Brackets are out; Hokies are not in

My first impression of Carolina's bracket is that it's a tough one, with a potential second-round game against either a fading but talented Indiana team or a team on the upswing in Arkansas. Not sure that is a great reward for the overall number 1 seed.

Carolina did get a very weak 4 seed in Washington State. On paper the 3 and 2 seeds look tough in Louisville and Tennessee, respectively. But I like my chances against both teams. Louisville is okay, I doubt they can stop both Hansbrough and Ellington, and Tennessee did not impress me the few times I watched them play, even in games they won. Ginyard can lock up Lofton, and again I think Hansbrough is unstoppable against a team like the Volunteers.

So while it will be a challenging regional, I bet the Heels will make it to San Antonio.

I just looked at the other brackets, and can't believe that Virginia Tech did not make it. How can you take Oklahoma, South Alabama or Villanova? Oklahoma played terrible down the stretch, much worse than Tech. Villanova lost to the ACC's last place team - NC State - on a neutral court. Neither one of those team deserve to make it, and there is no way the Big East deserves 8 teams. There are 3 good teams in that conference and 4 average teams, and one that shouldn't be in the tournament.

While I'm on the subject, how did Baylor, Arizona, Oregon and Texas A&M get in? Arizona lost to Virginia - like NC State an ACC bottom feeder this year - at HOME. On top of that, they lost twice to Arizona State, coached by ACC outcast Herb Sendek. If you take Arizona, with a losing conference record, why not Wake Forest or Florida State? Wake beat Duke; does Arizona have a win as impressive? No.

The ACC was better than the Big 12 and the Pac 10; I think the east coast press overdid it all year in praising west coast hoops. The conference should have gotten five teams in on it's own merits, and Virginia Tech was better than most if not all of those seven teams.

Boy, I'm surprised by my Hokieness!

Quick NCAA Thoughts:

• Clemson will beat Villanova, then beat Vanderbilt in a tough second round game. That would set up an interesting game with Kansas in the sweet 16.
• As a reward for it's first NCAA appearance in more than 10 years, Miami gets to play Texas in the second round. A seven seed seems about right for the Canes, but that is a tough match up. The regional final of that bracket is in Houston, so I have Texas beating Memphis - if they get that far - to win that regional and go to the Final Four, in San Antonio.
• As much as the Carolina will benefit from playing in Raleigh and Charlotte, Texas may be the biggest winner of all the teams in the tournament in terms of geography. Then again, Rick Barnes usually finds a way to screw things up.
• Duke's draw is pretty tough. West Virginia is peaking at the right time, but I'll be rooting for Duke against a squad from an overrated conference. But Xavier is also in their bracket, a team that has historically risen to the occasion in the tournament.
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