This is one of the better brackets in recent memory (of course I would say that, given my projection). But top-to-bottom, Mike Slive’s Committee did a fantastic job of selection and seeding.
Surprises:
Boston College: A 7-seed seems a bit high for a team that lost to Harvard and Saint Louis in the non-conference portion of [...]

FINAL Update: Selection Sunday, 1:00 pm PT.
Without a doubt, this is the most confusing year to try to project the bracket since I started doing this in 2001.  I would have no argument with the Selection Committee on selecting ANY of the 9 teams on the “true bubble.”
Locks (38):
ACC: North Carolina, Wake Forest, Clemson, Duke, [...]

De-fense. Clap! Clap!  De-fense. Clap! Clap!
Defense wins championships.  It’s a highly regarded maxim that covers all sports.  If defense is so vital and clearly intrinsic to success, then why are defensive values rarely addressed in the written word?
In Minnesota, Tubby Smith brought a renewed focus on defense.  “We take [...]

For Creighton and St. Mary’s, let the waiting game begin.
Three mid-major schools with at least 20 wins and RPI rankings in the Top 65 are without automatic bids after experiencing embarrassing loses in their conference tournaments.
With Selection Sunday only three days away, the next 72 hours for these schools are going [...]

If you asked people at the start of the season who they thought would be challenging for the ACC’s top spot in March, their answers would probably be North Carolina, Duke, Wake Forest, and/or Clemson.
What about Florida State? If you can believe it, the Seminoles, picked tenth in the ACC preseason poll, are currently tied [...]

The Big East is home to some of the biggest, strongest, most powerful centers in the country. But the point guards excel on more than strength. Each have a particular skill set along with one super skill. This week for the Big East Report we will take a look at the best [...]

Let’s play a word game:
Barring (fill in the blank), St. Mary’s will be headed back to the NCAA Tournament in 2009.
Answer: An injury to Patrick Mills.
St. Mary’s was rolling along as a nationally ranked team, 18-1, and in position for its second-consecutive NCAA Tournament berth even without the West Coast Conference’s automatic bid.
With about three [...]

Sooo…I was waiting for word from the official Bracket Busters site on TV matchups before announcing this, but as that still hasn’t been published, here are the matchups for the 2009 Bracket Buster.
Pending the TV announcement, Bracketography.com will continue its long-standing tradition of previewing and recapping each game with a significant influence, or possibly significant [...]

Facing the African giant, Hasheem Thabeet, the small town kid from Indiana suckered his foe to the baseline. Lesser men had cowered when faced with Thabeet’s arms, long and fear provoking as Medusa’s snakes.

From the baseline the five-inch shorter Luke Harangody evaded those frightful arms with his patented spin move, releasing the ball while [...]

Not one person.
Not a single head coach, sports information director, or media member voted Northern Iowa the preseason favorite to win the Missouri Valley Conference.
And who could blame them?
UNI had never won the regular season title in school history, and lost its top two scorers, top rebounder and best three-pointer shooter from [...]