I Dislike Your Favorite Team

But before we get to that, let's take a moment to enjoy the rather fluid nature of our #1 seeds in this year's tourney, shall we? It was fluid enough that an embarassed at the time Doug Gottlieb (former OK State Cowboy, if memory serves) was explaining that he had Kansas as a #1 assuming they would beat Texas, which seemed unlikely at halftime of that game). Gottlieb again said that UCLA deserved a #1 (and let me quote him: "And these are projections. We are projecting that UCLA will do well in the PAC-10 tournament. We are projecting that UNC makes it to the final of the ACC.")

I think you have, before the various Big League tournaments start, something like 8-10 teams vying for the top 4 seeds. Including some who are getting no love currently, but will if they win their conference tourneys. Let's deal with the teams that are getting love:

You've got Ohio State, Florida, Kansas, UCLA, Wisconsin, UNC all right there. Ohio State lost to Florida and Wisconsin, but that was early in the season, when Greg Oden only had his offhand (is it just me, or his slow recovery time hurting him in NBA eyes?). With Florida and UNC and Wisconsin stumbling, you have to add Texas A&M into the mix. Now consider the fact that regular season winners of the ACC and the Big East aren't even in that group of teams. Let's say, just for shitzengiggles, that UVA makes it to the finals of the ACC Tourney, or Georgetown makes it to the finals of the Big East Tourney. Certainly, teams who win the regular season and make the final of the Tournament of their conference deserve some consideration, yeah? I honestly don't know if I remember a year where the top 10 were all so closely packed.

But enough of that! On to the sure things!

my boys, the Eagles of Winthrop, are in! They beat VMI in a Big South final that was a nail-biter, 84-81 . Now, you might think that the Big South is a bit of joke. Much like you thought the Colonial was a joke or that the Missouri Valley Conference was a joke last year. This Winthrop team is the real deal, and really, they were facing a dangerous VMI team--VMI had the leading scorer in the NCAA's, and two of the top 5 stealers in the league as well (and they are Twins!--The Holmes. Which reminds us of one of our favorite punchlines ever--"It's Lemon-Entry, my Dear Watson). But Winthrop showed an ability to score inside and outside. (If we were track heartwarming stories that will be used in the Sweet 16, we imagine New Zealander (Maori?) Craig Bradshaw's story being right up there. His dad thought basketball was for girls! Craig lied and said he was going to Rugby practice. He sent a tape to Winthrop and they gave him a scholarship without ever meeting him!

Is this a scary team? Well aside from the fact I've been on the Winthrop jock for the past 2 months, consider this fun fact:

The Eagles have wins at Mississippi State, Missouri State and Old Dominion. Their only losses came on the road, at No. 4 Wisconsin in overtime, No. 7 Texas A&M, No. 8 North Carolina and No. 24 Maryland.

Belmont is in again, as Atlantic Sun winners. This team has never been dangerous to anybody, and I don't see this year being the year that they are. Belmont's most impressive win out of conference? I guess it would be Rice. This team also dropped to rather thugly Illinois by more than 20. Looking for upset teams? Look elsewhere. Say hello to one of your #16 seeds. Thanks for playing, Belmont!

Other teams won, like Eastern Kentucky, which feels more important than it is, because they beat sometime Giant slayer Austin Peay.

Keep your eye on the Colonial, which sent Final Four team George Mason last year. They may get 3 teams in this year, thanks to the incredible work being done by Virginia Commonwealth, Old Dominion, and the Drexel Dragons.

In my mind, Drexel may be the most dangerous of them all, and the least likely to make it. I mean how can you take the 4th team in the CAA seriously? I, mean, really, Fourth in the CAA! That's crazy! Except that they beat St. Joes, Syracuse, Villanova, Vermont, all on the road. They also lost to William & Mary, a school for Southern Nerds if ever there was one. But if they get in, watch out.

I should mention that a bunch of Big Conference Games were played today, and Kevin Durant rolled his ankle, Pitt got their stupid asses handed to them, and really none of it matters, aside from seeding in their conference Tourneys.