10 Questions to the Editor - Bracket Style

Since Pay is our resident bracket expert, I decided to speak with a friends, a few comments from Fannation, and see if we can't get him to get to the bottom of a couple of pressing questions.

10 to be exact.

Better yet, we're surprising him with them.
Lucky him, right?

Call Me Crazy #1: Is Hasheem Thabeet - despite the dominance of Blake Griffin and sound steadiness of Tyler Hansbrough - the new frontrunner for the Naismith?
Credit: CNNSI.com

ACC Country
1) With FSU enjoying plenty of recent success, who has a tougher road to an at-large birth in the crowded ACC: Virginia Tech or Boston College?
2) Is Maryland only a miracle-run in the ACC Tourney away from returning to the Big Dance?

Big East Talk
3) Cincinnati appears to be on the upswing while Georgetown remains stuck in the abyss after a tough loss at the Carrier Dome. Meanwhile, Notre Dame shakes off 7-straight losses - many of them ugly ones - to destroy Louisville. Last night, West Virginia pounds Villanova and reminds us about their dangerous talent. Assuming UCONN, Pitt, Marquette, Louisville, Villanova, and (maybe) even the Cuse are locks for March Madness...what happens to the "rest of the field", including the aformentioneds (Georgetown, Cincinnati, Notre Dame, West Virginia) as well as Providence.

CAA Speak
4) Do you think a darkhorse can emerge come CAA Tournament time, or do you believe VCU/Mason are the odds on favorites - even with a talented Northeastern team tied atop the standings - to cut down the nets in Richmond?

Big Ten Bias
5) Will Penn State right the ship, or are they looking more and more like an early bloomer who will fade well before Selection Sunday?

Missouri Valley Time
6) With an impressive showing Bracketbuster weekend (more below), can Northern Iowa and Creighton secure bids, assuming one of them wins the conference championship over the other?

Pac-10 Pontification
7) I can't figure out this conference one bit. Can we get a sentence or two on the postseason "likelihoods" for Arizona, USC, and Cal?

WCC
8) What's the best case (realistic) scenario for St. Mary's - sans Patty Mills - right now? If he can return before tournament time, how much can the Selection Committee take into account his injury and their play before it? Is that fair to do so?

Free-for-All
9) Who is this year's San Diego (winning their conference tournament unexpectedly and then making noise opening weekend of the tournament)? Maybe Portland/Nevada/Niagara/Belmont? Okay, probably not Belmost.

Bracketbusting
10) What are your favorite Bracketbuster matchups? Who has the most to gain from the weekend's matchups? Who has the most to lose? Individual team or conferences may apply.

Call Me Crazy #2: Is it possible that Ty Lawson - not Psycho T - is the most pivotal Tar Heel for Roy's Boys winning a 2nd national championship?



Good night and good luck, good sir.

The Bubble: 7 Minutes in Heaven or …

As we welcome the entrance of the “mid-major” conference tournaments and the final weekend of play for the “big timers” [Duke/UNC anyone?], there are more than enough teams clinging to desperate hopes of a bid on Selection Sunday .

Some have seen their entire conference struggle down the stretch (that’s you, A-10), others have watched promising seasons wash away (Syracuse), while others have seen the highest of the high and lowest of the low (Texas Tech beats Texas and loses to Oklahoma & Kansas by over 100 points combined in the span of a week).

Nevertheless, there are plenty of schools out there – from those aforementioned “power conferences” – which need as many as 3 or 4 more wins to secure a selection.

While it remains to be seen if teams like Syracuse, Villanova, Texas Tech and St. Joe’s have put themselves in a position to only secure a bid via the automatic circuit (i.e. winning their conference tournament), at least, we have drama.

Along with that drama are the anticipated performances of star players. For, as you will soon see, X-factors on the bubble are not your key swingman off the bench or even your third option.

It’s the #1 guy, stud or dud, who might have to pull a Gerry McNamara and will their team into the NCAA Tournament.

