march madness

Where did "March Madness" get it name?  Is it because NFL football has been over for a month, baseball is still in spring training, the NBA and NHA seasons keeps on keeping on...so that's kind of the frame of mind this time of the year. Avid college baskball fans, pro and amateur gamblers and the office pool experts are waiting for the information that will put them a head above everyone else.  Here is the lowdown:

East Region: This is where the top team and player in the country are located: the University of North Carolina Tar Heels and Tyler Hansbrough. Mount Saint Mary's will be the first victim played on Friday as the Tar Heels journey to San Antonio moves toward the first week of April.

It will be the most competitive of the four regions for the Tar Heels and not easy by any means. A number of teams have a legitimate shot to win over North Carolina and cut down the nets in the East.
  • Arkansas vs. Indiana first round will be good, with the winner up against the Tar Heels.
  • Notre Dame (5th-seeded) and Washington State (4th-seeded) are challenges also.
  • The University Of Tennessee is at the bottom of the bracket upset with not being a one-seed, but they did lose the SEC Tournament, not helping their cause.  The Volunteers have the team to put up a good fight to win the whole tournament.
  • As for Cinderella teams, South Alabama could make it past Butler, Winthrop could make it past Washington State, but they would still need a lot of luck.
West Region: UCLA is on top here with a 31-3 record and Pac-10 regular season plus previous tournament titles.
  • Duke (2-seeded) is at bottom half of the bracket and has been shaky at times during the season.
  • Xavier (3-seeded) UConn (4-seeded) both advancing past first round without problems. Drake, Western Kentucky 5-12 matchup will be fun to watch with the winner having a good shot against Connecticut in round 2.
  • Purdue (6th-seeded), West Virginia (7th-seeded) have been strong all year.
  • No real long shots in this region. Arizona (10-seed) has a talented team but poor squad guidance by Lute Olson. BYU  Cougars (27-7)with a solid season in Mountain West could get by Texas A & M Aggies, but UCLA would be ahead.
  • UCLA Bruins could lose this region, but Duke and Coach K will have a hard time getting past them.
South Region: Memphis Tigers (1-seed) (33-1) has defeated most of its competition this season with a strong backcourt and frontcourt and could possibly end up with just one loss on their record.
  • The Tiger's half of the bracket has lots of competition.
  • Texas-Arlington should be an easy first-round win with things getting tougher with the winner from Oregon Ducks/Mississippi State Bulldogs next up. Both of these could give the Tigers a problem.
  • Temple (12-seed) after A-10 Tournament is confident but it has Michigan State to start so that may end it for them.
  • Pittsburgh Panthers (4-seed) could be trouble with their aggressive defensive play.
  • Texas State Longhorns (2-seed) at the bottom half of bracket, has a terrific backcourt with Augustin and Abrams will not have much competition from Stanford (3-seed), Marquette (6-seed) and Miami-Florida (7-seed).
  • It should be the Memphis Tigers vs. Texas Longhorns.
Midwest Region: Kansas Jayhawks (1-seed) shared Big 12 regular season crown with Texas Longhorns but had solid win over Texas in Big 12 Tournament final (84-74) Clemson Tigers.
  • These teams could be a challenge for Kansas: Vanderbilt (4-seed), Clemson (5-seed). Oliver Purnell's Clemson Tigers have plenty of confidence. Tigers almost won ACC Tournament, winning over Duke and providing top-ranked North Carolina a fight 3 times this season with 2 overtime thrillers.
  • Not much chance for a Cinderella Team to come out of the top half of the Midwest bracket. University of Nevada-Las Vegas (8-seeded), Kent State (9-seeded) and Siena (13-seeded) have unfavorable draws. UNLV vs. Kent State matchup will have to play Kansas in next round and Siena against Vanderbilt as a starter.
  • Georgetown is at the bottom of the bracket (2-seed) will have good competition from Wisconsin (3-seed), USC (6-seed), Gonzaga (7-seed), Davidson (10-seed), Kansas State (11-seed) and even Cal State Fullerton (14th seed) all having potential to make a move.
  • Davidson Wildcats could be overall Cinderella team. They sailed through another southern conference schedule, but even more important had quality losses against country's elite teams: North Carolina (72-68), Duke (79-73) and UCLA(75-63).