And we're off

For the record, as far as I'm concerned, March Madness actually started on Wednesday with the first round of the BIG EAST Tournament, but with the release of the men's bball brackets last night, we're in full March Madness craziness. (if you are really nuts, here's the NIT which I will never understand who they determine gets the first round byes... I understand it's all about who can sell seats, but 40 teams is a joke, it should be 32. On another ramble, I guess if you're really nuts you could print out the women's bracket and get in a pool with that, or worse a Division II men's hoops bracket (Go Bryant). I guess by default that would make the Division II women's bracket the worst tournament pool to be running ever... And if you mail me your picks, I bet I'll do better than you!

Here we go, there always controversy after the selection show, like Cincinatti not getting in, and Air Force GETTING in... I though Cincy should be in way before Seton Hall, and you got to love it when a team doesn't even bother to watch the show, yet still makes it... Here's a nice piece ripping the Selection Committee, as well as ripping CBS's announcers for ripping the committee... always a good double-standard, and I would like to see Jim Nantz and homer Billy Packer apologize for their actions. Just for that I think I'm rooting a little harder for the Missouri Valley Conference, hey Wichita State already had my vote. This article also was good, while the Washington Post did a good job blasting Billy Packer, by getting comments from the Missouri Valley Conference Commish! (side note, the Washington Post is rocketing up the charts of my favorite sports pages, definitely a top-5 behind the Post, Globe and Herald but that's a topic for another day).

"I don't give a damn what this guy says," MVC Commissioner Doug Elgin said, during a telephone interview from the league's office in St. Louis last night. "I thought it was very inappropriate and he was misinformed about a lot of things."