It’s the most wonderful time of the year – March.  Along with nonsense like nice weather and St. Patrick’s Day, there is important stuff happening in our wonderful country.  Today is Selection Sunday – quite possibly my favorite holiday.   Here are my initial thoughts on the brackets.

The top seeds in the tournament are Louisville, Pittsburg, North Carolina and Connecticut.  Really can’t argue with the top teams.  No one apart from Louisville played like they wanted to be a top seed down the stretch.  A little surprised there are three Big East teams as one seeds, but it’s really hard to argue for anyone else.

Midwest

Ohio State playing in Dayton could make things interesting.
Arizona should NOT be in the tournament.  This is a team that is living off its past reputation and nothing it did this year.  This is exactly what happened to Kentucky last year, and I complained about them as well.  Look for them to leave early.
Wake Forest is a tough #4 seed.
Michigan State as the #2 seed.  Should easily be a Sweet 16.
Kansas as a three – this is a tough bracket.
Dayton – West Virginia is a first round game I want to watch.

West Region.

Uconn has a fairly easy trip to the sweet 16.
Purdue a #5 seed, likely plays Washington if they win.  However, the Washington vs. Mississippi St. game looks like a fun one.
Memphis is the #2.
Maryland is another team that was close and could make a case that should not have been in.  I’ll debate that case once I see who is left out.
Marquette is a #6 Seed.  If they beat Utah State in the first round, they get Missouri in the second.  They could pull the upset and be a Sweet 16.
This is a weaker bracket than the last.

East

Pittsburg could have a dogfight with Oklahoma State, providing they can get by Tennessee.
Badgers get a 12 seed.  They are another team that in my mind should NOT have been in the tournament (yea, that’s right).  They get a rematch against Florida State, who they beat in the ACC Big Ten tournament earlier this year.  Also a rematch of the Champs Sports Bowl in football.
Duke is the #2 seed in this bracket.  A streaky team that could leave early or go to the finals.
Minnesota against Texas is another game I really want to watch.
Villanova gets to play in Philly.  Should help them make it to the Sweet 16.
This is a light bracket, and the top two seeds could make it to the Great 8.

South

North Carolina gets a dogfight in their second round with either Butler or LSU – another must-watch game for me.
Western Kentucky will keep the run of 12 seeds winning at least one game alive.
Oklahoma is a tough #2 seed, and would give North Carolina a good match if both make it that far.
Michigan makes it in after a tough road schedule.  They deserve to be here, although they draw a tough Clemson team in the first round.
Arizona State versus Syracuse as a possible second round matchup excites me a great deal.
This is another tough conference.  Should be fun to watch.

Without spoiling my brackets his, I only have one #1 seed making it to my final four.

St Mary’s SHOULD be in this tournament. Patty Mills is back from injury, and the committee should have taken that into account.  There is NO WAY Arizona should be in this tournament while St Mary’s is relegated to the NIT.  Creighton should also be in the tournament and I wouldn’t mind seeing Penn State in as well. Apart from switching St. Mary’s and Arizona, my only other change would be taking out either Wisconsin Or Maryland and adding Creighton.

But since I can’t do anything more than enjoy and watch, let the good times begin.