The Ides of March

February is finally over and as we move into March we’re starting to see warmer weather, longer days, and March Madness! Just incase you forgot, Selection Sunday is next weekend. 31 teams gain automatic entry for winning their conference, and the other 37 slots rely on the selection committee for an “at-large” bid. Each team’s resumé will be reviewed and awarded a seed number 1-16, and will be placed in 1 of the 4 regions. Now it’s still a little early to decide who the number 1 seeds will be before the conference tournaments are over, but I’ll give it a shot.

There’s a plethora of number 1 seed candidates this year involving Florida, Georgetown, Indiana, Louisville, Michigan, Miami(FL), Gonzaga, Kansas, and Duke. With the Big Ten tournament involving Ohio State and Michigan State as well it, looks as though whoever wins the tournament will be crowned the Number 1 seed in one of the regions.

My picks are Duke, Kansas, Indiana, and Gonzaga. All of these teams are deserving of the number one seed including Gonzaga. Since Kansas lost last night it may hurt their chances but I'm confident they will bounce back in time for their conference tournament. Duke is playing the best basketball out of anyone right now after that beat down in Chapel Hill last night against the Tar Heels. After an introduction equivalent to the NBA All-Star game for UNC, Duke immediately took the wind out of their sails with a 14-0 run at the tip-off. They are a favorite to win the tournament at this point.

I’d like to hear what everyone else thinks about who the number 1 seeds will be. Feel free to drop in and leave a comment with your top 4 picks and who you think could win the big dance. Next time I’ll be giving updates on the tournament. 

Can't Run with the Big Dogs

The Gonzaga Bulldogs are currently ranked 2nd in both the Associated Press and USA Today polls. Maybe it's just to make the basketball world more interesting, but I don't believe they are deserving of this high of a ranking. They haven't proven themselves worthy of a top 5 ranking all season except for a field goal percentage that is 2nd in the nation. Their record has been inflated to a 28-2 record due to playing teams too weak to receive an invite to the National Invitational Tournament. The Bulldogs are 1-2 against teams in the top 20 so far which is not an impressing resume to be in the March Madness Tournament let alone a top 10 ranking. I think what they are doing is impressive but being undefeated in the West Coast Conference is not enough to justify a strong team among the rest of the country.






All I'm saying is that if I were a team in the tournament this coming March, I would be ecstatic to play the Gonzaga Bulldogs.