1. The only thing that stinks about Louisville's draw is the location. Fans can't travel. Everything else is everything you could ask for.
2. When Rick Pitino joked that the NCAA would put Louisville "in the Pacific Ocean somewhere" he wasn't far off. It's just 600 yards away.
3. Louisville was the NCAA's 15th best team according to their final seed list. That is not bad at all considering all that happened this season.
4. The ACC has five teams in the top four seed lines. That means the ACC is expected to get five teams in the Sweet 16. That's pretty incredible if it happens. Last time that happened was the Big East I believe.
5. Miami not making it in is silly. UCLA?
Miami vs. Indiana neutral court, 10 games?
Miami vs. LSU neutral court, 10 games?
6. Montrezl Harrell gets a chance to dunk on a 7-foot-6 guy. That ALONE makes the Louisville first round game very watchable.
7. UAB, UConn, Marquette, West Virginia... teams from Louisville's conference (not named Louisville) have a history of knocking Kentucky out of the tournament. if it is going to happen this year, it'll have to be Notre Dame or Duke.
8. On first glance I have a Final Four of Arizona, Kentucky, Virginia and Duke.
9. It wouldn't take much of an upset for three sets of Wildcats to make the Final Four. Kentucky and Villanova are both 1 seeds and Arizona is a 2. It would be amusing if Gonzaga (the 2 seed in the South) made the Final Four because then it would be three Wildcats and a Bulldog.
10. Most over-seeded team in the Dance? Maybe Villanova. Certainly Indiana and UCLA, too. Villanova has one win vs. an RPI top 20 team (VCU back in November), and a No. 1 seed shouldn't lose to Georgetown by 20.
11. From Kelly Dickey: Under Rick Pitino, UofL is 13-1 in NCAA Tournament games when favored by 8 or more points. They opened as 9-point favorites vs. UC Irvine. Morehead State, ugh.
12. One seeds don't lose to 16s, so let's start with 2 seeds: I still like Virginia, but Belmont is a bad matchup for them. That would be the least-surprising 15-2 upset to me.
13. 3 seeds: Albany over Oklahoma seems like the most likely 14-3 upset special. And that would be great because Albany is EASY to root for.
14. From Kelly Dickey: 4-seed in the East for UofL who has been a 4-seed 9 times before. Made Final Four in 2005, 2012 & Sweet 16 in 1989, 1993, 2014. 16-9 record.
15. Of 4 seeds, Georgetown is the most susceptible to upset, but Louisville-UC Irvine is interesting because UofL's late-season lineup change
16. I could see all four 5-seeds falling in the 5-12 games, but isn't that most years now? The Utah-Stephen F. Austin game interests me most.
17. Of the 6 seeds, SMU is the only one I would be confident about. That 6-11 matchup has been a pick'em in recent tournaments.
18. Ohio State over VCU seems to be the easiest upset pick in the tournament. How good would Louisville be with D'Angelo Russell?
19. From Paul Miles: Teams making men's & women's NCAA Final Four will receive $3,000 per athlete from NCAA for up to two family members to attend games. Good.
20. I'm not sold on Gonzaga. They have a very Notre Dame-esque recent history. Last time they even sniffed the Final Four was 16 years ago.
21. There isn't any team in Louisville's bracket that seems unbeatable for Louisville. Villanova, Virginia and Northern Iowa are tough, no doubt, but I could see Louisville winning at least 3 out of 10 games against each of them, probably more.
22. I have very little read on Oklahoma, the 3 seed in Louisville's bracket. A 3 seed having FOUR losses to 100+ ranked RPI teams just shows how soft this bracket is, in my opinion. The loss to a 14-19 Creighton team is a red flag.
23. By contrast, Louisville's "worst" loss was at Syracuse, a team that could have been on the NCAA Tournament bubble if they hadn't banned themselves from post-season.
24. Louisville has just two wins vs. Top 40 RPI teams. That is troubling. Seven losses to Top 40 RPI Teams.
25. Northern Iowa is No. 14 in the RPI. They are 2-2 vs. RPI Top 40 teams.
26. Seth Tuttle, Northern Iowa's leading scorer at 15.3 points per game, vs. Montrezl Harrell should be a fun matchup if it happens. Tuttle has been held to less than 10 points just four times this season.
27. Northern Iowa has six players who shoot better than 40 percent from three-point range (and another that shoots 39.5). Louisville has three, but they have a combined 7 made threes (David Levitch, Trent Gilbert and Jaylen Johnson).
28. Boise State playing Dayton on its home court stinks.
29. Murray State didn't have a good case for being included in the field. I know they ran through their league regular-season, but their out-of-conference resume was really bad. Xavier? Houston? Valpo?
30. More smaller leagues should send their regular-season champ to the Big Dance. They'd have a better shot at scoring upsets.
31. They don't because they love the TV and ticket revenue from the conference tournament.
32. I could easily see Louisville losing to Northern Iowa in the second round. I could also see Louisville make a Final Four run.
