Lot's of talk this year about expanding the tournament over 65 teams. I remember not so long ago when it was just 32.. I'm fine with the way it is now. It's not like any team not getting in is going to win it all, so let's leave the number at 65. It's already watered down with the teams that get in due to "automatic qualifiers", so you have a mix of the powerhouse programs and the smaller programs. Gives you a few chances for an upset but still let's the big guys battle it out for the championship.
Speaking of automatic qualifiers, here is who is currently in:
East Tennessee State
Portland State
Cleveland State
Northern Iowa
Radford
Cornell
Virginia Commonwealth
Robert Morris
Siena
Morehead State
Chattanooga
North Dakota State
Western Kentucky
Gonzaga
Lot's of "states" in that group. Personally I'm pulling for Morehead State but that's just me.... Always exciting to watch them play, go on a run and hear their student body chant "More Head", "More Head", "More Head"............
I'm going out on a limb here, but here are my #1 seed predictions:
West - Memphis
Midwest - Pittsburgh
South - North Carolina
East - Connecticut
I think Oklahoma will be the #2 seed in the midwest, along with Michigan State the #3, making this region the "Group of Death"!
On Monday, I'll break down the regions and give you my predictions along with a link to my bracket.
In other news - Set your DVR's for today at 6pm PT, as the long awaited battle between Mexico and Cuba takes place in the WBC. This game is for "all the marbles" of Pool "B", as the winner gets the #1 seed. This will be "mano e mano" as bragging rights of Central America will be at stake....... Some guy with a last name ending in "z" will be starting for Mexio and some guy with a last name ending in "z" will be taking the bump for Cuba! Don't miss it.........
The intensity level will no doubt be increasing 10 fold come Saturday as the 2nd round kicks in. Venezuela vs. Netherlands at 10am PT, followed by USA / Puerto Rico at 5pm PT.
Enjoy!
Bill
No comments:
Post a Comment