I love March Madness.  As an alum of the University of Kentucky, college basketball is one of my favorite sports.  Nothing can match the excitement of March Madness.  What other sport delivers Butler going to back to back national title games? George Mason and VCU making Final Fours?  You don’t get that kind of excitement in college football because teams like Boise State aren’t given a chance to show whether or not they can play with the big boys.  

I find myself mixed on the conference tournaments this year however.  Kentucky and Syracuse are both 30-1 and haven’t lost in a long time.  Both schools could benefit from getting beat in their conference tournaments.  They have #1 seeds all but clinched.  They have no need to play 3 games in 3 days and risk injury.  They could benefit from having their players taste defeat as a reminder of what it feels like.  That makes it difficult for me to predict winners in the SEC and Big East tournaments.  

The Big Ten got a little easier to predict due to the injury bug hitting Michigan State. Losing a key player to a torn ACL in the last game of the season puts a damper on Sparty’s chances going forward.  It leaves Ohio State as the favorite to win but the Hoosiers are my dark horse candidate to win in Indianapolis.  Ohio State gets itself a #2 seed for sure if they win while the Hoosiers are trying to clinch at least a #4 seed to avoid the legendary 5 seed jinx.  

UNC is the obvious choice for winning the ACC tournament but do not sleep on Florida State.  The Seminoles have knocked off the Heels and the Dookies this season.  If it wasn’t for a fierce rally in the 1st game, Duke would have gotten run out of the gym twice by Carolina.  I just can’t see Duke toppling FSU and UNC on no rest.  They are too Jeckyl and Hyde to pull it off IMO.

The Big 12 conference will come down to Kansas and Mizzou in potentially the last game between these heated rivals.  Mizzou is leaving for the SEC next year.  That will add a desperation for both schools if they meet in the tourney.  The two games this year both went right down to the wire and were both candidates for game of the year.  I can’t wait for the rubber match!  My SEC ties force me to favor Mizzou.

And excuse me as I yawn when thinking about the PAC 12 tournament.  It doesn’t matter who wins this one because I don’t see any PAC 12 team making the Sweet 16.  They might not even make it to the round of 32!

Let the MADNESS begin!