Sportsmeat

So there are two southern No. 1 seeds and two Midwestern No. 1 seeds, yet neither of the southern teams is in the South and neither of the Midwestern teams is in the Midwest. So begins the 2007 NCAA Tournament, otherwise known as the most fun sporting event ever. The talk today is over who got in and who got left out, but really, none of these bubble teams are going to make it to the Final Four so I’m not too freaked out about it (for the record, I would have put Syracuse and Drexel in and taken Arkansas and Illinois out, with Kansas State for Xavier right there as well). The most interesting snub is Drexel. I don’t think they were a slam dunk (pardon the pun), but you have to feel for a mid-major that goes on the road and gets wins at St. Joe’s, Syracuse and Villanova (if only they hadn’t lost to Penn, Rider and William & Mary and gotten killed by VCU and ODU).

Anyway, on to the brackets:

East
Upset Watch: First of all, since it’s hard to forecast I’m only going to make upset picks for the first two rounds. But here it goes. Oral Roberts over Washington State. You’re going to hear this one a lot over the next few days and in a lot of ways it’s unfair to Wazzu, which is a very good and deserving No. 3 seed. The problem here is that Washington St. has trouble scoring at times and Oral Roberts can score in heaps when they’re on. It’ll be interesting, at the least. Also watch: Marquette/Mich. St. over UNC.

Sleeper: USC. I know they’re a No. 5 seed, but everyone seems to view their first-round matchup with Arkansas as a draw and the talk is all about a UNC-Texas Sweet 16 matchup. The Trojans are a solid, well-coached team that didn’t reach the Pac-10 final by accident and could very well upend a young Texas squad in the second round.

My Pick: Georgetown. UNC’s youth scares me but the Tar Heels are immensely talented. Too bad their draw is so brutal. A potential gauntlet of Marquette, Texas and Georgetown is a lot to ask of anyone, and the Hoyas are hot, solid and have a much easier draw to the Elite 8.


South
Upset Watch: BYU over Ohio State. Would I pick this? Probably not, but don’t be surprised if it happens. The Cougars have a good inside-outside combo and have played well down the stretch. A lot of this is me just not being sold on the Buckeyes. They haven’t really impressed me this year and they have trouble scoring at times. Also watch: Nevada over Memphis.

Sleeper: Tennessee. If anyone unexpected is going to make the Final 4 (and by that, I mean anyone below a No. 3 seed), I think it’ll be the Vols. Chris Lofton is healthy and they’re playing well, and I think this bracket sets up well for them. If BYU doesn’t get the Buckeyes, I think the Tennessee will.

My Pick: Texas A&M. Acie Law is a stud and I think he’ll be the star of the tournament. Plus, other than potentially playing Louisville in Kentucky (how the hell did that happen, by the way?), I don’t see a lot stopping the Aggies from the Elite 8, and I think they have enough to knock off Tennessee and advance to the Final 4.


Midwest
Upset Watch: Old Dominion over Butler. Ok, this is kind of a lame pick because, really, Butler is not a big-name No. 5 seed. Still, it’s a 12-5 upset, and a good bet since ODU seems to have gotten stronger as the year has gone on, while Butler has faltered a bit. This could also shape up as a 12-13 second-round game, because Davidson certainly has the chops to knock off Maryland (bias here: I’m from Maryland so generally pick the Terps). Also watch: Arizona over Florida; it probably won’t happen, but Arizona is a scarily talented No. 8 seed.

Sleeper: Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets have been very streaky, but they’re a young team that seems to be coming together and they have the kind of draw that could lead them to the Elite 8.

My Pick: Florida. This is really a no-brainer. I think Arizona is the only team in this bracket that can beat the Gators, but the Wildcats lack of depth will hurt them in the second of two games in three days. No one else should challenge Florida.


West
Upset Watch: VCU over Duke. That’s right, a second straight nod for the mighty Colonial Conference. I’ve seen VCU play twice this year and was really impressed both times, while I can’t say the same about the Blue Devils. I feel weird picking against Duke in Round 1 because of their prior success and Coach K’s track record, but I’ll take this limb. Also watch: Wright State over Pitt, which needs Aaron Gray to find his game quickly.

Sleeper: Southern Illinois. I know, this is kind of lame, picking a No. 4 seed as a sleeper, but the Salukis are really, really good. Best defensive team in the tournament and I think they’ll live up to their seeding. Other than that, I don’t see a sleeper team in a bracket that should be dominated by two of the three best teams in the nation.

My Pick: Kansas. Coming into the tournament, I had five teams I thought could win it all: Florida, Kansas, UCLA, UNC and Georgetown, so I’d be pretty shocked if Kansas and UCLA weren’t playing for the Final 4 here. The Bruins are better defensively, but I really like the Jayhawks as an overall unit. This is basically a coin flip, but I’ll go with Kansas.