Maryland – Grievis Vasquez

Capable of a triple-double most nights...with turnovers likely the third statistic.
Credit: Yahoo! Sports

Remaining Game(s): March 9 - @ Virginia
Comment: Vasquez has the unique ability to keep both teams on the floor in the game (thanks Kevin Sheehan of Redskins Radio for that gem). The Terps can ill afford a letdown on the road in Charlottesville, as they don’t have the playmaking ability required to make a deep ACC Tourney run.

Syracuse – Donte Greene

Three straight seasons on the bubble has fans grimacing more than Boeheim.
Credit: Yahoo! Sports

Remaining Game(s): March 5 - @ Seton Hall, March 9 – Marquette
Comment: Sadly, it took Greene nearly 30 games into his freshman year in upstate New York to abandon the idea of chucking up sixteen 3-balls a game. Unfortunately, Cuse’s 6-man rotation has reeked [sic] havoc on their play in conference. Likely needing to sweep this week and make as many as 2 or 3 major statements in New York in two weekends, it may be two years in a row Syracuse is toiling with NCAA tournament talent in the NIT.

Ohio State – Jamar Butler

From star to role player to star again. The circle of college basketball life.
Credit: Yahoo! Sports

Remaining Game(s): March 9 – Michigan State
Comment: Pay and I made sure to target in our talking points that Ohio State was afforded a tremendous opportunity drawing ranked-Purdue and Michigan State in the final week of the regular season. Holding serve at home against Purdue Tuesday night went a long way in affording the Buckeyes a crucial banner win. Pulling the upset at home on Saturday versus the Izzos would almost assuredly secure them a tournament bid. Jamar Butler’s 25 against Purdue will need to be repeated, at least, for the Spartans to fall on Saturday.

St. Joseph’s – Pat Calathes

You can't spell A-10 without hustle. Oh wait, maybe you can.
Credit: CollegePublisher.com

Remaining Game(s): March 6 – Xavier, March 8 – @Dayton
Comment: Their 1-point loss to Temple on Sunday night hurt the entire conference potentially. Even worse, the Hawks may wind up on the wrong side of every conceivable bracket projection after losing two games this week they’re more than likely not favored to win. In fact, their showdown at Dayton will almost assuredly knock one of at-large bid contention. That is, unless the Hawks can strike down the top-10 Musketeers and potentially expose their #2 or #3 seed potential.

Kentucky – Joe Crawford

Now that he's hurt (Patterson), we can mention the "other" Kentucky Wildcats.
Credit: Yahoo! Sports

Remaining Games: March 5 - @South Carolina, March 9 – Florida
Comment: You’ll notice more than a little symmetry with the next two teams. Kentucky lost Patrick Patterson for the season and still played Tennessee to a close 3-point game in Knoxville. Suddenly, that 39-point loss to Vanderbilt back before Valentine’s Day seems a distant memory (or does it?). Much like Maryland and their UVA game, Kentucky can’t afford to fall into the trap-door game at South Carolina tonight. As for Sunday’s matchup with Florida, it’s going to be for more than just positioning in the SEC Tournament. Already losers in OT over a month ago in Gainesville, the Wildcats may not be on the smiling side of the bubble if they drop two of their next three (or worse).

Florida – Marreese Speights & Nick Calathes

So wait, you're telling me that we don't get an automatic bid despite being two-time defending champs?
Credit: TheHype.com

Remaining Games: March 5 – Tennessee, March 9 - @Kentucky
Comment: Almost a mirror image of Ohio State (ironically last year’s national title game opponents), the Gators have plenty of upcoming opportunities this week to impose their will on the Selection Committee. The two-time defending champs have only faced four ranked opponents this season, yet face a potential #1 seed tonight and another bubble team from the SEC East on Sunday. Two losses and even an upset in the SEC Tournament might not be enough for Billy Donovan’s crew.

