Selection Sunday has come and gone

        Selection Sunday has come and gone with lots of shockers and disappointments. How can there be a NCAA Tournament without Connecticut, UNC, UCLA, and Arizona? Well, we will certainly see how this one goes. Some teams did not make the field of 65 such as Illinois, Virginia Tech, and Mississippi State. Other teams that made it to the big dance were shocking to certain people; these teams included the likes of the Florida Gators, Minnesota, and Utah State. The Big East is the big winner with eight teams making into the big dance.
   
        The seeding was a bit confusing to some, as Florida who some felt should have been playing in the NIT, has made it in as a 10 seed, and a top 25 team, UTEP, made it in as a 12 seed. There was some debate about whether Duke or West Virginia would get a #1 seed. Well, Duke prevailed and is a #1 seed along with Kansas, Kentucky, and Syracuse. All of the #1 seeds have the talent and depth to make it to the Final Four and win the whole Championship. Other teams such as Villanova can definitely make a repeat visit to the Final Four with star player Scottie Reynolds. Leading candidate for player of the year, Ohio State's Evan Turner can take his #2 seeded Buckeyes deep into this tournament. Lastly, #3 seeded Georgetown, has Greg Monroe, Austin Freeman and Chris Wright to lead them deep into the final rounds.
  
        Villanova has been given a #2 seed, maybe a bit too high, while Michigan State has been given a 5 seed, maybe a bit too low. Purdue has been granted a #4 seed, but has not been the same team since their star player Robbie Hummel went down with a knee injury. His season ending knee injury has made them a team to be on upset alert. There will definitely be some interesting matchups to keep an eye for one of two reasons. The first reason is most people's favorite reason, which is because of an always present upset alert. Reason number two is because the two teams matched up together should make it a close contest. Everybody knows in the first round, the games to watch always include the #5 vs. #12 seed because this is the game which usually provides an upset. In this tournament, one would have to consider the UTEP, Butler matchup to be the favorite for an upset. The #5 seed Butler usually has trouble guarding tough big men, which UTEP just happens to have. The key in this game is will be to see if the Bulldog's be able to slow down UTEP's big man Derrick Carater. Caracter transferred from the Big East, Louisville to be specific. The south region has an intriguing matchup of the #5 seed Texas A&M vs. the #12 seeded and highly controversial Utah State, who again, some thought might not make it into the tournament at all. Utah State will be extra hungry after a heart breaking loss to Marquette in the first round last year.
   
        Another exciting matchup will be the #4 seeded Maryland Terrapins vs. the #13 seeded Cougars of Houston. Houston has Aubrey Coleman who averages 25.6 points per game which is the highest in the NCAA. Maryland has the always exciting to watch Greivis Vasquez. Both teams can score in bunches, and neither team plays great defense.  This should be a high scoring affair. Some of the games that should be close and exciting to watch include #8 seeded Gonzaga vs. #9 seeded Florida State in the West region. James Anderson and the #7 seeded Oklahoma State taking on #10 Georgia Tech in the Midwest Region. Anderson can take over any game and score 30 or more, but will have to do so vs. a Georgia Tech team with some of the best big men in the country including a most likely lottery pick, Derrick Favors. In that same bracket, #8 UNLV vs. #9 seed, the UNI Panthers. In the East region, #8 Texas will take on #9 Wake Forest. In that same bracket, keep an eye on that 5 vs. 12 matchup for an upset when #12 Cornell takes on #5 Temple. One more game to watch in this East region is #7 Clemson vs. #10 Missouri. #4 Purdue has to face #13 Siena in the first round and has to have big games from JaJuan Johnson and E'Twaun Moore if they want to escape the Saints and make it into the second round.
   
        Selection Sunday is always controversial. Teams that people feel should have made it are now playing in the NIT tournament and some teams who people didn't think had a chance are playing in the big dance. Because of this always controversial Selection Sunday, some people feel that how teams are selected and seeded should be changed. Others feel that the field of 65 should be expanded. For now, the teams are selected and this should be an exciting March Madness Tournament like usual. Only one more game must be played in order to decide the last team in the NCAA's. On Tuesday, Arkansas-Pine Bluff will play the Winthrop Eagles to decide who has the daunting task of facing #1 seeded Duke. No #16 seed has ever upset a #1 seed. Will this year finally be the year?

By Steven Spector