Rapid Reaction from the unveiling of the 2011 NCAA Tournament Bracket

 Note: all images obtained from a Google image search at google.com

Overall thoughts:

• The ESPN talking heads spent the first hour of the post-bracket-revealing ripping the NCAA selection committee to shreds.  Very little was made in terms of actual prognosis as to how the tournament will unfold.  This is pretty much par for the course, but they did seem to be particularly eviscerating this year, particularly Jay Bilas, and in particular toward UAB and VCU.  Oh, and Dickie V got worked up as usual too, including a Roseanne/Scarlett Johansson reference.  High comedy.

GET FIRED UP! GET FIRED UP!

The Dance is back, BABY!!!!

• That said, their criticism was justified.  Virginia Tech once again was left on the doorstep (for approximately the 37,411^th consecutive year), and Colorado was left out despite 3 wins over Kansas State ( a FIVE-seed?!?!).  UAB and VCU made the field despite 1 and 3 wins respectively against RPI top 50 competition.  Georgia made the field as a TEN seed, despite losing to an Alabama team (left out of the field) who won TWELVE conference games AND beat the Dawgs TWICE.  Just puzzled on some of these decisions.  But hey, the gray area leads to debate, and debate is fun.

No dice, fellas. No dice.

• Can’t wait to watch my TERPS!!!... oh, right, we sucked this year.  I forgot.

Sigh. There's always next year.

 

EAST

• I love Ohio State.  I think they’re the best team in the country (as do the voters right now, and the NCAA selection committee), and I’m going to pick them to win the whole thing.  But a potential regional semifinal matchup with Kentucky scares me.  Terrence Jones and Brandon Knight are great talents, and the SEC tourney champs are a force to be reckoned with.

I like Buford, Sullinger and Co. to keep laughing all way to Houston.

• How the mighty have fallen.  Villanova, a top 10 team in late January, ends up with a #9 seed courtesy of a late-season fall off a cliff (5 straight losses, 7 of 9, and a 5-10 finish following a 16-1 start).  And their reward?  #8-seeded George Mason, 16-2 in a solid Colonial Athletic Association and winners of 16 straight prior to a CAA tourney loss.  I haven’t decided on this one yet, but I’m leaning toward the Patriots.

• I like Xavier against Syracuse (thanks to Seth Davis for a little convincing).  They have a guard named Tu Holloway who averaged 20 points and 5.5 assists this year, and will make life very difficult for the Orange and their 2-3 zone.

Holloway is a BAD man.

• Either way, I see North Carolina rolling to the Elite 8 without a great deal of impediment.

SOUTHWEST

• Looks like chalk in this region.  The top 4 seeds have very favorable matchups in their 1^st 2 rounds, and I particularly love Louisville and Notre Dame to come of their 1^st two matchups with little difficulty.

• Georgetown, with the expected return of starting PG Chris Wright, should advance past the winner of USC and VCU (2 questionable at-large selections).  But then again, they “should” have advanced past #14-seeded Ohio last year, and instead got run off the floor (lost by 14, and it wasn’t that close).  But even with a win, they’ll get blown out by a far-superior Purdue team.

• Kenneth Faried is a phenomenal talent at Morehead State, and I definitely think they’ll give Louisville problems in round 1.  But past that, the Cardinals should roll past the winner of Vandy and Richmond.  Early call: I like the Spiders to avenge last season’s disappointing first round defeat and extend the Commodores’ first-round losing streak to 3 (despite being the higher seed each time).

Louisville better be prepared to deal with this kid for 40 minutes.

SOUTHEAST

• And this shall be the Region of the Upset.  I absolutely love Old Dominion, Utah State, and Belmont to win their 1^st round games.  BOLD CALL OF THE TOURNAMENT: I’ll also take Belmont, the #13 seed, to New Orleans and a trip to the Sweet 16.

• Watch out for the Old Dominion MONARCHS.  This team gets after it on the offensive glass like nobody’s business, and will give Gary McGhee and the Pitt Panthers fits in round 2.  Alas, they don’t have the outside shooting or guard play to advance to New Orleans.

Kent Bazemore, posed and ready to be a Giant Killer.

• Kansas State, an absolute mess 2 months ago and in danger of missing the tournament, somehow landed a #5-seed.  I love the WAC champion Utah State Aggies to take them down in the 5-12 matchup in round 1.

• As for the Jimmer, I fear his run may end in round 2 against an extremely well-coached and talented St. John’s team making its first NCAA tournament appearance since 2002 (although the loss of D.J. Kennedy could really hurt them).  With Brandon Davies, this could be a Final Four team.  Without him, either the Johnnies or a motivated Florida team (who BYU defeated in last year’s first round) will end Jimmer’s incredible run at BYU.  I really hope I’m wrong though; I picked Jimmer’s 7^th-seeded Cougars to go to the Elite 8 last year (that failed miserably), and his Steph-Curry-like shooting and slashing ability is really fun to watch.

JIMMER JIMMER JIMMER JIMMER JIMMER JIMMER JIMMER JIMMER

WEST

• Texas vs. Oakland immediately jumped out to me as an enticing 4-13 matchup.  Don’t sleep on the Golden Grizzlies; they have a nice inside-outside combo of Keith Benson and Reggie Hamilton, and could give a struggling Longhorn team fits in round 1.  Texas is a really tough team to figure.  They’ve looked dominant (a 23-3 start, a rise to #1 in the nation, a win at Kansas), and they’ve looked sluggish (a 4-4 finish).  I could see this team in the Final Four, or going down to Oakland in round 1.

Keith Benson, one of the best players you've never heard of.

• Arizona will roll Memphis in round 1, setting up a very enticing 2^nd-round matchup with a loaded Texas team.  The winner will then give Duke everything they can handle in their Anaheim regional semifinal.

Derrick Williams, the best player on Pac-10 regular season champ Arizona.

• Missouri’s 40 Minutes of Hell will work just fine in a 1-game-and-done scenario, and they’ll turn the Cincinnati Bearcats over enough to pull out a 1^st-round win.  But they won’t have the same success against the fightin’ Kembas, aka UConn.  A Connecticut-San Diego State regional semifinal would be awesome.  A loaded and deep Aztec team against the hottest player in the country?  Yes, please.

Time to break out the brackets, kids!! Enjoy the best time of the year, because the MADNESS is here!! :D