Dayton – Brian Roberts

Okay, not THAT Brian Roberts. But come on! Catch the fever of O's Baseball!!!
Credit: Journals.AOL.com

Remaining Game(s): March 5 - @ St. Bonaventure, March 8 – St. Joseph’s
Comment: 14-1 seems so long ago. In fact, too long ago (Come back, Chris Wright). One of the ultimate arguments behind closed doors must focus on the Flyers (who at 6-8 in conference right now) own victories @ Louisville and over Pittsburgh (then ranked #6). However, they also have damaging in-conference losses and may end up losing a critical season finale to St. Joe’s. Suppose this team is out by the A-10 semi-finals … good luck keeping them in or out in under three hours of deliberation.

…also considering attention…
Oklahoma State – Byron Eaton
Virginia Tech – A.D. Vassallo
Southern Illinois – Randal Falker
Texas Tech – Martin Zeno
Villanova – Scottie Reynolds

Who is MISSING? It’s not Waldo. However, we’d like to hear YOUR teams and YOUR impact x-factor PLAYERS that will make our jobs as bracket projectionists easier…or much more difficult.

Until next time…

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Responses to Selection Sunday
by Chris Clement and Paymon Hashemi

Bracket Projection Results

TEAMS SELECTED: 63/65 (32/34 at-large)
PREDICTED WITHIN ONE LINE: 49/65
EXACT SEEDS PREDICTED: 27/65

At this time last year, I was not a member of the blogosphere, but I did predict 62 of 65 teams correctly. After last year’s committee focused on conference allocation, I still went with my better judgment rather than unconventional idiocy. I’ll take solace in picking Syracuse and Drexel over the two Big Ten strugglers, Purdue and Illinois.

****
Big Ten love?

When the committee says that it doesn’t look at last year’s results, it’s true when it comes to the Big Ten. If you recall, the Big Ten didn’t even make it out of the first weekend last year. It would be ignorant to suggest that a conference representative won’t make it out of the first weekend, but frankly, the Big Ten was not that good this season. Ohio State and Wisconsin were stellar and the rest were either mediocre of just plain bad.

Sure, Illinois had 11 conference wins, but six were against the bottom three teams (Minnesota, Northwestern, Penn St.). Purdue had 10 conference wins, half of which were against the same bottom three. They even lost a game against Minnesota. How many times did either team defeat Ohio State and Wisconsin? Squadoosh. How many RPI top 25 teams did either team defeat? Squadoosh.

As for Indiana, how on earth do they get a 7 seed? They were 5-8 against the RPI top 50, 5-10 on road and neutral courts, stunk up the court ever since they defeated Wisconsin at home. After that signature win, Indiana went 1-5 against teams not named Minnesota, Northwestern, and Penn St. That’s unacceptable, and the Hoosiers were better suited for the 10/11 lines rather than the 7 line.

****
Egregious Seeding Errors

To be honest, this is where the tournament committee really messed up with this bracket. Neither of us work for CBS, ESPN, or any of the networks who might feel they need to show some allegiance towards the selectors. Instead, we're calling them out, specifically the vague Gary Walters (who interviewed terribly on ESPN), for a variety of reasons. Point number of my complaints with this bracket: egregious seeds. We realize they have to protect certain regions and certain potential matchups, but some of the seedings had no excuse. We’ve already pointed out Indiana’s undeserved 7-seed. Let’s analyze four others that stood out as boneheaded mistakes mere seconds after I heard them.

1) Virginia as a 4-seed

This is a talented team, especially the backcourt duo, that clearly got boosted up 2 or 3 seeds. Sure, they took out Virginia Tech and won a share of the regular-season ACC title. But look at these losses down the stretch (@Miami, @Wake Forest, and in the ACC tournament NC State). Away from John Paul Jones, the 'Hoos were just 3-9. Did we stutter? There is no way this team is deserving of the four-seed. Unfortunately, this will become a recurring theme as we study some of the mistakes below.

2) Butler (AKA Miss November) as a 5-seed

Obviously, this seed was a reward for the Preseason NIT, which was almost 6 months ago. They shared the Horizon regular-season title with Wright State and were beaten again in the conference tournament finale by five to the Raiders. Despite being a fun team to watch and beloved by a lot of the media, Butler should be playing in an 8/9 game.