33. I just re-checked my bracket. Do I actually have Utah making the Sweet 16? But really, Utah or Georgetown? Stephen F. Austin?
34. I like Iowa State. But how did they lose to South Carolina?
35. I'm not sold on Kansas. At. All. Especially now that Cliff Alexander isn't going to play.
36. I'm currently writing a Bart Simpson-esque scroll on the chalkboard:
I will not advance Georgetown in the NCAA Bracket.
I will not advance Georgetown in the NCAA Bracket.
I will not advance Georgetown in the NCAA Bracket.
I will not advance Georgetown in the NCAA Bracket.
They have burned me too many times.
37. UConn, Louisville, Baylor, Kentucky, Notre Dame, Duke... there are some athletic programs that are really good at both men's and women's basketball. That didn't use to be the case. Ahem, Louisiana Tech.
38. I'm torn between the talent of Arizona and Wisconsin. I think Wisconsin is the better team, but I could see Arizona beating them.
39. I don't trust the Providence Friars.
40. NC State vs. LSU. If they made a team together instead of played each other, they could win the East Bracket. NC State's backcourt with LSU's frontcourt? That'd be fund.
41. I don't want to call the First Four the First Round. And I DEFINITELY don't want to call the majority of the first games the "Second Round."
42. I only have two SEC teams making the Round of 32 and just Kenucky making the Sweet 16. I think I'll be accurate.
43. Louisville played Kentucky to a single digit game. Since then, the Cats have only played one top 25 team and that team has a shaky resume (Arkansas).
44. I could see San Diego State knocking off Duke and ruining a lot of brackets. They played Arizona to a 61-59 game in November. Counter point? SDSU also lost to a BAD Fresno State team.
45. Wyoming appears dangerous for Northern Iowa, but the Mountain West's recent tournament history is really bad.
46. No teams from Colorado, Nevada, Nebraska and only one team from Florida. Kind of interesting.
47. If Louisville makes to play Villanova, the guy they must guard is Josh Hart. 47 percent from three-point range, are you kidding me?
48. Unless Louisville wins the national title, a three-year run of 30-win seasons will end. What a remarkable run we were all just treated to.
49. The Big Ten and Big 12 had seven bids each. I have four Big 12 teams making the Sweet 16, but I only have two Big Ten teams in the Sweet 16.
50. I've never won a bracket contest so please disregard the previous 49 items.
This post was edited on 3/17 11:30 AM by Howie Lindsey
2. When Rick Pitino joked that the NCAA would put Louisville "in the Pacific Ocean somewhere" he wasn't far off. It's just 600 yards away.
3. Louisville was the NCAA's 15th best team according to their final seed list. That is not bad at all considering all that happened this season.
4. The ACC has five teams in the top four seed lines. That means the ACC is expected to get five teams in the Sweet 16. That's pretty incredible if it happens. Last time that happened was the Big East I believe.
5. Miami not making it in is silly. UCLA?
Miami vs. Indiana neutral court, 10 games?
Miami vs. LSU neutral court, 10 games?
6. Montrezl Harrell gets a chance to dunk on a 7-foot-6 guy. That ALONE makes the Louisville first round game very watchable.
7. UAB, UConn, Marquette, West Virginia... teams from Louisville's conference (not named Louisville) have a history of knocking Kentucky out of the tournament. if it is going to happen this year, it'll have to be Notre Dame or Duke.
8. On first glance I have a Final Four of Arizona, Kentucky, Virginia and Duke.
9. It wouldn't take much of an upset for three sets of Wildcats to make the Final Four. Kentucky and Villanova are both 1 seeds and Arizona is a 2. It would be amusing if Gonzaga (the 2 seed in the South) made the Final Four because then it would be three Wildcats and a Bulldog.
10. Most over-seeded team in the Dance? Maybe Villanova. Certainly Indiana and UCLA, too. Villanova has one win vs. an RPI top 20 team (VCU back in November), and a No. 1 seed shouldn't lose to Georgetown by 20.
11. From Kelly Dickey: Under Rick Pitino, UofL is 13-1 in NCAA Tournament games when favored by 8 or more points. They opened as 9-point favorites vs. UC Irvine. Morehead State, ugh.
12. One seeds don't lose to 16s, so let's start with 2 seeds: I still like Virginia, but Belmont is a bad matchup for them. That would be the least-surprising 15-2 upset to me.
13. 3 seeds: Albany over Oklahoma seems like the most likely 14-3 upset special. And that would be great because Albany is EASY to root for.
14. From Kelly Dickey: 4-seed in the East for UofL who has been a 4-seed 9 times before. Made Final Four in 2005, 2012 & Sweet 16 in 1989, 1993, 2014. 16-9 record.
