IT'S A MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD MARCH

The selection committee has selected and now it's time to dance. It's gone beyond madness. It's gone beyond mayhem. It is now... insanity. After doing some lengthly pre-announcement research and speculation, I would have to give the NCAA selection committee poor marks for the tournament bracket they came up with. They made some rather critical errors in judgement and placement and I'm here to call them on it.

1) Pittsburgh deserved a #1 seed and didn't get it. Not only that, but the committee essentially ranked them as the lowest two seed, because they put them in the same region as Kentucky, the favorite to win the tournament. Unfair. Unsound logic.

2) Kentucky and Arizona should be slated to play in the championship game. They are the two best teams going into the tournament and needed to be placed on opposite sides of the bracket. Kentucky should have been the #1 seed in the South or East regions. Oklahoma and Texas, both from the Big 12, each got #1 seeds in the East and South respectively, when clearly one of them should have been placed in the Midwest. The way the bracket was conceived, if all four number one seeds make it to the Final Four, the Kentucky-Arizona winner would play the Texas-Oklahoma winner. That's flat-out wrong, baby.

3) They stacked the West. Arizona, #1 for most of the season, should have been given the second easiest theoretical road to the Final Four. Instead, the region contains a strong #2 in Kansas, a #3 that deserved a #2 in Duke, Big Ten Tourney winner Illinois, at #4, a tough #5 in Notre Dame, a #6 that deserved a #4 in Creighton, and a dangerous #7 in Memphis. All of the ESPN experts agreed that the West was by far the most difficult region. The committee could have and should have found a way to balance the four regions so an answer to the question of "Which number one seed has the toughest road to the Final Four?" would have required a lengthly debate. Why punish 'Zona?

4) The BYU fiasco. Mormons don't play basketball games on Sunday. If BYU pulls a couple of upsets and makes it to the Elite 8, they are scheduled to play on a Sunday. Now, the NCAA has an assanine plan to have BYU switch regions if they reach the Sweet 16. Shame on the selection committee.

5) S-E-C bias over the Big East. The Southeastern Conference was given the benefit of the doubt on several fronts. First off, although the Florida Gators are my alma mater and my team, I thought they played themselves right out of a #2 seed and into a #3 in the last two weeks of the season. Yet they were granted a #2 and a favorable road at that, potentially meeting Texas for a shot at the Final Four. Next, as always, there is considerable debate over the "Last In, Last Out" teams. Alabama and Auburn, both from the SEC got in. Boston College and Seton Hall, both of the Big East, were left out, despite going 10-6 in conference games. Throw into the mix the aforementioned lack of respect for Pittsburgh and a disappointing #5 seed for Connecticut, and the Big East may have every right to cry foul.

For easy reference, the tournament seeds are listed below. Compare them to my pre-selection show seeding yesterday and tell me which bracket you think contains more fairness, balance, and potential marquee matchups.

WEST
1. Arizona
2. Kansas
3. Duke
4. Illinois
5. Notre Dame
6. Creighton
7. Memphis
8. Cincinnati
9. Gonzaga
10. Arizona State
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11. Central Michigan
12. Wisconsin-Milwaukee
13. Western Kentucky
14. Colorado State
15. Utah State
16. Vermont

MIDWEST
1. Kentucky
2. Pittsburgh
3. Marquette
4. Dayton
5. Wisconsin
6. Missouri
7. Indiana
8. Oregon
9. Utah
10. Alabama
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11. So. Illinois
12. Weber State
13. Tulsa
14. Holy Cross
15. Wagner
16. IUPUI

SOUTH
1. Texas
2. Florida
3. Xavier
4. Stanford
5. Connecticut
6. Maryland
7. Michigan State
8. LSU
9. Purdue
10. Colorado
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11. UNC-Wilmington
12. BYU
13. San Diego
14. Troy State
15. Sam Houston
16. UNC-Asheville vs. Texas Southern

EAST
1. Oklahoma
2. Wake Forest
3. Syracuse
4. Louisville
5. Mississippi State
6. Oklahoma State
7. Saint Joseph's
8. California
9. N.C. State
10. Auburn
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11. Penn
12. Butler
13. Austin Peay
14. Manhattan
15. E. Tenn. State
16. So. Carolina St.