4:45PM- Hello and welcome to Drive & Dish's coverage of Selection Sunday. We won't bore you with "Bracketology" or mention "Corporate Champions." We will, however, be as opinionated as anyone out there. Let's get it started.
4:56PM- John Calipari is being grilled by Greg Gumble and Seth Davis. Predetermined questions? Not a chance. These guys are flying by the seats of their pants. Riiiight...
4:57PM- Earlier in the day, Jim Nantz took a pot shot at ESPN. He said something to the extent of "The NCAA Tournament Selection Show clock is more accurate on CBS than it is on ESPN." I understandthat, Jim, but take it easy. The ESPN family of networks did pick up the SEC Title Game.....
5:00PM- Here we go.
5:01PM- UNC #1 overall. I don't question that at all. Neither do Clark Kellogg and Seth Davis.
5:02PM- The four #1s....UNC in the East, Memphis in the South, UCLA in the West and Kansas - by virtue of their Big XII Championship - is #1 in the Midwest.
5:03PM- Nantz and Packer seem to have no quarrels with the brackets this year. Billy boy hasn't softened, has he?
5:04PM- Oooh, I like this. Hollywood Squares, College Basketball style! Tick-tack-toe, Baylor-Notre Dame-Temple! Nice touch, CBS.
5:08PM- If I see another commercial for Sonic's calorie-laden fried brownie bites, I think I'll puke....
5:09PM- North Carolina vs. Indiana in the second round possibly? I'm juiced!
5:10PM- In the 2/15 game, Tennessee will take on American. These two teams are polar opposites...It might not be pretty.
5:13PM- As a non-partisan onlooker, it appears that Carolina should have a cakewalk to the Elite 8. From there, a Louisville #3 led by Rick Pitino-Roy Williams game at Bobcats Arena would be a wonderful game.
5:16PM- Villanova gets in. I'm still in shock that they got a bid.
5:17PM- Davidson gets a 10. 22 in a row in conference will earn you that.
5:20PM- Looking at this side of the bracket, the potential Kansas-Clemson 1-4 game in the Sweet 16 should be great.
5:21PM- Nobody will talk about this, but how about the prospect of a USC-Cal State Fullerton second round matchup?
5:22PM- USC earned a 6th seed and will take on Kansas State. Beasley v Mayo - neither will be near the other during the game - has the folks at CBS Sports licking their chops.
5:24PM- Looking over the Midwest, I like Davidson's chances to beat a Gonzaga team in the 7-10 game. It'll be played in Raleigh....bad news for Few's bunch.
5:25PM- Oregon gets in with a 9 seed.
5:29PM- Drive & Dish is experiencing some technical difficulties, so hang in there....We'll have it up soon and post some passionate opinions throughout the night.
5:30PM- Okay Roy < Jesus, give it to me. Duke apparently will be shipped out West with UCLA as the #1. That means that Duke will have to beat - if they're lucky enough to get that far - UCLA in the Regional Final being played in Phoenix.
Trashtalk Superstar adds:
Mark Buckets said:
"5:22PM- USC earned a 6th seed and will take on Kansas State. Beasley v Mayo - neither will be near the other during the game - has the folks at CBS Sports licking their chops."
The Tournament Selection Committee always denies that they deliberately seed teams in order to create match-ups that will generate interest from television audiences. Yet year after year, they never pass up an opportunity to create interesting "story lines" with their first and second round match-ups. Maybe it's just a coincidence. But it happens every year.
The battle of the superstar freshmen, Mayo vs. Beasley, is a sure-fire bet to generate media attention.
Mark also said:
"5:04PM- Oooh, I like this. Hollywood Squares, College Basketball style! Tick-tack-toe, Baylor-Notre Dame-Temple! Nice touch, CBS."
Thankfully, the NCAA Tournament Selection shows aren't really like "Hollywood Squares." If they were, Whoopi Goldberg and Bruce Vilanch would be mainstays on them instead of Billy Packer and Digger Phelps.
More on Bruce Vilanch here.
Although on second thought, Dick Vitale's shtick is so over the top that he could probably hold his own on Hollywood Squares.
Finally, Mr. Buckets said:
"5:16PM- Villanova gets in. I'm still in shock that they got a bid."
Never, not even for one minute, did I think that Villanova would be left out of the Tournament. I never considered them to be a true "bubble" team. They were in all along, in my opinion.
But Dick Vitale is already complaining that Syracuse got left out.
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