Ah, nothing quite as sweet this time of year like the ole' NCAA basketball tournament. I'm a sucker for the thing and have enjoyed watching as many games as possible over the last 20 or so years. When it really boils down to it, the upsets are what I enjoy watching most, but it's generally the major conferences that end up in the Final Four when it's all said and done. I'd love it if a St. Joseph's was able to get to the Final Four, but the problem with the NCAA men's basketball tournament selection committe is that it's run by the peeps from the major conferences...and they WANT the BIG schools in the Final Four so that it has a larger TV audience and essentially, more revenue.
So, enough about the politics surrounding the event, let's take a look at some of the teams involved and who we like here at Seattle Sports Blog. I think UCLA is going to win it all based off a great PG, a well balanced team of role players, and a stud in Mr. Love in the middle. North Carolina is good too, but didn't impress me all that much against Clemson in the ACC tournament final. The other top seeds? I see Kansas falling to Clemson, I see Memphis making it to the final four (a 33-1 record is too impressive regardless of how good Texas is) and I see USC coming out as well as a final four team. The Pac 10 was tough this year and get's little media attention from the east coast biased ESPN and CBS. I've never been a big fan of Tennessee and they seem to choke every year. I really liked Stanford as well, but playing Texas in Houston is a tough draw. Everyone seems to not like Duke this year, but I see them squeeking by Xavier and facing UCLA.
Upsets, upsets, upsets: I like George Mason, St. Joe's, Siena, Davidson, Baylor as my big upsetters this year. Good, solid teams and all playing teams that are suspect in this year's field. Most of these teams won't make it past the first round, but they always make things interesting against the big conferences. Good luck to Wazzu and the Zags...I have Zags out in round #1 and WSU getting to the sweet 16 before bowing out to North Carolina. Louisville and Clemson are my sleepers to get to the sweet 16.
OBTW, Seahawks lost DJ Hackett to Carolina. Goes to show the guy is more interested in money than winning. Have fun in Carolina D J, too bad you have no QB to get you the ball.
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