3) UNLV as a 7-seed

Yes, the Mountain West Conference has struggled in the Big Dance since its formation (5-21). However, the Runnin’ Rebels had an impressive RPI (10^th) and won 11 of their last 13 (with losses against San Diego St. and BYU mixed in-between). Look no further than the two teams listed above to see why the Rebels were shafted with the tough 7-seed.

4) Purdue as a 9-seed

What a surprise! Another Big Ten team getting far too much pub for “good losses”. Their RPI (45) is far from attractive as a 9-seed. If you want to talk about good wins out of conference (Virginia and who else?), then you better discuss the bad ones in-and-out (@Indiana State, @Minnesota, @Michigan). Outside of inconsistent-at-best Big Ten play, I really wonder why Purdue was rewarded over VCU, Creighton, Old Dominion, and some other conference champion teams as well as those already being mentioned as being left out.

****
An Overall Poor Job By The Committee

Again, I'm not here to pretend I could do better, but I know people (no, not Joe Lunardi) who actually watched the games and utilized more useful indicators in determining the best 34 at-large teams. With this blog as my podium, I’m also more than in the right to complain and ask the essential question “why?”

Why did Arkansas, according to the tournament committee, merit the final at-large birth [over the likes of Syracuse and Drexel] before the result to the Florida game occurred?

Why did Old Dominion deserve to be in and Drexel be out from the CAA? Why was the CAA given less respect than the A-10 and Horizon League?

Why was Syracuse snubbed from the field entirely? Why did Illinois and Purdue get in with less quality wins, similar futility against the RPI top 50, and weaker road and neutral court production?

Why were only 6 at-large births given to mid-majors after only 8 last year?

Why doesn’t the tournament committee watch the Sunday games in detail?

Was Akron, with that shot-clock discrepancy, completely forgotten with just cause for an at-large bid?

How much will the tournament miss guys like Al Thornton, Cartier Martin, Demetrius Nichols, Frank Elegar, and Mario Boggans (didn’t deserve to be, but an amazing talent)?

****
Clement’s Overall Thoughts

I’m not gonna lie, I’m heartbroken that Syracuse didn’t get in. Even more so with Drexel. With allegiances to my favorite team (the Orange) and my favorite conference (the CAA), I know I’m biased. However, I also believe that the Orange (3 wins against the top 25, 10 wins in conference, & .500 record on the road in conference) had enough quality wins to get in (Georgetown by 14, @Marquette handily, Villanova handily, @Providence on senior night), but I also realize our out-of-conference schedule was lacking as well as having losses to @St. John’s, @UCONN, and Drexel. We did lose games to Oklahoma St. and Wichita St., which turned out to be bad losses in retrospect despite both teams playing very well at the time. [Countless teams hung their seeds and selections on similar early victories and tough in-conference defeats.]

The real travesty (wow, I’m agreeing with Dick Vitale) had to be Drexel who had strong wins (wins @Syracuse, @Villanova, and @Creighton in a BracketBusters game) that outweighed the bad losses (@Penn, @Rider, @William & Mary). Yet, they were criticized for conference play – a double standard when thinking of Illinois, Purdue, Stanford, and especially Arkansas.

Staying with the talking heads, Jay Bilas made a major mistake during Bracketology tonight. Losses to VCU and ODU (even a sweep) are not bad losses for Drexel, since both teams are in and deserved to be in the tournament. An ever bigger error was from Doug Gottlieb, who is ten times better on radio than on TV. He claimed Air Force was snubbed. All they had to do was win one of their last four games and they folded.

In the end, I’ll ride my VCU Rams as long as they can go and enjoy the tournament as much as I can. Even with the obvious insight that ‘Cuse & Drexel would’ve struggled in tough first-round matchups, I still hate the fact I’ll spend the majority of this tournament rooting against people rather than rooting for them.

Message to Coach Boeheim: Please schedule tougher matchups out of conference earlier outside of New York.

Message to Bruiser Flint: You did everything you could and still got screwed. Screwed.

NCAA Tournament Projections – Version 9.0
SELECTION SUNDAY SPECIAL

The field is set. More to come after the brackets are released.

