As usual, ESPN's blowhards have it wrong about the NCAA bracket...

[Blick]

They could, but that whole Southeast region is a crapshoot. Pitt could get taken out by either Butler or Old Dominion in the 2nd round, and K-State could lose their opener to Utah State.

Yeah, I don't really see the Utah State upset. Their schedule was a joke. K-State is battle tested, tourney experienced, and coming in hot with wins in 8 of their last 10 games. They are a different team than they were earlier in the year when they were falling out of the top 25.

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

From Pat Forde on ESPN...

"And then there is the Southeast, otherwise known as the Jamie Dixon Backrub Regional. I don’t see a single major national-title threat in that 16-team grouping, which means terminal underachiever Pittsburgh might finally reach its first Final Four since World War II."

Pitt has had a free shot to the Elite 8 before...and they throw up a stinker in the second round.

[Hasselbeck]

Pitt is grossly overrated, Old Dominion is our only hope though methinks.

[NAHSTE]

Completely agree that Pitt got the easiest region, it's absurd really. Wisconsin is fresh off of a 33 point (!!!!!) performance, and Florida played in one of the weaker power conferences. My typical bracket strategy is to get Pitt out as soon as possible (hasn't failed me yet) but this year I can't do it until the F4 it seems. Not a single "tough out" for them to be found.

The lesson as always, is follow your own personal rules, especially when those rules involve bouncing Pitt as early as possible.

This is one I really should have seen coming, and I'm kicking myself for not picking it sooner.

[MvP]

[Woy]

So when does Jamie Dixon get fired for failing to win the big games at an "elite" school? He's an absolutely horrible late-game coach.

[G-men]

Its funny to me that the talking heads at ESPN are irate over Colorado not making it in while UAB and VCU are in the NCAA's. It seems like every year a middling power conference team will be included in the NCAA's while a 20+ win mid-major gets left out. This year finally breaks that mold, and you have guys like Dookie V and Jay Bilas up in arms. Colorado did not have a winning conference record. They were 6-7 against top 50 teams, but 3 of those wins came against an overrated Kansas State team. In one 7-game stretch, Colorado went 1-6.

What Bilas and Vitale SHOULD have been talking about was how the Selection Committee set up the different regions. Ohio State is the overall #1, but they have by far the hardest region. Pitt was the lowest rated #1 seed, and the other top teams in their region are Florida, BYU and Wisconsin??? Compare those three teams to Ohio State's UNC, Syracuse, and Kentucky. I would argue that the top 4 teams in the Southwest region (Kansas, ND, Purdon't, Louisville) are all better than any team in the Southeast region. Its a joke.

Its highly likely that Pitt's toughest game will be their second round game against the Butler-ODU winner. After that, its clear sailing. I thought Ohio State and Kansas were the early favorites for the title game, but now if they both make it, they definitely will have earned it.

[NAHSTE]

So when does Jamie Dixon get fired for failing to win the big games at an "elite" school? He's an absolutely horrible late-game coach.

Probably whenever he starts coaching an elite school.

[Woy]

Hence why I had the quotation marks there. Some people think Pitt's an elite program even though they haven't made a Final Four since 1941.
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[NAHSTE]

Hence why I had the quotation marks there. Some people think Pitt's an elite program even though they haven't made a Final Four since 1941.
NetFront/3.5.1(BREW 3.1.5; U; en-us; SAMSUNG; NetFront/3.1.5/AMB) Sprint M550 MMP/2.0 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1

Yeah I was just finishing the lob.