First 2009 March Madness thread

I think part of the problem is the following:

The teams you call the middling majors get in
based on wins that occurred earlier in the season.
Like Notre Dame. Now they might pull out another
major win just because they have a chance to.
The conf. schedule is full of them.
But... they are actually playing very bad basketball
by the time they get into the tourney.

The so called quality mids get in (and this is also
a generalization) because they win their tourney,
or because they have played very well and have
a very good record, but lost in their tourney turning
them into a quality mid. Bottom line is that they are still
playing good basketball. I think it is Butler that has won
a heck of a lot of games on the road against solid teams.
But that does not look nearly as good as winning home
games against very good teams (like UConn or NC). But
winning as many road games as Butler has against very
solid teams is more difficult imo.

Texas is 18-8 and ranked in the top 25. They had some
good wins early but are NOW playing absolutely horrible basketball.
They beat OU by beating up possibly the best college basketball
player in the country recently. So they vault right back up
because they have the chance to play a top team at home
without their best player.

There is no way Butler gets in at 18-8. If the NCAA tourney started
today Texas would be in. But they are first round losers unless
some magic occurs.

And it makes sense that mid majors can be very strong.
You dont necessarily need to have the depth of quality players like you
do in football. And some of these mid major teams have a bunch
of smart players that have played more than 1 year. Almost all of the traditional top programs have lost a quality experiened underclassman to the NBA this year.
And they will every year. Some of these players that stay together
really play very well as a team with less talent. Or with one very
good player with experienced players surrounding him.
A major conf. team can play much more erratically and get in so much easier.

Anyways...
It makes the tourney one of the best team sporting events
in our country. Maybe THE best.

Another pgardn ramble. No fancy bullets like phil.

Answer B.