Upsets on tap?

By Mark Buckets

The countdown is on to the most engaging four days of sports theater you'll ever find. The first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament are as exciting as any event in sports. Selection Sunday is a staple of sports lexicon and is fully entrenched in our culture. Do you know of anyone, from the CEO of a company right down to the janitor, who doesn't fill out a bracket? ESPN even offers the option to fill up to 5 brackets, which means that degenerates who have a bit of time on their hands can claim that they are basketball know-it-alls.

From Bryce Drew's (Valparaiso) three-pointer against Ole Miss in 1998 to Harold "The Show" Arceneaux's (Weber St.) monster performance against North Carolina in 1999, the tournament provides an infinite amount of excitement. On the flip side of every heartwarming tale, the losing team is banished to the sport's graveyard. Who will ever remember Mississippi's Ansu Sesay failing to stick Drew on that play? The possibilities are endless, especially this year, considering the dearth of consistent teams outside of the top two lines of each bracket.

As for this year, a number of scenarios can play out over the course of four days. Illinois, which my colleague has been rightfully critical of, were given new life after sweating out Selection Sunday. Not only are they matched up with a Virginia Tech team that has stumbled down the stretch, but also are in line to play a Southern Illinois team that mirrors their preference of play; deliberate shot selection, lock-down defense. And do I really need to ask which team has better personnel? Sounds to me like Bruce Weber's bunch will tally a couple of wins at Nationwide Arena. Another team on upset alert, Duke, has also faded as the season has gone on. Despite a stellar non-conference resume and a few solid ACC wins to boast, the Devils are entering uncharted territory. At Duke, you're expected to win a couple of games at the ACC Tournament, not to mention playing on Thursday is a mortal sin for the Devils. Their contest with Virginia Commonwealth shoul be one of the more intriguing matchups of the first round. VCU's full-court pressure and lightning-quick backcourt will test the moxie of Greg Paulus and his mates. This team can put points on the board in a hurry, as George Mason will surely attest to. Expect Duke to emerge victorious in Buffalo, despite the fact that they lack the athleticism needed to make a deep tourney run.

Possible second round pairings that catch my eye are Gonzaga-UCLA and USC-Texas. How much fun would it be to see Ben Howland and Mark Few go toe-to-toe a year after that epic showdown in Oakland. These coaches are two of the brighter stars in the coaching solar system, and will prove it by preparing their teams for what promises to be a barn burner. On the other end of the bracket, USC and Texas could provide us with a game that would make Michael Johnson and other track legends jealous. Kevin Durant vs. Nick Young. Two rising point guards in D.J. Augustin and Daniel Hackett. The number of hits on StubHub should go through the roof if these teams collide.

Those are just a few examples of why the first weekend of the tournament compares with any other four days in sports. Sit back, relax, and strap it down for some of the more entertaining, to say the least, dates on the sports calender.