Madness

I am just blown away that Villanova wound up with a 2 seed. What a stunning turn of events. I was hoping for a 3 seed and feared that a 4 was more likely. Just didn't see this coming. Crazy. To the selection committee's credit, they took Villanova's entire season into account. While they lost 5 of their last 7, those losses were all to conference rivals and to teams who all wound up being seeded no later 6 in the tourney.

Other thoughts:  A possible Villanova-Richmond game on Saturday would be the brother-brother alumni clash that almost came to be in the Division I-AA football playoffs this fall.

Questions: If Kansas is the #1 seed why aren't they playing the technically lowest seed in the tournament, the winner of the 64/65 playoff game?

The committee still loves Duke. But it is hard to weep for Syracuse. By being placed in the west, they get to play their opening games in Buffalo. Don't discount the benefit of home court advantage in the early rounds. Villanova may well have lost to American last year - and completely derailed their magical Final Four run - had they been playing on neutral floor rather than in Philadelphia.

The biggest screw job goes to Temple. Weirdly, it almost appears that the selection committee elevated Villanova to a higher seed than they deserved at the expense of the A-10 champ who was lower than they should have been. To add insult to injury, Temple also gets the Bill Packer Screw Job award. Not only were they seeded lower than deserved, they drew an opponent - Cornell -  who was also seeded lower than they should have been. This is the famed Billy Packer rationale, where the committee can justify Temple's lower seeding by forcing them to play - and having them lose - to a 12 seed that really should be a 10. Of course, the real unfairness comes in the 2nd round where Temple, as a 3/4 seed would have been playing a 5/6 seed. Instead, they're going to draw a 4 seed 2nd round matchup.

Having said all that, and notwithstanding Villanova's recent troubles, the South bracket sets up very nicely for them. Robert Morris in the first round and a mid-major 2nd round game. Sweet 16 could be Baylor (in Houston no less) and then winner take all rematch from last year vs. Duke for the Final Four.