Madness
Posted March 15, 2009, 9:18 PM ET

How crazy were the conference basketball tournaments?

If they are an indicator of what lies ahead, we're all in for a pretty entertaining couple of weeks. It was nuts watching all the upsets and in the process it is a reminder of how unpredictable college basketball can get in March.

Since the NCAA Tournament brackets were announced at 6pm on Sunday, we've all dissected and analyzed the brackets and match-ups. I try to spend no more than 120 seconds in filling out my brackets.....you heard me: 2 minutes, max.

Last year, all four number one seeds made it to the Final Four. It was and is the first and only time that has ever happened. When I did my rapid fire breakdown of the brackets, an interesting thing happened....I have all four number one seeds making it back to the Final Four this year, too.

You heard me; I've got Louisville, Pitt, UConn and the Heels making it to Motown.

I hate that it turned out that way, but that's what my instincts told me in that span of two minutes. It's boring, and I despise boring....but these four teams are the best teams in America. It never seems to turn out that way, but it did last year and I think it's going to happen again this year.

When I look at the landscape of college hoops, there seems to be a line between the top 5 or 6 teams and everybody else in the country. Now trying to rank teams between #7 and #40 is nearly impossible and on any given day anything can and will happen.

I believe that will absolutely play itself out this year in the Big Dance. We'll see some surprises with double digit teams advancing to the Sweet Sixteen, but they can't beat the big boys when we get down to the Elite Eight....at least I don't think so.

As we prepare for the tourney, there is a team that missed out for the first time since 1991...and that team is Kentucky. The Wildcats and their legion of fans can't be happy at the current state of Kentucky basketball. The fact that this team missed out in a year in which the SEC was so bad and depleted of quality teams is a real shot to the gut and ego.

To say that coach Billy Gillespie is under fire would be an understatement. I thought his statement at the SEC Tournament spoke volumes..."I got married once, and that honeymoon didn't last long either."

Looking back at the weekend, it is amazing how consistent both Duke and UNC have been in the ACC. Coach K's squad won their 9th conference championship in the past 12 years and in the process tied UNC with their 17th crown. Both schools have won 84 tournament games in the league, too.

It will also be funny to hear the Duke fans remind the baby-blues that they are the ACC Champs when they get together this week in Greensboro for the NCAA Tourney. The Heels swept Duke, but the Blue Devils have the belt...so just who does have bragging rights?

Maybe the next three weeks will break the tie?

The craziest basketball related story that I read about involves the Kansas Senate. They adopted a resolution that says the beloved Jayhawks will no longer play teams that begin with the letter "B". Back in 2005, KU lost in the opening round to Bucknell. In 2006, they were upset by Bradley. This year they were upset in the opening round of the Big XII Tourney by Baylor.

Of course, in between all of these disappointing losses was a national title....and more good news: Kansas is the #3 seed in the Midwest, and there are no "B" teams on the horizon.