Every year, March goes out like a lion, thanks to the NCAA Tournament. Hearts are broken, brackets are busted, and Las Vegas sports books stay busy, all thanks to three weeks of hoops heaven. Here is a look at this year's version of March Madness.
Power Conference Dominance
The so-called "power conferences"--particularly the Big Ten, Big East, and ACC--placed plenty of teams in this year's tourney. This means there were fewer spots for true "Cinderella" teams this year. That could reduce the number of "true" upsets--a small school toppling a power team--but it's hard to say for sure. It does mean that this year's bubble to make the tourney was small, and it got smaller as last week wore on and more teams scored upsets in the conference tournaments. In some cases, teams that won automatic bids weren't expected to make the tournament any other way.
Still, there will be some interesting power team versus power team match-ups, such as #7 Boston College versus # 10 USC in the Midwest region.
Early Upset Predictions
Most pundits are predicting Arizona over Utah in the Midwest or Western Kentucky over Illinois in the South region as the typical 12-seed upset over a 5-seed. Some are going further and predicting Northern Iowa over Purdue in the West or Wisconsin over Florida St. in the East.
Of course, there will likely be an upset somewhere else in the bracket, such as a 13-seed over a 4-seed. And maybe this year, a number one seed will finally fall in the first round.
Number One Seeds
Speaking of those number one seeds, the Big East claimed three of the four spots, with Pitt, Louisville, and Connecticut (the ACC's North Carolina is the fourth number one), with Louisville garnering the top overall seed. Memphis fans may be feeling a bit disgruntled, since the Tigers were given a two seed. Duke and Michigan St. fans may also have the same complaint. Still, there is a generally feeling that the selection committee got the top seeds right.
Strange Bids
If the committee messed up at all, it may be in the lower seeding. Some teams may have been seeded too high or too low, and more than a few folks think Wisconsin and Arizona don't belong at all. Let the barroom arguments begin.
Bracketology
Countless brackets have been filled out these past three days, and countless brackets will be busted by the end of Thursday. It's that time: Let the madness begin.
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