The Madness Begins

Ok so the NCAA Tournament brackets were announced on Sunday, and the tournament itself starts Tuesday night. Though that play in game is meaningless, cuz neither of those two will beat Villanova, with or without Allan Ray.

The one thing I've noticed since the brackets were announced is how many people are upset at them. There are some questionable seedings. The biggest surprise to me was Tennessee as a #2 in the Washington DC bracket. Personally I feel North Carolina (#3) and Illinois (#4) are both better teams than Tennessee.

Most people are upset about the large number of Mid Major schools in the tournament. The Missouri Valley Conference has 4 teams, the same amount as the ACC. Also schools like Cincinnati and Michigan aren't in. I agree with what most analysts say. Take Northern Iowa, or Air Force and put them in the Big East, and neither come close to .500. Neither are better teams than Cincy. I can accept it though, and the one thing that really is bothering me, is these same analysts complaining are the same guys who used to complain smaller schools didn't get enough of a chance. The Jay Bilases, and Dickie V's of the world always campaigned for conferences like the MVC in previous years, and now that these conferences are getting their due, everyone is ticked off. I guess if they didn't have something to argue over though they wouldn't be able to fill all that air time.

The truth is once the early morning games tip off on Thursday morning, none of this will matter. I'm also thrilled that CBS will be streaming all the games online during the first 2 rounds. This is one of the most exciting times of the year for sports fans, as evidenced by all the brackets you have probably filled in the last few days. Hell I'm in about 10 different pools already. Now my picks aren't the same in every one, but I do have a bracket I've filled out as my "Official NCAA Bracket" for 2006. Of course I would be delighted to share them with you.

Here they are.

• Atlanta Regional
• Oakland Regional
• Wash. DC Regional
• Minneapolis Regional
• Final Four

So before you fill out your brackets, check mine, and do exactly the opposite.

Random Thoughts

• Daniel Snyder and the Redskins are signing just about anybody that walks in the door right now. Antwaan Randle El, Adam Archuleta, Andre Carter, they traded for Brandon Lloyd. Hell I think if I walked in there tomorrow, I could get a contract if I tried hard enough.
• Edgerrin James going to Arizona for 4 years and $30 million makes Arizona an instant contender in the NFC West. With Anquan Boldin, Larry Fitzgerald, and now the Edge at the three skill positions, this team will score points. This is a great move for Arizona. They still have a ton of cap space for this season and the next few seasons, and they are moving into a new stadium. The Cardinals officially matter now, and when was the last time they could say that?
• I wanted a UConn/Villanova matchup in the Big East Championship, but Syracuse/Pitt sure didn't let me down. Gerry McNamara was on fire all week long, and now the Orange have all kinds of momentum at the right time. Actually this whole weekend was filled with thrilling Conference championship games, Duke/BC, Florida/South Carolina, Iowa/Ohio St. Plus Kansas beating up on Texas. This all bodes well for the Dance.
• Gotta love the way the United States cheated to beat Japan on Sunday. Though the fact that they're losing 6-1 to Korea as I type this isn't as lovable.
• Just in case you hadn't noticed, I've added a new feature to the site. There is a new weekly poll over there on the right side of the page. Each week there will be a new topic for you all to vote on, so head over there now and cast your vote for the 2006 NCAA champion