Tie-guy: thanks for the Katz link. Missed that one amidst the MM flurry. Does anyone believe that nonsense in the last paragraph about the committee not looking at potential Final Four pairings? Please. The mantra from the committee (men's and women's) has been "season in total" and "strength of schedule". So why even have conference tourney's if you're a power conference. Oh, yeah $$$$$$. BYU is a bit of a head scratcher - their RPI not their seeding. How does a team that got swept by Utah and has lost to every tourney team they faced (Weber St., Creighton, Ok St.) save Colorado State (and Utah St. - in December) finish with an RPI of 19??? And it was 15 before they were knocked out of the Mtn. West tourney by CSU.
I never realized that BYU was actually that good. I had concentrated on this ridiculous plan the NCAA has in case BYU advances. I have a hard time thinking of a worse idea! If they're talking about teams switching brackets, why don't they just get it out of the way and do it NOW before everything starts, rather than in the middle of the tournament, which just leaves me speechless. I mean, aside from ruining gambling nation-wide (heh), you're going to stick it to some other school, screw up travel, etc. It's a total disaster. Why they can't just reschedule the dates in that regional is also beyond me, but it would seem like moving BYU now would be the best choice, rescheduling would be the second best, telling the mormon church to go f-ck themselves would be third best, and switching teams mid-tourney would be a distant last. I'm just amazed that they'd even consider it. Anyway... my final four - Kentucky, Duke, Texas, Louisville. Pitino vs. Old team in the finals, but with the opposite of the super bowl result, with UK winning. I worry though, I figure the Cardinal are due for either an amazing run to the finals, or a 2nd round flop. Nothing in between. I also expect Duke to get a pass just like in the ACC tourney, with the higher seeds being upset so that they don't actually have to play anyone good :) Bear in mind that I usually get every pick wrong, ie the MLB playoffs where I managed to pick the winner of every single series incorrectly.
Agreed with Bernreuther on the gambling concerns out of the BYU flap. No pools for me this season, thank you. Someone mentioned that the chairman of the committee is (a) Mormon; and (b) Arizona's AD, funny considered that BYU and U of A could have gotten hosed as much as anyone. Yeesh. Cougs' RPI: Beat Arizona State, swept Colo. St. in regular season, has wins over Utah St. and San Diego. Not a powerhouse, but no bad losses and has a record comparable to Xavier or Missouri (No. 17 and 20, respectively) against the top 100. They might not have enough juice to beat Connecticut, but seeding them there is more self-fulfilling prophecy than accurate pairing. Lavin: Until this season, the guy was winning 20 games a season, even with a demanding schedule in and out of the conference. I don't think that he'd get into a Georgia or North Carolina, but if John Mackovic can get bounce from Texas to Arizona in football, Clemson or Penn State can find a place for Lavin. (And not to put it on that level, but I'd be more concerned for him than a successful black coach, like Nolan Richardson.) Lavvy-boy will be fine. Ivies: I'm probably being hard on them. But it is near-frustrating when other smaller conferences automatically get paired against national-title contenders, while Penn gets to play stumbling Oklahoma State. (Though I expect the Cowpokes to snap out of it and win a two or three rounds.)
