Bracket Thoughts

I'll make this short, which is a relative term for my typical posts. Before we move on to the NCAA pairings, MSU played like crap Saturday. We know it and I'm not worried about it. I'm tired of the Big Ten and after winning the league title, the NCAA is all that matters.

I think MSU got the best seed they could. The #2 in the Midwest, they can go through Minneapolis and Indy to get to Detroit. They avoided what I believe are the three best #1 seeds in the NCAA. I know Louisville is the #1 overall seed but they only played UConn, Pitt and Villanova once and they lost two of those games. They lost to Western Kentucky, UNLV and Minnesota. They aren't a great defensive team.

Then you look at MSU's side of the bracket and I like their chances too. More depth and experience than Kansas. West Virginia can be dangerous if they can get by Dayton. And I think MSU matches up well with USC, an undisciplined team that plays little defense, and Boston College, a very disciplined team with one excellent player in Tyrese Rice and some good players with little depth.

As for overall bracket thoughts:

• Also I hate that I agree with Dick Vitale on this point. But Arizona didn't deserve to be in the tournament. Put in St. Mary's or Creighton. That was a crime.
• Penn State probably didn't deserve to get in either so I have no problem with them being left out. Beat Temple and they probably would have gotten in. And they didn't show up Friday against Purdue.
• North Carolina is the team to beat - if Ty Lawson is healthy by Sweet 16 time. But the field is really WIDE OPEN this year - perhaps more than any other year.
• MSU, Purdue and Ohio State will win their first round games (OSU will beat Siena). Illinois may be in trouble. Minnesota has a tough matchup as does Michigan against Clemson. Wisconsin doesn't score enough to make much of a run.