SELECTION SUNDAY

Sometime this week I will give a full synopsis of the bracket, the regions, and etc. but for now I'm way too excited to be able to do that logically and thoughtfully. Few notes though -

- North Carolina being the number one overall seed and not having to leave their home state is a huge advantage, and it's not like any of the teams in their bracket cause any big time match-up problems. Louisville's front line could cause a lot of problems, but as of right now I don't see them losing. But as we all know, picks change minute-to-minute.

- The Big Ten got abused. Wisconsin was a debatable two seed who got matched up with the best 6 and best 11 seed (in my opinion) in the tournament. Indiana got hit hard by how they responded to Dakich and how they finished out the year - losing to Penn State and Minnesota and struggling heavily with Northwestern. Their overall profile was never a thing of beauty, but an 8 seed is a little low. Michigan State was fairly seeded. I always saw Purdue as a 5 seed over a team like Notre Dame, but I think their non-conference schedule and a loss to Wofford hurt them in the end unfortunately (even though we know all that means nothing in the end).

- Watch out for USC in the Midwest region. Don't let Michael Beasley fool you, Kansas State isn't going anywhere, and they match up favorably with Wisconsin. They play a similar style but with much better players and have played with and beaten very, very good teams all year. Mayo, Jefferson, and Gibson are a scary match-up for any team.

- I don't necessarily love Memphis like I did in the beginning of the year due to how terrible they are from the line, but who's going to beat them in that region? The contender I see the most likely would be Pittsburgh, who would be very physical on Memphis and frustrate them heavily. Also, never doubt a Ben Howland disciple in the tournament - Jamie Dixon is a very good coach.

- I love Kentucky's first round game with Marquette. Not only are they match up with a team that is perimeter oriented, but just like the Wildcats, they have little low post presence. I think they will frustrate James and McNeal enough to get by them with their defensive pressure and scrappiness. And did I mention that Gillispie is 10 times the coach that Crean is? There's a reason Marquette hasn't won an NCAA game since Dwyane Wade.

- I like UCLA to win it all; they have everything. A star power forward, a stud point guard, and skill and athleticism at every position. Their defense is superb as always under Howland, and they are highly efficient on the offensive end. They have so many weapons on both sides of the floor that's they're going to be a very, very tough out. Never doubt a Ben Howland team come tournament time, and now that he has a true low post threat compared to years past, I think Love is the key.

6:22 - Jay Bilas says the RPI sucks. Jay Bilas then follows up by saying teams like Ole Miss are more deserving than Kentucky because of their RPI. Jay Bilas then follows that by saying that Ole Miss is more deserving than Kentucky because we were rewarded too heavily for how we finished. Jay Bilas doesn't realize that we had 5 more wins in conference then Ole Miss. End of discussion. Jay Bilas is awful.

5:43 - We made it. Marquette is our match-up. After all the bad talk of Dominic James on here, Kentucky better follow up.

4:44 - Selection Show begins in 16 minutes. I'm nervous, as are thousands and thousands across the country.

4:32 - Georgia about to pull it out. If I was rational right now with my thoughts I would be extremely excited for this Georgia team - it's truly unbelievable what they're about to accomplish. They're about to match their total of SEC wins in the regular season in 4 days. 4 days.

4:17 - HERE WE GO RAZORBACKS!

4:13 - Kansas pulls it out over Texas in an incredibly high paced game, sealing up their 1 seed...great effort by Illinois but it wasn't enough in the end, they'll tear up the CBI.

4:03 - This Georgia game just blows my mind. I truly cannot believe what I am witnessing. If this knocks Kentucky out of the tournament I will never forgive that Swansey dude.

3:51 - Arkansas attempting a comeback...fatigue will certainly kill Georgia down the stretch. Sorry Georgia, you're a great story, but you need to go down.

3:44 - John Pelphrey, please win this game for your alma-mater. Please.

