Bracket thoughts:
--I'll copy something here directly from Joe Lunardi's bracket analysis on ESPN.com, since I can't say it any better myself:
"Bracketologist/POINT: You ruined an otherwise excellent set of evaluations by pretty much bungling the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds. If these highest seeds are a "tournament within a tournament," as you frequently tell us, take a look at these side-by-side comparisons and answer honestly as to which seems more balanced:
OPTION A WEST/Arizona vs. Kansas MIDWEST/Kentucky vs. Pittsburgh SOUTH/Texas vs. Florida EAST/ Oklahoma vs. Wake Forest OPTION B WEST/Arizona vs. Texas EAST/Kentucky vs. Wake Forest MIDWEST/Oklahoma vs. Syracuse SOUTH Kansas vs. Pittsburgh
By my read (and that of most analysts, I suspect), "Option A" has the obvious top two teams paired with the obvious best of the No. 2 seeds. It also gives a No. 1 seed to the one Big 12 contender that won neither the regular-season nor conference tournament title.
"Option B," on the other hand, splits Kentucky and Arizona into opposite sides of the bracket and also juggles their potential Elite Eight opponents a little more fairly. This ain't perfect (as the third Big 12 team must be kept apart from the two No. 1 seeds from that conference), but it is a much more balanced draw than Option A. A side benefit is Syracuse being a No. 2 ahead of sagging Florida and the Orange not getting a regional "home" site in Albany.
Committee Chair/COUNTERPOINT: Option B is clearly better, that's why we scrapped Option A. Oh, you mean we didn't scrap Option A?"
--This BYU situation is farcical. In case you don't know about this, BYU doesn't play on Sunday, and the Committee just botched it completely by putting them in a situation where if they win their first two games, they could play Sunday, and they've said they won't. So rather than making a logical switch now, the NCAA is banking on the fact that BYU--a twelve seed--will lose. If they don't, then they will swap brackets for the Sweet 16! How could the NCAA create the problem AND botch the solution?!!!
--The South bracket is so easy that I could win it myself.
--My biggest first round upsets are San Diego over Stanford, Weber State over Wisconsin, and Penn over Oklahoma State. I think there's another one in there. I have LSU over Texas in round two (I watched two LSU games last week--that's a good team) and Weber State in the Sweet 16. Yup.
--It kills me to have to pick between Missouri and SIU. I love to pick the Mo Valley, but I sort of like Missouri (may God not strike me down) and believe that they are a team unlikely to blow off SIU. I was hoping to SIU against, say, Florida, or some weak-ass Big Ten or Big East chump.
--Why is Auburn a ten seed? Their entry is indefensible, the seeding comical.
--My final four picks are Kentucky, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Maryland. I know the Kansas pick is a longshot in that bracket, so no mockery is necessary. But I learned a couple of years ago that if I pick KU to lose early it really is unsatisfying for me, because then I root for them in a mildly tempered way. Maryland is, I imagine, a popular pick, but that bracket smells to high heaven. I picked Kentucky to win it all--I don't know how you can't. But that's not an invulnerable team, by any stretch. Better teams have failed to win it all--see UNLV '91, Kansas '97, Duke '99.
2:34:42 PM 
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