15. Of 4 seeds, Georgetown is the most susceptible to upset, but Louisville-UC Irvine is interesting because UofL's late-season lineup change
16. I could see all four 5-seeds falling in the 5-12 games, but isn't that most years now? The Utah-Stephen F. Austin game interests me most.
17. Of the 6 seeds, SMU is the only one I would be confident about. That 6-11 matchup has been a pick'em in recent tournaments.
18. Ohio State over VCU seems to be the easiest upset pick in the tournament. How good would Louisville be with D'Angelo Russell?
19. From Paul Miles: Teams making men's & women's NCAA Final Four will receive $3,000 per athlete from NCAA for up to two family members to attend games. Good.
20. I'm not sold on Gonzaga. They have a very Notre Dame-esque recent history. Last time they even sniffed the Final Four was 16 years ago.
21. There isn't any team in Louisville's bracket that seems unbeatable for Louisville. Villanova, Virginia and Northern Iowa are tough, no doubt, but I could see Louisville winning at least 3 out of 10 games against each of them, probably more.
22. I have very little read on Oklahoma, the 3 seed in Louisville's bracket. A 3 seed having FOUR losses to 100+ ranked RPI teams just shows how soft this bracket is, in my opinion. The loss to a 14-19 Creighton team is a red flag.
23. By contrast, Louisville's "worst" loss was at Syracuse, a team that could have been on the NCAA Tournament bubble if they hadn't banned themselves from post-season.
24. Louisville has just two wins vs. Top 40 RPI teams. That is troubling. Seven losses to Top 40 RPI Teams.
25. Northern Iowa is No. 14 in the RPI. They are 2-2 vs. RPI Top 40 teams.
26. Seth Tuttle, Northern Iowa's leading scorer at 15.3 points per game, vs. Montrezl Harrell should be a fun matchup if it happens. Tuttle has been held to less than 10 points just four times this season.
27. Northern Iowa has six players who shoot better than 40 percent from three-point range (and another that shoots 39.5). Louisville has three, but they have a combined 7 made threes (David Levitch, Trent Gilbert and Jaylen Johnson).
28. Boise State playing Dayton on its home court stinks.
29. Murray State didn't have a good case for being included in the field. I know they ran through their league regular-season, but their out-of-conference resume was really bad. Xavier? Houston? Valpo?
30. More smaller leagues should send their regular-season champ to the Big Dance. They'd have a better shot at scoring upsets.
31. They don't because they love the TV and ticket revenue from the conference tournament.
32. I could easily see Louisville losing to Northern Iowa in the second round. I could also see Louisville make a Final Four run.
33. I just re-checked my bracket. Do I actually have Utah making the Sweet 16? But really, Utah or Georgetown? Stephen F. Austin?
34. I like Iowa State. But how did they lose to South Carolina?
35. I'm not sold on Kansas. At. All. Especially now that Cliff Alexander isn't going to play.
36. I'm currently writing a Bart Simpson-esque scroll on the chalkboard:
I will not advance Georgetown in the NCAA Bracket.
I will not advance Georgetown in the NCAA Bracket.
I will not advance Georgetown in the NCAA Bracket.
I will not advance Georgetown in the NCAA Bracket.
They have burned me too many times.
37. UConn, Louisville, Baylor, Kentucky, Notre Dame, Duke... there are some athletic programs that are really good at both men's and women's basketball. That didn't use to be the case. Ahem, Louisiana Tech.
38. I'm torn between the talent of Arizona and Wisconsin. I think Wisconsin is the better team, but I could see Arizona beating them.
39. I don't trust the Providence Friars.
40. NC State vs. LSU. If they made a team together instead of played each other, they could win the East Bracket. NC State's backcourt with LSU's frontcourt? That'd be fund.
41. I don't want to call the First Four the First Round. And I DEFINITELY don't want to call the majority of the first games the "Second Round."
42. I only have two SEC teams making the Round of 32 and just Kenucky making the Sweet 16. I think I'll be accurate.
43. Louisville played Kentucky to a single digit game. Since then, the Cats have only played one top 25 team and that team has a shaky resume (Arkansas).
44. I could see San Diego State knocking off Duke and ruining a lot of brackets. They played Arizona to a 61-59 game in November. Counter point? SDSU also lost to a BAD Fresno State team.
45. Wyoming appears dangerous for Northern Iowa, but the Mountain West's recent tournament history is really bad.
46. No teams from Colorado, Nevada, Nebraska and only one team from Florida. Kind of interesting.
47. If Louisville makes to play Villanova, the guy they must guard is Josh Hart. 47 percent from three-point range, are you kidding me?
48. Unless Louisville wins the national title, a three-year run of 30-win seasons will end. What a remarkable run we were all just treated to.
49. The Big Ten and Big 12 had seven bids each. I have four Big 12 teams making the Sweet 16, but I only have two Big Ten teams in the Sweet 16.
50. I've never won a bracket contest so please disregard the previous 49 items.
This post was edited on 3/17 11:30 AM by Howie Lindsey