The Madness Begins

Welcome to March, ladies and gentlemen! Yes, yes, I know, technically I'm seven days late. Whatever. I just got off work, it's a beautiful (if a bit windy) Saturday in B-Town, and the midmajor conference tourney championships are ON!

I gotta say, I love these games. Right now, its VMI (Virginia Military Institute) vs. Radford in the Big South final. Next up is East Tennessee State vs. Jacksonville for the A-Sun title. The next time we see any of these teams, it will be as overmatched 14 and 15 seeds in the Big Dance!

Nothing is sweeter than being able to talk semi-knowledgably about, say, Radford's Art Parakhouski, a 6'11" center from Belarus who according to ESPN 'couldn't speak a lick of English' just a few years ago. He has 26 and 18 tonight and looks like a beast. (Pictured here) Radford just cracked 100 points on its way to just its second NCAA tourney appearance ever. This is the highest scoring Big South game in championship history.

Andy Katz has a good nutshell breakdown of the mid-major tourneys here.

Kenpom.com, Ken Pomeroy's comprehensive stat-head site, is a great resource.

There is just a ton of action today. Michigan beat Minnesota 67-64 to stick the Golden Gophers firmly on the bubble. And Iowa downed Penn State. The Big Ten is just a bubblicious mess right now. Tomorrow's Northwestern vs. Ohio State game (in Columbus) is just huge for the Wildcats. I don't want to say too much about this game and jinx it, but I am definitely on high alert. Thanks to my mom for this link.

You can see a Top 25 scoreboard here. Check out how many teams are in action. It's madness!

Okay. I'm ready to enjoy E. Tenn. St. vs Jacksonville. Bracketology has Jax in as a 15 seed, but East Tennessee State is leading by eleven early.

Oh, and by the way. Pitt sweeps UConn on the season, winning 70-60 today. They are looking like the favorite for the #1 overall seed now. I'm still going with North Carolina to win it all. Surprise, surprise!