartedly with Woodville Cedars about the UNLV teams of the late 80’s and early 90’s. That 1990 or 1991 team played in a div 1AA conference and they were talked about as maybe the best in the history of college basketball and got the respect of a Duke or UNC etc. All this means nothing because it will be used by Cal to motivate the team to come out and show everyone what they are made of and he is the best in the business at that. Thank you all for putting a chip the size of Texas on our shoulders. Good luck.
GO TIGERS!!!!!
by albloodworth on Mar 15, 2009 9:50 PM EDT reply actions
alblood, calm down, buddy. I didn’t say Memphis wasn’t good; I simply said it is difficult for me to tell how good they really are based on the schedule they played. You even admitted CUSA is a bad conference.
by cmottram on Mar 15, 2009 10:28 PM EDT reply actions
Man Pitt’s bracket is tough as nails.
Can’t wait to see our Zips take on the Zags. UA is just pumped to be there, such a young team, but the boys have worked hard. If we can give Gonzaga a run for their money it will be a success. Too bad it will be hard to get the Rowdies in full-force all the way over in Portland, but that shouldn’t matter, the boys will put up a good fight regardless.
by npcPronk29 on Mar 15, 2009 10:45 PM EDT reply actions
"You know what, lets make it the Big East, what the hell."
You might not want that. They only played 4 Big East teams and lost half of them. 2 of their 3 losses were from the Big East.
by GangaRob on Mar 15, 2009 11:00 PM EDT reply actions
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