Monday, March 14, 2011

3/14: The Bracket Lives...

Greetings all... the bracket is out in full-force... While I won't have my definitive "bracket" up until Thursday, there's still plenty to discuss...
  • Seeding thoughts - Number 1 seeds were as expected for me... Pitt over Notre Dame is the only semi-concern I'd have but I'm fine with it... Florida as a 2 seed seems shockingly/wildly high and while I've thought they were underrated all year, the drubbing they took on Sunday resulting in a seed higher than they should've gotten had they WON on Sunday? Didn't get that one... Texas seems really low as a 4 seed when you consider they were in the #1 talks a few weeks ago and didn't really embarrass themselves down the stretch... K-State went from "out of the field" to "5-seed" in about a month... not sure how that happens... Michigan is over-seeded at the 8 line, and I'm a homer, so take that in... Georgia was on most people's "out" list, and while I'm actually okay with them getting into the field (better resume than VCU/UAB at least), the 10 seed was strongly too high... should've been a play-in game participant... and the most egregious of all was Utah State... consider that leading stat guys like KenPom/Sagarin have this team in the top 20 OVERALL, they just won their league (again), and they draw a 12-seed? They'd be a vegas favorite over most of the 5 and 6 seeds in this field...
  • "Snubs"... They are generally overdiscussed... but here are my issues... The only teams I actually think have gripes are: Harvard, St. Mary's, Missouri State, and Colorado... VCU and UAB are the only teams in the field that I have an issue with (or that I've even heard a legit argument against)... St. Mary's is the chief among them, but Colorado's 3 wins over K-State, win over Texas, etc. should've gotten them in considering how they played down the stretch, and I actually would've taken Harvard's resume over that of VCU's.... but in a year with 68 teams? Teams like Virginia Tech garner no sympathy from me here... win some games...
  • Congrats to Duke, Ohio State, Kentucky, and Richmond on their conference tourney victories...

Okay... let's go elsewhere...

  • Kevin Love's double-double streak is no more... 53 straight.... a reported thigh injury didn't help things, but he was limited to just 1 of 6 shooting and 6 points.... It is, however, incredibly fitting that his streak would fall short due to not reaching the points requirement... big-ups though.. fairly impressive run...
  • Box Score Check - Dwight Howard with a ho-hum 26 and 15 in drubbing the Nash-less Suns in Phoenix... Aaron Brooks put up 19 for Phoenix, but they were no match... Milwaukee scored 56 points last night against Boston... in the game... Earl Barron (LOL!) led the way with 10 for Milwaukee in their 30 point loss... there are no words... Indiana emerges from the dead... without Danny Granger, the Pacers put up 106 in New York and topped the Knicks... Psycho T led the way with 29 and 8...
  • Tiger Woods... alive?.... El Tigre shot a 66 on Sunday at Doral... and while he wasn't in contention, he looked good/comfortable doing so... just semi-noteworthy with Augusta around the corner...

What to watch for on Monday...

  • Spurs @ Heat - ESPN 8:00 - A test for Miami in their "newfound" good standing... they blew out Memphis and beat LA at the end of the week, so they seem to be getting right, but San Antonio's offense vexes people...
  • Magic @ Lakers - ESPN 10:30 - Be prepared for tons of Dwight-to-LA talk... yippee...

Slow day on the court... so fill out your bracket...

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