College basketball isn’t known for its amazing regular season or exciting conference tournaments (though they can get pretty exciting). Nope, millions watch the NCAA for a few weeks at the start of spring: March Madness. Here at NBN, we are going to watch the CBS Selection Show and provide running analysis of the big selection. Enjoy.
The No. 1 seeds
We are underway on CBS. Greg Gumbel is our host, and he still makes me laugh every year. He’s going over the basic rules of the tourney. And here are the No. 1 seeds:
Midwest: Florida Gators
East: University of North Carolina Tar Heels
South: Ohio State Buckeyes
West: Kansas Jayhawks
CBS cuts to a happy Jayhawks team celebrating in Big 12 tourney garb. How did Ohio State get stuck in the South, while Florida got thrown into the Midwest? I think someone failed geography class.
UCLA the big shaft so far. Not really shocked, though, especially after UNC won the ACC tournament. My favorite feature on this show is the team cam, which focuses on various college squads. Eventually, you see them reveling in making the tourney, or devastated by the fact they were humiliated on national TV. Calling waterworks on the Drexel screen!
Midwest regional
Today’s corporate champ: Coke. Florida gets….Jackson State. More importantly, Arizona meets Purdue (a bubble team) in the always good 8-9 game. Mid-major darlings Butler get a nice No. 5 seed, good stuff. Old Dominion looks really happy. Wisconsin gets the right geographic placing. Doesn’t that help the Badgers more than the Buckeyes? UNLV doesn’t seem very excited about playing Georgia Tech. Oregon may be the most dangerous team in this bracket. Early upset call…Winthrop over Notre Dame. A very tough bracket too call, a lot of good teams clashing against each other.
Rush-to-judgment pick to win the bracket: Oregon, but give me five minutes and I’ll probably change my mind.
The United States Postal Service still uses The Postal Service in their commercials. Cute.
West regional
Number one is, again, Kansas, who looked dynamite today against Texas. Kentucky is an eighth seed. Remember when the Wildcats were a powerhouse? Illinois gets in as a No. 12 seed. Another bubble team in. UCLA gets the No. 2 seed out west, and just have to travel up to Sacramento. Indiana gets a very high No. 7 seed, but have to face Gonzaga in the first round. Duke a No. 6 seed, who’d a thunk it? Can they beat the Virginia Commonwealth? This bracket seems almost as hard to pick as the Midwest, but more so because no one team jumps out and screams “Final Four ready!” Southern Illinois-Holy Cross is gonna be an interesting one. And watch out for Wright State….they might have a good chance at upending Pittsburgh.
I don’t like this Heineken commercial with “Beautiful,” but I love the song, so I guess it’s better than having Head-On playing every other second.
East regional
Washington State gets the funny-named Oral Roberts squad. Texas gets the big shaft, only getting a No. 4 seed, but they would get UNC in the Sweet 16. Marquette-Michigan State best game of the entire first-round so far. Georgetown is the team to watch in this bracket, and I’m picking them to get to Atlanta. Though you shouldn’t count out USC…..
South regional
Finally, the home of Greg Oden and Ohio State. BYU a No. 8 seed, going up against Xavier. An OK match-up. Calling a Long Beach State upset over Tennessee. Memphis may be the most slept on team in the tourney right now. Will Drexel get in? Times running out. Drexel and West Virginia out, Stanford in. Brace for the sad cam. This bracket is intriguing, especially come Sweet 16 time. Don’t count out Memphis or Texas A&M, both great squads that can give the Buckeyes a run for their money.
Bubbles burst today
Air Force should definitely be in the tourney. Drexel also deserves some attention. But Syracuse being tossed out is the biggest surprise, without a doubt.
Why was Syracuse left out? The Chairman of the Committee doesn’t answer the question at all, so still a mystery. CBS doesn’t seem very risky with their picks. The two analysts are picking the exact same teams. Except a slight disagreement about the South, where one has OSU, the other has Texas A&M. Texas isn’t a sleeper team at all, CBS. Way to have uninteresting sleeper squads.
The West is the bracket to watch, seems almost insane how loaded it is. Overall, it seems like all the brackets are gonna be pretty intense. The South seems the weakest, only because the lower seeds don’t seem as strong as some of the others. Dick Vitale’s pizza commercial may be the highlight of this show, though.
What are the must-see first-round games?
Notre Dame-Winthrop is just prime for an upset, while Southern Illinois-Holy Cross is the best mid-major showdown of the 64-team round. BYU-Xavier is a very evenly matched showdown, and Long Beach State is my pick to be the dark horse of this year’s tourney, so catch them against the Volunteers. The best game of the round, however, is Michigan State-Marquette, two sleeper teams clashing from the start. Definitely watch that one, I have no idea who is gonna take it.
Final thoughts
This is gonna be a great year, since almost all the brackets are loaded with great teams. Florida’s overrated, and I think Oregon is gonna surprise everyone and make the Final Four. Georgetown will definitely roll by UNC, while Greg Oden will catapult the Buckeyes into Atlanta as well. The West is extremely hard to pick off the top of my head, but I could see Kansas definitely running the table. Good luck filling out your Facebook brackets and remember, Long Beach State’s going to the Sweet Sixteen. Callin’ it.