Everyone is aware of the fact that this year's Tournament Selection Committee didn't do such a fine job deciding on this year's bracket. It is tough to find a reason why Colorado, who beat a five seed Kansas State three times, a four seed Texas, and another tournament team in Missouri was left out of the Dance, while VCU and UAB were selected almost out of nowhere. UAB only played one ranked team in Duke, and got blown out. They are also coming off a loss against East Carolina, a team that only managed a .500 record in the weak C-USA. The only tournament team UAB has a win against is (wait for it) VCU, and it was only a three-point margin. VCU lost six games in the CAA, and only beat one tournament team in the automatic bid Wofford. They have some terrible losses against the likes of South Florida, Georgia State, Northeastern (yes, not Northwestern), Drexel, and James Madison. Virginia Tech is also headed to the NIT in order to make way for these teams, even though they have a win over the one seed Duke, and near wins against Purdue and North Carolina. It's a shame to see Malcolm Delaney and Jeff Allen be snubbed for the second straight year. It's just hard to believe that if UAB or VCU played either Virginia Tech or Colorado, they would win. The committee is supposed to select the 37 best teams for at-large bids, and they seemingly failed to do that in this situation.
Also a topic of discussion: Why are the Florida Gators a two seed? They fell to Kentucky the last two times the sides have seem each other, and Kentucky is two seeds below them, at a reasonable four seed. Florida should be a four as well. Florida is in the Southeast Division, which is supposedly the easiest and Pittsburgh's for the taking. There has been criticism of the fact that Pitt is the third number one seed but has a much easier road to the Final Four than overall number one Ohio State. The Buckeyes were treated as a fourth number one should be, being placed in the stacked East, which includes North Carolina, Syracuse, and Kentucky. All four of these teams are capable of going all the way. Pittsburgh's division includes an overseeded Florida at number two, a crippled BYU team as the three seed (having lost Brandon Davies), and a Wisconsin team coming off of a performance in which they scored just 33 points against Penn State. While the Southeast is indisputably weak, it does feature St. John's, who, led by Dwight Hardy and including eight other seniors, have proven they can beat any team in the country.
An intriguing first round (technically second round with this new play-in format) matchup is the in-state battle between Temple and Penn State. Temple, led by their backcourt of Ramone Moore and Juan Fernandez, and big man Lavoy Allen, try to advance against the Nittany Lions and under six foot, yet bighearted Talor Battle, who led his team to the Big Ten final. Another game to pay attention to is Belmont vs. Wisconsin, a matchup in which many have the mid-major and its high-powered offense prevailing over the fourth-seeded Badgers. Many believe that Texas has the roster to advance deep into the tourney, but getting past its first game will be tough: they have to go up against the Oakland Golden Grizzlies and star center Keith Benson, who has an NBA future. Picked by some to win the whole thing, Texas finds itself on Upset Alert.
The possible analysis on this tournament could be never-ending, but a guarantee is this: 2011's March Madness will be a fun ride. If there is to be a storybook ending like the one Butler came just a bounce away from only a year ago, this is the year. So fill out your bracket and try to win that $500 from your business pool, but the likely winner this year is the secretary picking teams to advance based on their mascots.
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