I'd like to apologize for never offering you anything to drink while you've sat in my living room and observed how much or how intensely I follow the game. Let's see, I think I've made statements this year about UNC, Duke, Pitt, UConn, Memphis, Oklahoma, and Kansas. Maybe a couple more. Yes, you're right. That's every team in the country. And my wife is going to be pretty upset that I use the DVR to record so many games and clutter it up and don't even watch them. Please don't tell her that I just record and erase and never watch them. Also, if you have any tapes of Memphis' run to the title game from last year, maybe you wouldn't mind sharing them with me since I neglected to watch them before the title game......even though it was probably the most excited I've been about any team's run in a long while, with them being my hometown team and all.

It really isn't.

In fact I'm surprised the WCC didn't have Gonzaga ole' their game against St. Mary's, it's worth a million bucks to the conference (at minimum). The A-10 does it every year.

Yeah, although in Gonzaga's case it could have been the difference between a 5 and a 7 which is very significant.

...and I can see the Big Ten only advancing 1 team to the sweet 16, maybe even 0. Even Michigan State has flaws that a 7-10 seed could exploit.

Committee sometimes does weird things with the lower seeds so if any of the should be 14 seeds (North Dakota St, Stephen F Austin, Binghamton, Portland St) wound up a 15 seed then I'd say Michigan State has flaws that a 15 seed could exploit.

I watched the NDSU game last night. They are pretty darned good and a dangerous 14-15 seed. Any fast team would probably give them a tough time but I think they matchup well with a halfcourt set type team, they can shoot the lights out and play tough defense, they just don't have the athletes of the elite levels.

Yeah, they are my guaranteed upset in the first round. Which means they'll get matched up with a team I really like and I'll talk myself out of it and pick against them just to have them pull the upset.

I think Gonzaga will be higher than a 5.

They are, but Ben Woodside can't play like a bitch like he did for the first 35 minutes of last night's game. The guy averages 23 per, and he was playing like he's Avery Johnson or Earl Watson. Only in the last five minutes did he actually look to score.

agreed, he's gotta come out and light it up, look to score every play.

i think Gonzaga will be very disappointed with their seed. on a blind comparison their resume isn't that strong. 4 of their top 5 wins are against St Mary's and Tennessee, they have a not-so-good loss to Portland State, and their RPI/SOS is much worse than previous years. I'm thinking 6-7 range.

Yeah, but the committee gives a lot of strength to how a team finishes the season. Remember when Syracuse was on the wrong side of the bubble, then made that run in the Big East tourney and ended up with a 5-seed? No one's hotter than Gonzaga now and are there 16 teams that'll get a higher seed? Oklahoma, UNC, pitt, uconn, lville, kansas, mizzou, nova, washington, memphis, michigan state, purdue, duke, wake forest are the only ones I can think of for sure that'll be higher seeded. I think they've got a good shot at a 4.

You are worse than I am.
Except I concentrate on the Big 12.

On which I will make 1 comment on my alma matre.
They played very well against Kansas 1st half.
They were a totally diff. team. It is a tiny ray
of hope in what was otherwise an extremely
dissappointing year.

Hook em.
Please.

Xavier, Illinois, FSU, Clemson, and possibly UCLA, LSU, Arizona State, and Syracuse (all depending on how they do in their respective tournaments) could argue that. Not saying it's right, because I do think they're in the top 16 teams in America, just knowing how the committee treats mid-majors. For example, in 2002, Gonzaga had a resume worthy of a 3 seed and got a 6 (and got bounced in the first round.)

Plus, their last "real" opponent before St. Mary's in the WCC Championship game (Memphis) took them behind the woodshed at home.

4-5 is essentially the same thing. My point was more that as a 4-5 they have a much easier route to the Sweet 16 than being a 6-7 so winning was critical. I could see Syracuse, UCLA, and Florida St all having a decent shot of being put up on the 4 line before Gonzaga.

What could be really interesting is if 3 Big East teams wound up a #1 then only one team could be a 4 or a 5 meaning any other teams that fall into that line would have to be bumped up to a 3 or down to a 6. Could get real confusing if Marquette beat Villanova or Syracuse beat Pittsburgh.

Didn't they change that rule largely because of the Big East and the possibility that it could get 9+ teams into the Tournament?

They've always allowed a contingency for 9+ teams but that would be the highest seeded teams that would be allowed to meet in the same region. So you could have a 2-10 or 4-12 or 3-11 second round Big East matchup if they had 9 teams but never a 1-4 or 1-5.

Looking more closely does anyone actually think that either of the Ohio teams is going to win the A10 tourney in Atlantic City? I could easily see the final being Rhode Island against the Temple/St Joes winner which would mean one less bid for everyone else. Another interesting twist is that if Florida wins over Arkansas they would play Auburn. A second SEC tourney win by Florida would probably lock things up while Auburn would have the opportunity to beat Florida and then Tennessee and likely earn themselves a bid. If Florida beats Arkansas then loses to Auburn who loses to Tennessee you'd have a situation where the committee could put both in or neither. For the sake of the tournament I hope it is neither but its a tough call.

St. Johns scored 10 points in the first half today. Walter Berry just rolled over in his grave.

Well they had to be out partying all night last night to celebrate their first Big East tourney win since 2003.

Of course not. This is the A10 we're talking about here. The favorite, if an at--large lock, stiffs it every time to get another team in. See my post above!

Classic examples- St Joes was UNSTOPPABLE in '04. They "found a way" to lose to Xavier in their first round who was just ok that year. GW was 16-0 in the regular season in '06, only really tested once, yet got waxed by an average Temple team in the first round. Last year Xavier was a beast and still found a way to lose in their 2nd game which set up the A10 to get 3 bids when Temple beat St Joe's in the final (the only way they were getting 3 bids.)

Xavier made the elite 8 in '04 as did St Joe's. Xavier proved they were an excellent team at the end of '04 when they beat St Joes in the A10 tourney...Xavier took out 2 and 3 seeds Texas and Mississippi State and payed a very close game in the regional final against Duke. With what Xavier did in the NCAA tourney in '04 it is hard to argue they didn't just flat out beat St Joe's in the A10 tourney.