1) Beware the hype of the book cover. BYU will get knocked out early in the tournament because... wait for it... they are not very good. The last team from the Big East to make the dance (Marquette) would beat BYU any day of the week.
2) Beware of banged up Big East teams. The gruelling Big East season has created some casualties. Georgetown is one example. Without Chris Wright, the Hoyas are not a very good team. He's supposed to play in the NCAA tournament, but how effective will he be? Also, St. John's is in trouble, since D.J. Kennedy fell last week to a knee injury. St. John's is a deep team, but the loss of one of their best players doesn't bode well in the big dance.
3) The inequality of college basketball has never been more pronounced. While a 16 seed will one day beat a one seed, it won't happen this year. There's just too much disparity between the best teams and the worst conferences that send automatic qualifiers. Sorry, therefore, to my alma mater, BU, which seems destined to be put in the 16 slot.
4) The Big East is just too damn good. Even though they lost to UCONN this week, Pitt is the best team in the country. But how could they possibly be ranked number 1, given the number of losses they have, and the fact they were eliminated in the quarterfinals of their conference tournament. The problem is the Big East was so good, the teams ate their own in the eyes of the selection committee.
The old theory is that playing in a good basketball conference helps you, since it prepares you for the post season. We shall see if the Big East, this year, was just so good that it ended up tiring its members out.
Now here's my disclaimer: In all the years I have submitted brackets for various NCAA office pools, I have never ever come close to winning any of them.
With that, I predict a NCAA championship this year for good old Wofford! (just kidding)
Happy Selection Sunday!
1 comment:
You left out, "GO BUCKS!"
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