Y2K-U: Bracketology

(Sip will be in with a post later this afternoon.)

I like to think that I was one of the forerunners of bracketology. Well, not really, but during one of my campouts during my freshman year at U.Va., I did a mock bracket in late February, and was so proud of my ability to actually choose between the teams in the Metro Conference as opposed to the Southwest Conference. (I think Memphis State was in both back when they had Penny Hardaway, but I digress). Anyway, the point is, I’m old. And the other point is that I miss doing this, so let’s pick the 65 teams as of February 11. This is my tournament, so I’m just going on my eyes and not RPIs.

1. ACC (8) North Carolina, Boston College, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Florida State, Maryland, Clemson, Duke: I honestly got to 64 teams before I included the mighty Blue Devils, and I just couldn’t keep ‘em out; that said, it’s still great fun to watch K have to watch them lose four in a row going into a loss Wednesday. But I guess if I include Maryland – and I will because I just do love me some Greivis Vasquez – I should include the Dookies. I would give ‘em a 9 seed and match ‘em up with some team like Texas, and then Florida, because it would be fun to watch McShuffle try to guard Kevin Durant and Al Horford. Expect, of course, that Duke will in fact go 7-9 in conference, and ride wins from four months earlier over Air Force and Indiana into a 3 seed and games in Winston-Salem.

2. Big XII (5) Texas A&M, Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma State, Kansas State: Get on the Acie Law IV bandwagon before it fills up, because these Aggies can play. Kansas could win it all or win nothing. And take it from someone who watches too much of this conference—K-State isn’t just the third best team in the standings, they’re actually the third best team in the Big XII.

3. Big Ten (5) Wisconsin, Ohio State, Indiana, Iowa, Purdue: Michigan State can’t get in because they lost 62-38 last week, so we’ll include the Boilermakers instead. In reality, Iowa has little chance unless they run the table from here, but remember the name Tyler Smith, a 6’4” frosh PF who does just about everything. Obviously, the Badgers and Buckeyes will be high seeds, but I think one of them goes out before the Sweet 16. Probably Ohio State.

4. Pac-10 (7) UCLA, USC, Arizona, Oregon, Washington State, Washington, Stanford: 70% of a conference attends? Unlikely, I know, but it’s my bracket. In any case, only U-Dub and Stanford are on the bubble, and I enjoy watching both of ‘em play, so they get in. The Huskies have the longest road, though, and they’ll probably need to go 5-1 down the stretch to get there, including games at Pitt and Oregon, while hosting Wazzu and the LA schools.

5. SEC (4) Florida, Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Tennessee: So you and I both know that at least one and probably two schools from the West will get in, probably at the expense of 7 from the Pac or 8 from the ACC. But have you watched these teams play? Alabama, LSU, and Arkansas – bubble teams all – are just brutal. The Tide needed a last second shot to win at home against Mississippi Freakin’ State, who, last I checked, didn’t have Erick Dampier and Dontae’ Jones any more. (Ya know, Mississippi State played in a Final Four in 1996? And Missouri never has. You learn something new every day.)

6. Big East (5) Marquette, Pittsburgh, West Virginia, Georgetown, Villanova: West Fucking Virginia is off the bubble after beating UCLA, and Villanova should get in just so Curtis Sumpter can actually play in March. Obviously, the rest are in.

7. Missouri Valley (3): Southern Illinois, Creighton, Missouri State: I hear a lot about the Valley, and I want to care about more of their teams, but honestly who else can go at this point? Wichita State and Bradley are both 8-7 in league right now, and despite what they did last year, I don’t think Patrick O’Bryant or Paul Miller is walking through those doors. So Billy Packers should be happy.

8. Other three-bid leagues (Mountain West, Colonial) Air Force, BYU, UNLV, VCU, Old Dominion, Hofstra: The Mountain West I know little about, so I won’t pretend brilliance here. The Colonial I do watch a lot, and nobody will want to play VCU or ODU when they get 11-12 seeds in March. It’s my tournament, so I’m putting Hofstra in over Drexel, because Antoine Agudio and Loren Stokes are the best backcourt you’ve never heard of.

9. Interesting one-bid leagues (9) Memphis, Nevada, Butler, Gonzaga, Appalachian State, UMass, Holy Cross, Winthrop, Oral Roberts: The first four you know about, and aside from psychedelic mushrooms, nothing really has changed from what you saw of them in November. The last five you don’t, so here goes: Appy State beat Virginia and Vanderbilt to win the Puerto Rico tournament. UMass may have its best team since Marcus Camby was there. Holy Cross is better than Bucknell, and assuredly their getting in will subject us to some amazing Bill Simmons blogging. Winthrop almost beat half the ACC in November, and will be the toughest 14 in the bracket. And Oral Roberts has an NBA player in PF Caleb Green, and Deadspin will remind you that they beat Kansas.

10. Non-interesting one-bid leagues (13): Long Beach State, South Alabama, Texas A&M C.C., Kent State, Vermont, Penn, Austin Peay, Marist, Belmont, Central Connecticut State, Weber State, Mississippi Valley State, Delaware State: Hmmm. For Sip, let’s point out that Penn might just win a game in March for the first time in a while. But probably not. I don’t think Taylor Coppenrath is still at Vermont, and sadly Harold Arcenaux doesn’t play for Weber any more. And let’s just say the Jayhawks probably hope that East Tennessee State holds off Belmont in that thrilling Atlantic Sun race.

- Cousin Dan