3:29 - I still don't understand how a guy as small as Abrams and as great of a shooter as he is, gets as open as he does. When he gets an open look, it's good.

3:20 - It's gotten to the point where these teams are so afraid of losing to Georgia that they forget to play. In all four games this weekend they've had double digit leads early and no team has come back to win it. I mean come on this team is now on their 3rd game in 28 hours. They're bound to run out eventually, but Arkansas clearly doesn't know how to take advantage of that. They've never been the smartest team.

3:13 - I've yet to find a better team than Wisconsin at hitting back-breaking, momentum killing shots. They hit big shot after big shot every game when they need it.

2:57 - 17 three's combined in the first half for Kansas/Texas, 17/26 overall. What an exciting half, both teams are just not missing.

And Georgia, I really, really dislike you right now. Up 24-9 on Arkansas early - this team is bound to run out of gas right? Right?

2:51 - Georgia leads 15-5 early...if this team pulls this off, it'll be one of the most impressive four days runs I can remember in some time, matching their entire regular season SEC win total in 4 days.

2:47 - Kansas so far - 11 FG's, 11 assists. This team's passing ability, their IQ, and their talent can carry them as far as Bill Self can take them.

2:35 - Georgia/Arkansas and Illinois/Wisconsin are now underway...bubble teams are certainly rooting against Georgia and Illinois who could take two bids away from deserving teams.

2:17 - Kansas/Texas is underway. Winner of this game gets a #1 seed, much as stake here. I expect Kansas to take this one, even though Texas won the first battle with a struggling DJ Augustin (1-13 shooting).

2:09 - There's a reason people don't give Memphis a good shot at winning the title due to their free throws - Clemson has blown many opportunities due to this, shooting 63% as a team on the year (310th in the country). When it comes down to it, it's so hard to win games if you can't make those free throws, as teams can strategize around this so easily. Free throws are so important, especially when winning tournament games. If you can't make them it's too hard to put away a team when it needs to be done.

1:59 - When all these announcers say "THIS TEAM NEVER QUITS!" sure, you have a point, but how often do you see a team quit. Seriously?

1:55 - Tip: If you want to look like you try hard, just fall over all the time.

1:52 - Controversial call goes against Hansbrough, unbelievable.

1:41 - Game over. North Carolina is too talented for this Clemson team who was pretty much constantly melting down in the second half through bad decisions, giving up easy transition points, and missing layup after layup. UNC locks up the #1 seed in the East, meaning they will not leaving the state of North Carolina - talk about an advantage.

1:29 - Clemson starting to make bad decisions and their offensive sets have been non-existant for the last few minutes. Their press is pathetic too, these guys just run around and hope to get a lucky trap rather than having some set to it. Reminiscent of Tennessee's.

1:15 - Tyler Hansbrough is the only player in the country who work hard. I mean every time he goes up for a rebound or a put back, he is so focused. It amazes me. No one else ever focuses on the basket when they go up for it. Thanks Dick Vitale for pointing this out to me!

12:51 - Mike Patrick is honestly the worst. I don't really need to elaborate, but his obsession with the ACC is over-the-top, especially for North Carolina and Duke.

It amazes me that North Carolina struggles to handle the ball so consistently, given that most of their guys can control the ball fairly well. They just tend to make bad decisions frequently, which kills them and allows the opposing team to stay close, something that doesn't bode well for the tournament.

12:44 - It's finally here, the day we've all been waiting for since Midnight (well, not anymore) Madness. Can't say I could be much more excited than I am now.

Starting off the day is Clemson and UNC, and thus far you can tell this Clemson team wants it bad, after losing 2 heartbreaking games, blowing leads in both games, latter of the two losing an 11 point lead in the final 3 minutes.

North Carolina is having trouble taking care of the ball, and they seem to be unprepared for what Clemson's athletes have brought at them so far. I'm telling you, this Clemson team is scary, and truly should have been better than they were this year given the talent they possess.