plezWorld on the 2009 NCAA Basketball Tournament

Louisville, UConn, and Pittsburgh stroll into the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament from the Big East Conference (with a strong showing from North Carolina from the ACC).

Surprising? No.

Fair? Maybe.

What about Duke (winner of the ACC)? What about Memphis (from last year's tournament final and winner of Conference USA)?

Excerpts from ESPN.com article about the 2009 NCAA brackets:

(ESPN.com) -- The Big East made history again. The conference that came together for basketball decades ago hit another milestone Sunday, when three of its teams earned top seeds in the NCAA tournament.

Louisville, Pittsburgh and Connecticut were all No. 1, joined by North Carolina of the Atlantic Coast Conference, never an outsider this time of year.

The conference also broke new ground in 1985, when it became the first to place three teams in the Final Four.

"It speaks volumes for what it means to win the Big East," said Louisville coach Rick Pitino, whose Cardinals are the tournament's overall top seed and will play in the Midwest.

The Cardinals (28-5), winners of the regular-season and conference championships in the nation's top-ranked conference, will open against the winner of an opening-round game Tuesday between Alabama State and Morehead State.

The Final Four is scheduled for Ford Field in Detroit on April 4 and 6. Last year, all four No. 1 teams made it to the Final Four. But Pitt (East), Carolina (South) and UConn (West) all know its called March Madness for a reason -- things rarely go to form.

So, time to break out the brackets, sharpen some pencils and pay into an office pool (or two).

Maybe do a little griping here and there.

Among the aggrieved: Duke and Memphis, both overlooked in the quest for top seeding, settling for No. 2 seeds despite winning their conference tournaments. Memphis is often downgraded for playing in the less-than-steller Conference USA, but John Calipari's team proved people wrong last year, making it to the national title game.

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plez sez: not much interest in plezWorld until the second weekend (when all those 10 thru 16 seeds have been eliminated). i really enjoy it when it comes down to the elite eight.

the only upset i see is memphis taking out uconn to go to the final four.

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in a related story, the georgia tech women's basketball team is going to its third ncaa tournament in three years... GO JACKETS! they have become a bigger force in the acc than the men's team!

~ ~ Citations ~ ~

Read the ESPN.com video and article about 2009 NCAA bracket breakdown.

Read the ESPN.com articles breaking down the EAST, SOUTH, MIDWEST, and WEST.

Read the AJC.com article about how Georgia Tech and UGA are sending teams to the 2009 NCAA basketball tournament - the women's tournament.

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Soul Food - The B.C.S. Mess & Indigestion

From the sublime to the ridiculous... the last weekend of college football ends pretty much where it began. No clear winners. No clear National Championship contenders... just eight to ten pretenders. It has left a bad taste in my mouth and it's got me up at 3 AM blogging about it!

1. Missouri (11-2) proves why a weak regular season usually comes back to bite you, as the only REAL team that you played (and lost to) is the team that you have to meet for the Big 12 Championship and an invitation to the BCS Championship game. Of course, you lost!
   
   
2. West Virginia (10-2) seemed destined for the BCS Championship game since they were playing a 4-7 Pitt for the Big East title... of course, you became the SEVENTH #2 team to fall this season (with 6 of the 7 going up in flames against unranked opponents)!
   
   
3. Ohio State (11-1) hasn't played football since mid-November and won't play again until early January... whatever momentum they had was wasted when they closed out the regular season against an unmotivated Michigan (whose coach resigned the next day). Everything seems to have fallen into place so that they can go to the BCS Championship Game, even though they don't have a conference championship game!
   
   
4. Georgia (10-2) is probably the hottest team in the nation, but they couldn't even win the SEC East (losing to Tennessee and South Carolina) and didn't play for the SEC Championship... so will they even get an at-large BCS bid?
   
   
5. Kansas (11-1) played a weak schedule and all of their weaknesses were exposed by Missouri last week, so they couldn't play for the Big 12 Championship... they are in the same boat as UGA.
   
   
6. Virginia Tech (11-2) won the ACC in a revenge match against Boston College... I guess they're headed to the Orange Bowl? Or maybe the BCS Championship Game against Ohio State?
   
   
7. LSU (11-2) won the SEC over a mediocre Tennessee, but are coming out of the toughest conference in the land which will probably propel them into the BCS Championship game.
   
   
8. USC (9-2) beat up on UCLA... so you know the Left Coast Cry-babies are going to promote USC for the BCS Championship, even though the Pac-10 is mighty weak.
   
   
9. Oklahoma (11-2) whupped Mizzou for the second time this season while winning the Big 12... can they leapfrog LSU, VT, and Georgia for an opportunity at the BCS Crown?
   
   
10. Florida (9-3) are behind too many other mediocre teams and I don't think the BCS will allow more than 2 teams from any one conference in its bowls... they'll have to be content to have Tim Tebow winning the Heisman trophy!
    
    
11. Boston College (10-3) faded in the end of the ACC Championship game and lost to Virginia Tech when their comeback was thwarted by two fourth quarter interceptions.
    
    
12. Hawaii (12-0) is the only UNDEFEATED BCS team left, but will their cupcake schedule allow them to break into the Top Ten?!? I doubt it... too bad... so sad!

I'm afraid to say that plezWorld is dazed and confused, and my stomach is rumbling like i ate some bad french onion dip... that stuff will ruin you!

I need closure at the end of the football season. I needed West Virginia or Missouri to win this evening, and BOTH of them lost. For my wife's sake, I need UGA (TO HELL WITH GEORGIA!) to go to the BCS Championship Game, but they will be trumped by conference champs Virginia Tech and LSU. I need for Virginia Tech (QB'ed by my homeboy, Tyrod Taylor) to go the BCS Championship Game, but they were THUMPED by LSU earlier in the season.

So, I'm going to step out in my upset-stomach-induced daze and say that the BCS Championship Game will be between LSU and Ohio State... the game will be over at halftime with LSU nursing a 24 point lead!

BLOG UPDATE: Read the 2007-08 Bowl Schedule here.

And if you think plezWorld is the only one who is upset with today's outcomes, click here to read an article from the New York Times... it is definitely time for an eight-team BCS Playoff (which would only add one or two games to the schedule).

The existing four BCS Bowls (Sugar, Fiesta, Rose, and Orange) can be utilized for the quarter finals round, then add two semi-final games in another host city (like the NCAA Final Four), and then a final BCS Championship Game. With parity visiting itself upon college football programs around the country (Missouri, Kansas, Hawaii, Boise State, South Florida, Rutgers, UConn, and ten other schools that you didn't know had football programs), there needs to be a better way to separate the wheat from the chaff AND crown a REAL BCS Champion!

I hate to quote Larry the Cable Guy, but it is so appropriate: "Get 'er done!"