A few quick thoughts before the tournament starts:
Usually the team that most people think didn't deserve an at-large bid to be in the tourney ends up winning their first round game. As such, look for Arizona to beat Utah, which also would be a classic 12-5 upset.
As usual, the tournament selection committee overrates the Big 10 conference, with 7 teams from the Big 10 in the tourney. As usual, look for the Big 10 to flop in the big dance. Even if one of the top two or three teams from the Big 10 were to make it far, that doesn't justify having 7 teams from that conference.
I don't like Louisville to go to the Final Four. They didn't have to get by either UCONN or Pitt in order to win the Big East tournament. As such, look for the Midwest region to be one of the "busted bracket" regions where anyone has a shot to make the Final Four from. The Midwest is such a wide open region that I could see a team like Wake Forest either making it to the Final Four or losing in the first round.
None of the 16 seeds are going to beat the number 1 seeds. I realize this isn't exactly going out on a limb, but it needs to be said in order to try and quiet those prognosticators trying to make a name for themselves.
Can Fran Dunphy better his 1-10 tournament record that he had with Penn now that he is coaching Temple? Will Christmas arrive in March this year? I say yes to both. Dunphy's one win in the tournament came in 1994 when Penn was an 11 seed. Temple is an 11 seed this year.
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