Selection Reflections

Selection Sunday is over. After months of speculation about who would wind up where, the bubble has burst, the selection committee has spoken, and the madness can begin in earnest. Now let’s get to work breaking down the brackets.TOUGHEST REGIONAL Syracuse is brutal, with no. 1 seed North Carolina, no. 2 and defending national champion UConn, no. 3 Kansas, which competed all season for a no. 1 seed, and no. 4 Florida, one of the hottest teams in the nation.WEAKEST REGIONAL In Chicago, not much stands in the way of no.1 seed Illinois. No. 2 Oklahoma State and no. 3 Arizona could present challenges, but there isn’t a team that fits the profile of one that could give the Illini trouble. That would be a power team, one that could trot out a tall, bulky front line. And Wisconsin, which played the Illini close three times this season with their big lineup, is safety tucked away in the Syracuse Regional.GREATEST POTENTIAL MATCHUP The possibilities abound, but what about Duke vs. North Carolina in the Final Four? That could happen, because the tournament selection committee rated the Tar Heels no. 2 and Duke no. 3, respectively, among the top seeds. Those slots are schedule to play one another in the Final Four.The Blue Devils and Tar Heels will have a lot of work to do in their regions if they want to go another round in their perpetual title fight; Duke will struggle to get by Oklahoma in the Austin regional. But like the Tar Heels, the Blue Devils are tournament tested and tough, leaving open the possibility of yet another Tobacco Road classic.TEAMS ON A ROLL Gonzaga, seeded no. 3 in the Albuquerque Regional, enters the tournament on a 12-game winning streak. Having long since shed the “mid-major” tag, the Zags are now grouped with the nation’s strongest programs.Florida, which has recently suffered a string of embarrassing early-round ousters, finally comes in playing well. The Gators have won seven straight, including the SEC Tournament, where they dumped Kentucky for the second time in eight days.Louisville and coach Rick Pitino, who has a national title to his credit while at Kentucky, have won nine in a row.UPSET SPECIALS No.5 versus no. 12 matchups are always the ones to watch. Three of the four this year offer intriguing possibilities. My favorite is Wisconsin-Milwaukee over Alabama in the Chicago Regional. Why? The Crimson Tide didn’t play especially well in the SEC Tournament, losing in the semifinals to Florida, and don’t have a lot of depth. UW-Milwaukee, meanwhile, has several good three-point shooters, an important key for an upset-minded team.In the Syracuse Regional, no. 5 Villanova is going to have its hands full with New Mexico, which has won nine straight, behind future pro Danny Granger. The Lobos boast imposing size and additional scorers in athlete Alfred Neale and long-range specialist Troy DeVries.MORE POTENTIAL SLEEPERS No.14 seed Niagara, which hasn’t played in the tournament since 1970, has a senior-laden team and a big-time scorer in senior Juan Mendez.The Purple Eagles could give Big 12 regular-season champion and no. 3 seed Oklahoma more than a scare.Austin is loaded with potential storylines. Vermont, making its third straight NCAA appearance, is another senior dominated team that wants to give longtime head coach Tom Brennan, who is retiring after 19 seasons, a rousing sendoff. The Catamounts face no. 4 Syracuse. As anyone who watched ESPN’s The Season knows, Vermont is a tight-knit group that won’t be afraid of the Orange.Also in Austin, look for Old Dominion, which has Australian big man Alex Loughton and is well coached by Blaine Taylor, to give Michigan State some problems.MY FINAL FOUR I like Illinois out of Chicago, Wake Forest out of Albuquerque, Oklahoma out of Austin, and North Carolina out of Syracuse. The Tar Heels will beat Oklahoma and face Illinois for the national championship, where Roy Williams, disappointed so many times while at Kansas, will win his first national championship.Mr. Dortch is the editor of the Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook.

Selection Reflections

Selection Reflections

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