Bracketology ’10

* The consensus for Vanderbilt was “hope for 4, expect 5, be prepared for 6.” When the 4 came through again, it was cause for ecstasy – as they will be playing in San Jose. Tickets have been ordered. Did we deserve a 4? Probably not, and it’s making a lot of people remember 2008, when our 4 seed went up in flames in a first-round loss to 13th-seed Siena. But I can live with that, as long as we get past the first round. Since this team is MUCH deeper than two years ago, I’m counting on everyone to show up.

* Dick Vitale asserts that this is the weakest at-large field in years, and I don’t disagree. The only team he had a beef for was Virginia Tech – and while a Wake team they swept got in ahead of them, you have to dock points for an out-of-conference rating below 300. As it is, eight mid-major teams got at-large berths, double the number from last year – and a good thing too, as there are plenty of mid-majors whose number-2 team would pound, say, the SEC’s number-5…or the Pac-10’s number-3.

* Honestly, there are only three number-1 seeds, and only two of those are absolutely legit: Kansas and Kentucky, and probably Syracuse. Duke got the fourth thanks to the usual blowjob from the NCAA, who also gave them the play-in as their first opponent and gift-wrapped a glide path through the regional. I fully expect them to fall before the Final Four; they won’t make it past Villanova if the Wildcats are there.

* The Big East is the best basketball conference in America. As ghastly as they are in football, they are THE basketball league; eight of their sixteen teams made the Big Dance and I don’t quibble with any of them. Meanwhile, the Pac-10’s two teams are the fewest from a power conference since 1988, and I don’t expect either of them to survive the first round (sorry, sweetie) – in fact, if Cal had won the Pac-10 tournament I am convinced they would have been the lone rep from the conference. I don’t think that’s happened since the days when only conference champs made the tournament. The SEC got four in, which is one more than it deserved; Mississippi State may have a beef that Florida got in and they didn’t, but Florida doesn’t deserve to be there either. No SEC West team made it, and for good reason; they were DREADFUL. Not one team in the SEC West won a regular season matchup against any of the 4 East teams who made the dance.

* All this adds up to this: the NCAA is getting top-heavy in basketball. There’s about 20 contenders, there are a whole lot of mid-mediocre teams, and there’s a whole lot of dreck. All I can think about is how two years ago, all four #1 seeds made the Final Four, and a 4-seeded Vandy team ranked in the top 20 at the end of the regular season managed to lose an opening-round game by 21 points to a 13 seed. Memo to these ‘Dores: you can be forgiven for losing, but you will never be forgiven for quitting.

* Friends represented (partial list): Vanderbilt, California, Notre Dame, Syracuse, Ohio State, North Texas, UC-Santa Barbara, Minnesota, Washington, Georgia Tech, West Virginia, Villanova, St Mary’s, Michigan State, San Diego State, Kansas, and I *know* I’m forgetting somebody…but seriously, is there a better annual sporting event in the world? I don’t think so, y’all. You can keep your Super Bowls and your World Series and your Stanley Cups…nothing’s as great as three weeks in March.