Selection Sunday

You’ve got everything except one thing: madness!
A man needs a little madness, or else...
–Anthony Quinn in “Zorba the Greek”

The field is set! The seeds are in order! Printers across the country are spewing out reams of brackets! Millions of people are filling them out! Tens of millions of dollars are preparing to change hands! God bless the NCAA Tournament.

First of all, as an Iowa fan, I have to give a big shout-out to the selection committee for inviting the Hawkeyes to the dance. Iowa did a fantastic job in the last few weeks of the season of regrouping after the loss of their star player and showing that they could still compete, winning five in a row (including the upset of Michigan State) before finally losing to Wisconsin in the Big 10 semifinals on a ridiculous, off-balance, buzzer-beating three pointer. I still believe that this is Alford's last gasp, however, and unless something amazing happens and he leads the boys on a Cinderella Final Four run I think he'll be looking for work come April. He's had six years, and they've all been uninspiring. The program under Alford just isn't at the level that it should be, given Iowa's resources and long history.

I'm not going to go all Dickie Vee here, because there are plenty of talking heads out there who will spend the next four days analyzing "bracketology" to death. And I'm not going to give you a list of my picks, either, because those are for earning me money. You're big enough now that you can make your own decisions and then deal with the consequences. But after watching most of championship week play out and looking over the brackets, here are a few quick impressions:

• Keep an eye on Washington. They're the best team that you know nothing about.
• Don't count on Illinois. Seriously.
• Don't count too much on the Big 10 as a whole, really. I don't expect a total collapse, and I'd sure like to see Iowa make some noise, but the conference just isn't what it used to be.
• The ACC, however, is as good as advertised. They're almost a NBA division. You could do worse than relying on a few ACC teams to make a run at the title.
• The SEC isn't too shabby either. Florida, LSU, and Alabama have been sneaking under a lot of radars. They'll make some waves.
• As will the MVC. Don't underestimate these guys, it's a quality conference and they have a habit of screwing up brackets on almost a yearly basis.
• The Syracuse region is just sick with depth and talent. Whoever comes out of that alive is going to be battle-tested and ready to face the pressures of the Final Four.
• Oh my gawd, are there going to be some upsets this year. Parity is the name of the game in college basketball, and the first round is thick with intriguing matchups. And after the smoke clears from that, the second round could be even worse.

And, well, OK. As a service to you, faithful reader, here are five "little guys" that bear watching:

• Penn (13). Finished the season on fire (16-1) and they've been here before. Boston College, their first oponent, is struggling of late.
• Wisconsin-Milwaukee (12). Also on fire (17-1), also with tourney experience.
• Creighton (10). Another team with loads of experience, this one from the dangerous MVC.
• New Mexico (12). Finished with nine straight wins, and Danny Granger is a force to be reckoned with.
• George Washington (12). Took Michigan State and Maryland down on successive nights in December.

With that, I'm off to fill out my brackets and then surf the online pools. I know quite a few people with money living in their wallets that's just dying to come live in mine instead.