3/13/07

Well, it's that time of year once again. The NCAA basketball tournament bracket came out on Sunday, and there are brackets being filled up all over the country in anticipation of tip-off.

The first official game of the tournament is tonight at 7:30, when Niagara plays Florida A&M. There is some controversy over this game, specifically Niagara's participation in it. Many think that Niagara had too good of a season to be placed in the play-in game, and that the only reason FAMU isn't playing Jackson State is because the NCAA doesn't want the play-in game between the representatives of the two conferences that are comprised of HBCs. Honestly, I think Niagara should view this game as an opportunity - no 16 seed has ever beaten a 1 seed in the NCAAs so this is really an opportunity for them to get a win when they otherwise would not have a realistic one. But I can understand the other point of view.

But the tournament starts in earnest Thursday at noon. My beloved Terps are actually actually playing in the first game of the First Round (the play-in game is officially known as the "Opening Round", but the First Round keeps its name, even though it comes after the play-in) against Davidson at 12:20, but I'll only be able to see a few minutes of that game up here, as Boston College unfortunately tips off just 5 minutes later.

Much of the talk so far has, as it always does in the immediate aftermath of the brackets being released, centered around the "snubs" - the teams some people feel should have gotten in, but did not. To me, the biggest snub was Florida State, who finished 7-9 in ACC play but got a win in the Conference Tourney and were playing without their best player for a long stretch of the conference season. Others were upset about Drexel, a midmajor with an outstanding non-conference profile but a lowly fourth place finish in conference. The snubs don't mean very much to me. I don't think any of those teams was going to make too much noise in the NCAAs, anyway. Even the last two seasons, when Maryland was among the last teams out, I wasn't too sad to see them not make it.

For the remainder of the tournament, I'm going to switch the weekend sports blog post with the politics blog post, meaning I'l be posting on this blog on Saturday mornings and the politics blog on Fridays, because that better fits the schedule of the tournament, which plays two rounds every weekend, one on Thursdays and Fridays, and another on Saturdays and Sundays, and this way I'll be able to post in between the rounds.

In the Opening and First Rounds, there are 33 games. That's too many to preview here, but I will talk about a handful which I find most interesting.

Thursday, 12:20 - Davidson (13, 29-4) vs. Maryland (4, 24-8) - The opening match-up for my Terps is an intriguing one. They should come out ready to wreak some havoc after their embarassing loss to Miami in the ACC's First Round. But Davidson isn't the type of team to come out and roll over. Historically, the Terrapins have had some trouble with their first-round opponents, and Davidson is one of those upper-tier mid-major programs that give big conference schools looking to roll over their first round opposition trouble. Unfortunately, I'll be stuck watching a crappy Boston College team play an even crappier Texas Tech team while this game is going on.

2:40 - Old Dominion (12, 24-8) vs. Butler (5, 27-6) - Every year for a while at least one 5 seed has gone down in the first round, and if that trend continues, Butler looks like the favorite to get knocked off. They are one of those teams like Gonzaga used to be, without a household name but with the ability to come up big int he underdog role. Recently, the Zags have had a lot of trouble when they have been given a higher seed and made the favorites. Will Butler follow suit?

3:00 - Pennsylvania (14, 22-8) vs. Texas A&M (3, 25-6) - The Aggies are many people's darkhorse Final Four pick, but the Ivy League has produced its fair share of First Round upsets over the years. You know one thing, Penn may be out manned, but they will play smart.

5:00 - George Washington (11, 23-8) vs. Vanderbilt (6, 20-11) - Vandy made big waves beating Florida in the waning days of the regular season. GW is a powerhouse in a strong mid-major conference. This could be a very intriguing match-up. I'm intrigued.

7:10 - Virginia Commonwealth (11, 27-6) vs. Duke (6, 22-10) - VCU should give the Blue Devils, who struggled down the stretch, a run for their money. But Coach K is still Coach K, and the Devils won't go down without a fight.

9:30 - Xavier (9, 24-8) vs. Brigham Young (8, 25-8) - When people talk abot teams that were snubbed, they have to pick a corresponding team that made it that they say their team should replace. Xavier has been a popular whipping boy for this purpose, although not as popular as Arkansas or Illinois. I think that teams tend to play very well after they have been bashed all week. We'll see how Xavier reacts.

9:45 - Gonzaga (10, 23-10) vs. Indiana (7, 20-10) - Both of these schools have had down seasons (well, for them), but these are still two of the bigger names in college hoops, and when you get a match-up like this in the first round, you tend to take notice.

Friday, 12:25 - Georgia Tech (10, 20-11) vs. UNLV (7, 28-6) - This will be an interesting measure of the strength of the ACC. Tech is the lowest seeded ACC team, and they are going against a Running Rebels team that has had a pretty impressive season. If they can beat them, then it could be a big year for the Atlantic Coast Conference in this tournament.

2:35 - Winthrop (11, 28-4) vs. Notre Dame (6, 24-7) - The Irish got a tough draw here. The Big East's 2nd best team is going to have to go against a Winthrop team that put together a very impressive season. This should be very competitive.

Well, that's really it. I'll be back Saturday morning with a recap of round one and a preview of round 2.