March Madness

Best three weeks of the year are here! Tomorrow starts March Madness. You can definitely make a case that tomorrow & Friday are the two greatest sport days on the calendar year. I'll believe it. I enjoy it more than any of the four major opening days. More than the Super Bowl, of conference championships. More than the first day of the MLB Playoffs. More than rivalry weekend in college football. A game 7? Nah.

Tomorrow & Friday. Two days. 32 basketball games. Nonstop television coverage from noon-midnight. Two back-to-back days of twelve hours of coverage. It's glorious. At any given moment there are always at least 3 games being played, so odds are that there's always at least one really good game on. How can that be beat?

But before we get to tomorrow, a few things need to be cleared up. Like, for instance, some clarification on the 64 teams still alive in the hunt for the 2006 National Championship.

To make things easy for you, I've broken them down into 7 easy groups for you.

Group #1: Happy to be there.

This group is mostly 14-16 seeds who realistically have no shot at winning a game, and they know it. But they're going to make the most of their weekend in the NCAA's, regardless.

Minneapolis #16 Monmouth
Washington #16 Albany
Atlanta #16 Southern
Oakland #16 Oral Roberts
Atlanta #15 Penn
Oakland #15 Belmont
Minneapolis #15 Davidson
Atlanta #14 N'western State
Minneapolis #14 Southern Alabama
Atlanta #13 Iona
Washington #13 Air Force
Atlanta #12 Texas A&M

Group #2: One Victory Makes A Season

This group is just a step ahead of group one. They're still in the 'happy to be here' state of mind, but they're not quite settling. They realize they have a realistic shot at being a major spoiler, and winning one game isn't out of the question. Their eyes aren't quite set on the Sweet 16, but Round of 32 sure looks appetizing.

Washington #15 Winthrop
Washington #14 Murray State
Oakland #14 Xavier
Oakland #13 Bradley
Washington #12 Utah State
Washington #11 George Mason
Oakland #11 San Diego State

Group #3: Bracket Busters

These teams not only have a shot at winning a game, they have a shot at winning two. They are still mostly lower seeded teams, but they can make the Sweet 16 if they play right. And in doing so, they'll be taking out two other teams that many people had going pretty far in the tournament, thus busting their brackets. This is also far & away the largest of the groups.

Minneapolis #13 Pacific
Minneapolis #12 Montana *Sharkey Sleeper Pick of 2006*
Oakland #12 Kent State
Minneapolis #11 Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Atlanta #11 Southern Illinois
Washington #10 Seton Hall
Minneapolis #10 Northern Iowa
Oakland #10 Alabama
Atlanta #10 N.C. State
Atlanta #9 UNC-Wilmington
Washington #9 UAB
Oakland #9 Bucknell
Oakland #8 Arkansas
Washington #8 Kentucky
Minneapolis #8 Arizona
Washington #7 Wichita State

Group #4: The Mountaineers

For lack of a better name, this group is named after the West Virginia Mountaineers, who accomplished what this group is capable of. That is being a decently high seed that is often overlooked, but definitely can make the Sweet 16, has all the tools to make the Elite 8, and should give its Elite 8 opponent a fit, and be in the game until the last shot. One or two of these teams could hit that last shot, and make the final four, if their cards all fell right.

Minneapolis #9 Wisconsin
Atlanta #8 George Washington
Atlanta #7 California
Oakland #7 Marquette
Minneapolis #7 Georgetown
Atlanta #5 Syracuse
Minneapolis #5 Neveda
Atlanta #4 LSU

Group 5: The Hot Picks

Every year there are a few teams that somehow emerge at tournament time as the hot picks, teams that all of a sudden a lot of people are paying attention to, even putting them in their final four. All of these teams are good enough to make the final four, or even the championship. But be warned, like #4 Syracuse in 2005, #5 Providence & #5 Florida in 2004, and #4 Mississippi State in 2003, there will always be at least one of these teams that absolutely ruins somebodies bracket by losing in the first round to a far worse team than them (a group 2 or group 3 opponent).

Washington #6 Michigan State
Atlanta #6 West Virginia
Oakland #5 Pittsburgh
Oakland #4 Kansas
Minneapolis #4 Boston College
Washington #3 North Carolina
Oakland #2 UCLA

Group 6: The Over-rated

These teams all got top-6 seeds, and deservingly so, because of either strong regular season or strong conference play. But beware of them, because they aren't as good as advertised, or there is a chink in the armor that isn't highly publicized. Picking any of these teams to win 3 or more games is a very dangerous proposition.

Minneapolis #6 Oklahoma
Oakland #6 Indiana
Washington #5 Washington
Oakland #3 Gonzaga
Washington #2 Tennessee

Group 7: The Contenders

The last group. While most people will have at least one team from groups 4-6 in their final four, the person who plays it safe will have a final four loaded with four people from group 7. This person will also likely be guaranteed to finish near the top of their pool. If your final four has 3 or more people from this group, be excited, because you're in your pool until the end, and have a definite shot of winning.

Washington #4 Illinois
Minneapolis #3 Florida
Atlanta #3 Iowa
Minneapolis #2 Ohio State
Atlanta #2 Texas
Oakland #1 Memphis
Minneapolis #1 Villanova
Atlanta #1 Duke
Washington #1 UConn

There you have it, my guide to this years NCAA Tournament. If you haven't finished your bracket yet, hurry up.

And if your wondering, I've lost my mind this year, and gone with an all #1 seed final four, with UConn beating Memphis for the National Championship.