For your information, the teams in bold represent automatic bids and the parentheses surrounding the regions indicate the overall seed of the top team in that region. The automatic bids are in bold italics. As always, if you have any comments or questions, drop a line in the comment box or e-mail me at phashemi@gmail.com.

Last Four In: Indiana, Drexel, Arkansas, Stanford
Last Four Out: Missouri St., Florida St., Purdue, Kansas St.
Next Four Out: Illinois, Air Force, Utah St., Appalachian St.

Seedings
1: Ohio State, Florida, UNC, Kansas
2: UCLA, Wisconsin, Georgetown, Memphis
3: Oregon, Texas A&M, Pittsburgh, Southern Illinois
4: Washington St., Maryland, UNLV, Texas
5: Louisville, Tennessee, Notre Dame, Nevada
6: Virginia Tech, USC, Marquette, BYU
7: Arizona, Creighton, Duke, Villanova
8: Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Virginia, Boston College
9: Winthrop, Michigan St., Georgia Tech, Butler
10: Old Dominion, Texas Tech, Xavier, Syracuse
11: VCU, Indiana, Gonzaga, Drexel
12: Arkansas, Davidson, Stanford, New Mexico St.
13: George Washington, Holy Cross, Wright St., Miami-Ohio
14: Oral Roberts, Albany, Pennsylvania, Long Beach St.
15: Texas A&M – Corpus Christi, Belmont, Eastern Kentucky, Niagara
16: North Texas, Weber St., Central Connecticut St., Florida A&M (Play-in), Jackson St. (Play-in)

Summary
ACC: 7
Big East: 7
PAC-10: 6
SEC: 5
Big Ten: 4
Big 12: 4
Colonial: 3
A-10: 2
Horizon: 2
Missouri Valley: 2
Mountain West: 2
WAC: 2

Midwest v. South; East v. West (note: tournament grid is subject to a number of seed changes due to various conflicts)

Seed	East	South	Midwest	West
1	North Carolina	Florida	Ohio St.	Kansas
2	Wisconsin	Georgetown	Memphis	UCLA
3	Texas A&M	Oregon	Pittsburgh	Southern Illinois
4	Washington St.	Texas	Maryland	UNLV
5	Louisville	Nevada	Tennessee	Notre Dame
6	BYU	Virginia Tech	USC	Marquette
7	Arizona	Creighton	Duke	Vanderbilt
8	Michigan St.	Villanova	Winthrop	Kentucky
9	Butler	Virginia	Old Dominion	Boston College
10	Georgia Tech	VCU	Texas Tech	Xavier
11	Syracuse	Indiana	Gonzaga	Drexel
12	Arkansas	Davidson	Stanford	New Mexico St.
13	Holy Cross	George Washington	Wright St.	Miami-Ohio
14	Oral Roberts	Long Beach St.	Albany	Pennsylvania
15	Niagara	Belmont	Texas A&M – Corpus Christi	Eastern Kentucky
16	Central Connecticut St.	Jackson St./Florida A&M	North Texas	Weber St.

Committee Tidbit Slip

Gary Walters, chairperson of the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee, said that one or two teams that may not have been in the field could get into the tournament today. The statement was in response to a question asking if the tournament field was set.

The one is obviously NC State. The "or two" is Arkansas, meaning that they're not viewed as highly as yours truly. At the end of the day, the Razorbacks may not be in my field, but I'm convinced that they have a stronger resume than both Big Ten bubble teams. Nonetheless, the jury is out.

Livin’ on a Prayer

Saturday gave us plenty to talk about.
Bubble teams saw too much go wrong and very little go right.

