Sports - Week 1 NCAA Tourney Recap & Week 2 Preview

The biggest surprise of the opening week of play in the NCAA tournament was the lack of surprises. All teams seeded 3 or better still remain. Two 4's are left, leaving only Purdue (#5, not really a surprise) and Arizona (#12) playing past where their seed would project here in the second week. The results suggest that the field was top heavy this year, which I do not think comes as a surprise. Arizona, to me, is also not a shocker. Yes, I believe their inclusion in the tournament was not deserved. However, in the only pool I played in for money, I picked Arizona to make it to the sweet 16. They were given the bracket with by far the weakest 4 and 5 seeds (Wake and Utah). They had nothing to lose since they were playing with house money (they shouldn't even have been in the tournament). It was a perfect set up for a team that should have been playing in the NIT. In my mind, their success does not justify their inclusion. It is not the committee's objective to include the most dangerous teams. The objective is to include the teams that had the most impressive seasons during the year. If the committee wanted dangerous teams, they could have included Notre Dame or Georgetown. Also, consider that the Pac 10 has turned out to be what everyone thought, poor. Arizona is the only Pac 10 team left and they will soon be gone.

As for the Mountaineer's brief tournament, it was of course disappointing. WV played a team they should have beaten and they apparently thought that way going into the game. The effort on defense and on the boards was not there. Ruoff committed some silly fouls to put WV in a bad spot. Again it was the freshmen, Ebanks and Bryant, who carried the team. Butler was less effective as the year progressed and Ruoff could not be counted on to come up big in critical moments. As my friend Ryan commented in an early post, Butler needs to be a role player. He thrives in that setting. Butler does not shine when he is the focal point of the offense. I think Ebanks will be the first option next year. As my pops told me, though, the Mountaineers need some outside shooting. Bryant shot well from 3 towards the end of the season. We will see how much playing time he receives with Mazulla returning. I could foresee some teams simply packing it in on the Mountaineers and making them shoot from the outside next year.

Looking ahead to this weekend, here's how I see each region:

Midwest - Louisville's little scare with Sienna will likely help them as they enter this weekend. I don't see Arizona beating them. I like their chances against Michigan St. or Kansas, which should be a good 50/50 game. Louisville should see the Final 4.

West - UConn has been dominant so far. They should roll over Purdue. Memphis is the wild card of the tournament. I'm still a little skeptical. The Big 12 has looked strong, so the Missouri vs Memphis game will be interesting. If UConn has not faced a serious challenge heading into their Elite 8 match up, they could be in trouble. I'll go with UConn, but Memphis and Missouri both have decent shots.

East - Pitt has not looked good so far. They have historically struggled in the NCAA tournament. If it were not for this, I would say Pitt walks to the Final 4. Xavier cannot match up with them, nor can Duke. Villanova is a streaky team, but Pitt should have a big edge there as well. I like Villanova in a close one against Duke, but either way, I still say Pitt finally breaks through and sees the Final 4.

South - Lawson had a huge second half for North Carolina and has put them back in the mix as a favorite for the National Championship game. The game against Gonzaga should be a very entertaining one. I think this bracket has the most depth. Syracuse and Oklahoma along with UNC and Gonzaga are teams capable of making a final 4 run and possibly winning it all. In no other region could I make that statement about all remaining teams. It makes this region extremely hard to predict, especially with Lawson still potentially not 100%. Due to the depth, I would give no team better than a 35% chance of advancing to the Final 4. I am very reluctant to even pick. So, in a tournament of chalk, I'll take all #1 seeds to make it to the Final 4 for the second straight year and go with UNC out of the South.