Feelin the Madness

Today, we officially flipped the calendar into March, which means that we are only a few short weeks away from the most wonderful time of the year...

March Madness!!! (that's right, triple exclamation mark!)

In just 14 short days, we get to revel in the collective joy of one of the five greatest sporting days of the year: the first day of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship. Frantically filling out brackets. Pressing *refresh* a thousand times at work to see who won the 5-12 match up (historically renowned for upsets). Screaming across the office at your colleagues about a photo finish. Racing home to watch the the last games and going to bed giddy to watch Saturday's hoopfest.

Man, I'm gettin' pumped just writing about it!

Anyway, this NCAA tourney is looking to be the best in well over a decade, thanks in no-small-part to the NBA's new "year-and-a-half" rule, prohibiting high school seniors from entering the draft. There are no less than ten teams that have a legit shot at the title, TEN! That's not to say there are ten teams that conceivably win the title; practically every team in the tourney will be capable of that this year. What I mean is that there are at least a dozen that could win it and everyone would say "Of course they took it! Look at the way they played over the last month! I can't believe we didn't see that coming!"

It isn't too often we have NCAA tournaments that have that kind of depth to them. In preparation for the frantic bracket studying and filling the next week will see, I thought I'd offer my insights on my favorites to win the title.

1. Florida - Yeah, they've dropped their last three games and are being talked about in the media as "burnt out," or "unmotivated," I don't care, it's their title to lose. I watched them play Tennessee the other night with my pops, a game they ended up losing, and I couldn't believe their cardiovascular conditioning. I mean, it was the tail end of the game and Joakim Noah, a legit 7 footer, was still sprinting up and down the court for dunks, rebounds, and layups. It's possible they could get upset in the first two rounds, but if they make it deep into the tournament, the part where conditioning starts to show, look out. I guarantee you Florida is the best conditioned team in the country and will be able to get it done when it matters.

2. Texas A&M - Just lost a double OT thriller to Texas, but they have all the characteristics of a NCAA champ: great senior guard play, a respectable road record, and solid rebounders. Acie Law is playing as well as anybody in the country and has shown himself to be ridiculously clutch in the loss to Texas and an earlier win at Kansas. With so many games coming down to the wire in the tournament, I would put my money on Law and Texas A&M to pull these games out.

3. Ohio State - The #1 team in the country and the temporary hosts of one of the most heralded players in the country, Greg Oden. Ohio State, again, has great guard play and a solid road record, but Oden has not had a dominant season and a great number of their key players are freshmen, which makes me concerned about their ability to play night after night. The big question to me is, can Oden take his game to a new level in the NCAA tourney ala Sean May? If he can step up his scoring and continue to be the defensive force he has been all season, Ohio State will be nearly unstoppable.

4. Kansas - A basketball institution, the Jayhawks have one of the best forwards in the country in Julian Wright. Smart, physical, great passer; he could be the best total player in the tournament. Kansas has explosive guards and a deep bench but...The last time the Jayhawks came into the tournament highly regarded was the team featuring Drew Gooden and Kirk Heinrich that nearly lost to Holy Cross in the first round and ended up losing in the championship game (when I had picked them to win it all). I still haven't recovered from the scare they gave me in the first round and, as such, can't put them higher than fourth.

5. Texas - If Kevin Durant declares war on the college basketball world and pulls a Carmelo Anthony, they might as well hand the Longhorns the title. Seriously, the kid is unstoppable. The rest of the team is rounded out well with explosive guard play and good shot blockers and they lead the Big 12 in both free-throw shooting and three-point shooting (good stats to lead coming into March Madness).

6. UCLA - Last year's runner-up remains an incredibly talented team, and watching them take Arizona apart earlier this year was admittedly impressive (the win against Texas A&M was also solid). I haven't watched enough of their games to make an accurate forecast on UCLA, but their team is solid top to bottom. My only hesitation would be that you need equal parts talent and luck to make it through the NCAA tourney and they got LUCKY against Gonzaga last year I have a feeling they used up all their luck last year.

7. North Carolina - The dominant team in the ACC always has a shot at the title and the Tar Heels are much deeper than they were last year. My biggest hesitation in picking them to go far is that three of their players that play the biggest minutes, Wright, Ellington, and Lawson, are freshmen. My gut says that they get tired in the Sweet 16 and Hansbrough doesn't have quite enough to pull them through.

8. Wisconsin - Solid role players all around, big guys that can rebound, shot-block, and shoot threes, and one of the five best players in the country in Alando Tucker. Wisconsin also has a solid road record, including their near win at Ohio State last week. The problem is that the Badgers have started to suffer a few key injuries, including a significant injury to Butch, that could hurt them in the tournament. Depending on the bracket, I think they'll make a run to the Final Four and lose in the Semis.

9. Georgetown - They just lost a bad one to Syracuse, but it was on the road and followed an emotional win over Pitt. The Hoyas have solid inside scoring, but don't seem to have a go-to guy to pick them up when shots aren't falling. Patrick Ewing Jr. is an emotional player and seems to get the team fired up, but he doesn't quite have the talent to take over a game. Still, a 10 game win streak is no small feat at this level and if they get hot, Georgetown can hang with anyone.

10. Louisville - Not the highest rated team in the tournament, but Pitino gets his team up for March Madness. Louisville has won its last five games including wins over Marquette and Pittsburgh. I doubt they'll make it past the Sweet 16, but Pitino is a genius in the tournament and I wouldn't look them over.

Don't be fooled by these teams rankings in brackets: Memphis (haven't played a ranked team since December 20) and Pittsburgh (their best player Aaron Gray just badly sprained his ankle - I' leery of his ability to hold up through the tourney).

Suffice to say, it's looking to be a great tourney. Hope everyone is looking forward to it as much as I am and that everyone is surviving this blast of winter weather we experienced today (12 inches of snow)!