Memphis marched closer towards a 2-seed by dispatching Houston. Vermont choked away a golden opportunity vs. Albany (horrid coaching). UNC whipped up BC. (Did Dudley intentionally hit Hansbrough?) Oden and OSU took care of Purdue, as expected. Kansas held on vs. pesky Kansas State. Va Tech slipped up AGAIN, this time vs. NC State. The state of Mississippi took a step back off of the bubble with Ole Miss losing to Florida handily and Arkansas outgunning and outrunning Miss State. Oklahoma State’s season ended vs. Kevin Durant and Texas. Illinois became the penultimate big-name bubble team with a bad loss to Wisconsin. GW stamped a ticket from the A-10. Miami (OH) got the luckiest shot of the day to advance to the dance. UNLV had just enough against BYU and is hot entering March Madness. Hang Time alum Reggie Theus led New Mexico St. to the dance out of the WCC. Georgetown pummeled Pitt and an overwhelmed Aaron Gray to capture the Big East title. Florida A&M provided memorable late-second drama, Jackson State is back dancing again, and Long Beach State took home a late-night ticket. Most surprising to me though had to be Oregon annihilating USC from start to finish.

Deep breaths. Quite a day!

Sweating it out most heavily has to be the likes of: Drexel (CAA), ODU (CAA), Stanford (Pac-10), West Virginia (Big East), Air Force (MWC), Alabama (SEC), Appalachian State (SoCon), Kansas State (Big 12), Purdue (Big 10), Oklahoma State (Big 12), Missouri State (MVC) Texas Tech (Big 12), Illinois (Big Ten), Xavier (A-10), and Florida State (ACC). [I know I forgot a team or two…]

Perhaps Arkansas (supported by some and forgotten by others) is the only true bubble-team still playing tomorrow. Sorry Michigan fans…you’ve been TKO’d ever since Friday afternoon. Although you had to know that.

Problem is: Sunday may have even more in store for the true bubble teams. [Arkansas, Stanford, Air Force, Illinois, Drexel, ODU, Purdue, Missouri State, Florida State, and Xavier…in my humble opinion)

Here’s the lineup…

SEC Championship Game: 1:00 pm in Atlanta, Georgia
Florida Gators vs. Arkansas Razorbacks
Pick: Gators by double-digits.

ACC Championship Game: 1:00 pm in Tampa, Florida
North Carolina Tar Heels vs. North Carolina State Wolfpack
Pick: Tar Heels pull away late.

Big Twelve Championship Game: 3:00 pm in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Kansas Jayhawks vs. Texas Longhorns
Pick: Durant and co. fall short at the buzzer vs. Rock, Chalk, Jayhawk.

Big Ten Championship Game: 3:30 pm in Chicago, Illinois
Ohio State Buckeyes vs. Wisconsin Badgers
Pick: Oden and Conley Jr. pace the Buckeyes past Tucker in another ugly matchup.

There’s also one minor bid up for grabs, from the 1-bid conference known as the Southland Conference, in which Texas A&M C.C. faces one of last year’s tourney darlings Northwestern State.

So while the committee remains hard at work, much of the country will be tuned into a spectacular quartet of games. Question is, will they be watching them or just hearing updated scores here or there?

Quick Thoughts
-Arkansas isn’t an at-large yet, but you have to believe even a close showing here might be just enough to sneak them in due to “how well they’re playing RIGHT now”.
-Florida is playing for a 1-seed in the South in my opinion. This is no time to waste this opportunity.
-North Carolina could win and still not earn a 1-seed. However, I see them winning AND acquiring one of the four 1-seeds.
-NC State isn’t in…but they’ve beaten Carolina before this season (albeit in Raleigh). Anything can happen with a jacket like Sidney (not Suge Knight) Lowe's in the St. Pete Time's Forum.
-Kansas may be the hottest team in the country, yet still seems incredibly venerable at times to me. It’ll be interesting to see if Durant can stay 100% the entire game.
-Texas will be one of the sexier picks to make a deep run, perhaps even as champs, within numerous brackets. If they win this game, most media pundits will put them in their Final Four.
-Ohio State will secure the overall #1-seed, and continue a massive winning-streak, if they can pull a win here.
-Wisconsin needs a win to become a #1, potentially replacing Ohio State (especially if the committee wants to keep UCLA as the #1 out West and push Wisconsin past the Buckeyes in the Midwest or South). Kammron Taylor must be related to Chris Rock, right?

Drama galore. It should be great.
Obviously EVERYONE on the bubble is rooting for the Tar Heels to dismantle the Wolfpack EARLY and for Arkansas to be toppled by the Gators in easy fashion. Of course, it never seems to happen that way.

