Hey guys.  I know there is interest in the NCAA Tourney on this site.  And I know most of us will be following it looking for new talent (considering the current state of the Bulls).  With that in mind, I thought it would be fun if we had a little bracket contest for bragging rights. 

I've set up a tourney challenge at Yahoo.  It is open to the public, no password needed.  It allows a max of 2 brackets, although more could be allowed if people wanted.  The winner gets our praise and appreciation for about an hour.  The losers get to curse bad officiating, bad coaching, and all the bad bounces that make March so fun. 

Here is the link -

http://tournament.fantasysports.yahoo.com/t1/group/176793

For me, this is the first time I am experiencing an NCAA tournament without my beloved Arizona Wildcats.  Its a bit freeing knowing I won't have to automatically put them in the sweet 16 in my bracket no matter who they are playing.  I like all the #1 seeds to advance, mostly because Duke was gifted a region.  As for sleepers, I like #3 seeded Baylor, #6 Notre Dame, #6 Marquette, #7 BYU and  #13 Murray State. 

Usually I place some type of bet on the tourney.  But this year, I really don't have time to go through the teams.  Which is good for my wallet.  The first bracket I set up, just by going on my gut, had no surprises.  The second bracket will be filled with upsets and the like.  Insuring that I will curse not having a 3rd bracket that met somewhere in the middle.

A few primers- Hollinger ranks the best college players based on a new PER formula.  (Wall doesn't make the top 100, casting the whole system in doubt.)

http://insider.espn.go.com/ncb/hollinger/statistics?&action=login&appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fncb%2fhollinger%2fstatistics

**** UPDATE

Obviously, the first two rounds of the tourney were pretty brutal for the top seeds and pretty exciting for everyone else. Buzzer Beaters, double digit seeds winning, the #1 overall seed going down (sorry Wendy), the Big East humiliated, the Big Ten vindicated - and so on and so forth.  

At this point, for me at least, my rooting interest starts to change.  Once my brackets were destroyed (thank you Big East and Kansas) I just started rooting for ever  underdog.  But now, I want to see the best teams and the best matchups.  I want to see NBA caliber talent battling it out on the court.  So with all due respect to St. Mary's, Cornell and No. Iowa, I'm rooting for Goliath next week.   My ideal final 4 would be Ohio St., Syracuse, Kentucky and Baylor.  The most NBA talent.  All 4 of this season's best conferences represented.  Evan Turner vs. Wesley Johnson in one final with all those athletes on Baylor and Kentucky going up and down the floor in the other. But based on my picks, we will probably end up with Butler, St. Mary's, Cornell and No. Iowa.  Which I would watch too.  Go Big Red. 

Best Sweet 16 Match-ups:

1. Tennessee v. Ohio St - Tennessee has a ton of athletes and likes to press, which should give us a chance to see Evan Turner drop some sweet spin moves and passes.

2. Xavier v. K State - Great guard match-up.  Physical in the paint.  I love Xavier's uniforms.

3. Kentucky v. Cornell - Contrast of styles and pedigrees.

Best potential final 8 match-up:

Duke v. Baylor - Watching Duke getting dunked on makes me smile.  But this looks like a pretty even matchup, if both make it that far.

Standings -

Winner, whoever that is, leads after the first 2 rounds.  He's got Ohio.St, Syracuse, kentucky and Baylor in the final 4, so he's sitting pretty.  In a tournament first, Winner has Kentucky winning the tournament by -6 points.  Option27 has Kentucky winning by -9.  I suspect that the team that scores the most points will win, but you never know.

Big Balla is next, but alas, Kansas isn't around anymore.  Tyger is in 3rd proving all that shit he talks might be based on actual basketball knowledge.  Tyrus and Dickey Simpkins round out the top 5.  Option 27 and Poloplaya are in position to swoop in and strike like Aarron Gray eyeing a Big Mac.

Buzzer Beaters -

Michigan State v. Maryland

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgLdWbPgQrg

Murray State v. Vandy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pxjWSst3NI