EAST No. 1 North Carolina vs. No. 5 USC Of Note: Almost everyone figured Texas would cakewalk into this matchup with the Tar Heels (I wasn’t among them, having seen the Trojans on several occasions this year). But Tim Floyd’s crew crashed the party, thanks to a superb defensive effort against D.J. Augustin in a [...]

SOUTH No. 1 Ohio State vs. No. 5 Tennessee Of Note: Casual fans probably won’t remember that Tennessee played Ohio State quite closely on January 13, losing 68-66 on (surprise, surprise) a Ron Lewis three-pointer at the end of regulation. That’s the same Buckeye who hit the game-tying three against Xavier over the weekend, for [...]

Brackets Busted by…Favorites? I don’t know about you, but my 2007 NCAA bracket is just about busted. All four of my Final Four teams (Florida, UCLA, North Carolina, and Texas A&M) are still alive, but the one I thought was the safest pick (UCLA) actually looked the shakiest in the first two rounds. My sleeper [...]

General Comments: Selection Committee Chair Gary Walters has repeated in numerous interviews that this was the hardest field to select and seed that he has encountered in his five years on the Selection Committee. I agree wholeheartedly. The number of teams in contention for the last couple of at-large slots was already massive before all [...]

Here’s a rundown of every team on the bubble and what it needs to do to (virtually) guarantee an NCAA Tournament bid. Teams are listed in order of likelihood to receive an at-large. Those listed as “Win Tournament” still have a chance at receiving an at-large bid with a loss in the final, but it’s [...]

ALL RPI DATA FROM KEN POMEROY (WWW.KENPOM.COM) 1) The RPI is not a script for selecting and seeding teams. It is merely a framework, from which there is often significant deviation. Remember the following when you hear coaches, fans, and members of the media complaining in advance about the Selection Committee’s over-reliance on RPI data: [...]

Team Personality: Unfulfilled, but unquestionable talent. It’s a bit of a paradox describing the Wildcats, but they’re simply one of the hardest teams in the country to figure out. There are likely four NBA draft picks in Arizona’s starting lineup (Mustafa Shakur, Marcus Williams, Ivan Radenovic, Chase Budinger), but they’ve only gelled together in selected [...]

Team Personality: Sizzle. Everything about this team is red hot, from its uniforms, to its recent ACC record, to its shooting, to its up-tempo style of play, to its coach (literally—Gary Williams’ apparel is perpetually sweat-laden). Biggest Game: vs Duke, February 11. The Terps stood just 3-6 in ACC play, having suffered a devastating home [...]

Team Personality: Veteran balance. Everyone knows about Nick Fazekas, and rightfully so—credit to the national media for directing some attention to a mid-major program out west that is not named Gonzaga. But Nevada may have the best all-around backcourt west of the Rockies, and at the very least is in the discussion with UCLA. Ramon [...]

Who’s the next George Mason?  The question has been buzzing around college basketball circles for the past month, and the real answer is that I’m not sure we’ll see one again anytime soon. But there certainly are a number of quality mid-majors this year, including from the Patriots’ own conference: the CAA.  Drexel has a [...]