Final Thought: If the CAA ends up being a one-bid conference…the entire committee should be fired instantaneously. Bias or not…it’s true to me.

See you at 6pm…

Ramblings from a Rambler...

Sure, I'm Mr. NFL to most in the blogsphere...but it isn't that way once March Madness hits.

While my allegiance is almost always with the Orange up in Syracuse...this year has been downright disastrous when it's mattered the most. Tourney hopes are pretty weak at this point. Without an amazing winning streak to end the season (@Providence, Georgetown, and @ Villanova)...there's little to no chance we're in.

And then of course there's my VCU Rams. I'm a current graduate student there, already with an undergrad degree wrapped up, and I have been fiercely loyal to the team, even Derrick Reid, since I've been here. We saw a CAA Title a little over 3 years ago and man did it feel good to be there. Back when guys like BA Walker and Jesse Pellot-Rosa were freshman. Fast forward to 2007 and the two seniors have been a little flat as of late (especially losing at Hofstra, at ODU, and a pathetic drubbing from Bradley just last night in this year's Bracketbuster).

The conference tournament is merely a week away, of game-action (just under two weeks on the calendar), with a putrid schedule remaining for the league's top teams. Shame on the CAA (yes, SHAME) for this horrific lineup. Hofstra, Mason, ODU, Drexel, and VCU (yes, the big guns of the conference) won't see each other post-Bracketbuster.

Why did this happen? Probably so the "big-guns" would have a week of softies in order to be better prepared for showdowns in the conference tourney. Point is: I don't like it. I don't expect any upsets whatsoever this week...foolish or not.

So where would that leave us? [Assuming everyone wins out with their remaining two in-conference matchups]

#1. VCU [16-2] #2. ODU [15-3] #3. Hofstra [14-4] #4. Drexel [13-5]

That is your elite four of the CAA. Impressive. All worthy of a bid, in my opinion, in the NCAA Tourney. Problem is, they aren't all worthy enough to take away spots from the POWER conference squads who have a quality win or two...yet were as inconsistent as they could've possibly been with their talent (ironic, Syracuse fits that bill quite well).

Don't worry, this isn't a true Clement-tirade. I don't have the patience. I just feel frustrated when a 16-13 team gets in over someone who is 25-5. It happens. Of course, we all realize that BCS-team might be more talented and more built to compete in its major conference. But we don't take into consideration how many chances it got to beat great teams. Mid-majors get one or two major matchups a year. Usually on the road and VERY early on in the season. Good luck with that. Check in with a team like Alabama, Syracuse, Duke, Gonzaga (no longer a real mid-major), South Carolina, Oklahoma, or Michigan...and they got half-a-dozen or more marquee matchups. I get even more upset when I see two mid-level Big Ten schools get a juicy 12pm Saturday tip on ESPN while a mid-major showdown sees ESPN on one Bracketbusting Sunday.

It's just politics with the haves and have-nots. All I will say to each of the four major-contenders to the CAA tournament is this: Show up in Richmond for three days, win the conference tourney, and avoid the agony of being on the bubble.

-VCU lacks a real quality win outside of the CAA and its past 10 might not look to attractive...especially losing at home to a superior Bradley squad (5th in the MVC).
-ODU could be on-fire, but might fall early in the tourney if the refs limit their physicality.
-Hofstra has some BAD losses and may be seen as too live-or-die with their backcourt.
-Drexel seems to have the weakest resume, despite a nice win v. Creighton, in a conference that will only get 2-bids in a best-case scenario.

All of these teams, for ANY sort of hope at an at-large, must lose a nail biter in the conference tournament to have a prayer. It makes for what could be an amazing final two days in Richmond during the CAA Tournament. Hope you have ESPN 8 to be able to see any of them.

Because honestly, even with George Mason of last year (which still doesn't get nearly enough credit for what it did)...neither of the three other teams (or four if Mason makes a similar miracle run) has much of a realistic shot of getting love on Selection Sunday.