We are now on the eve of not only March Madness (sorry, Oakland, I don't count the game on Tuesday) but also St. Patrick's Day. Wow. Two great events in one day, especially if you are a huge college basketball fan, Irish or a beer distributor. After three days of staring at brackets, I am more than ready for the games to begin. The basketball pools are taking their toll on me. Since Sunday, I've had the compulsive desire to seed everything. At lunch, #1 seed Pepsi had no trouble with #16 Mr. Pibb but the #12 turkey sandwich upset the #5 seed, steak and cheese. Anyway, here are some notes. They are brief because I have been spending most of my time with the aforementioned brackets.

I think the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee needs to rename itself the "NCAA Tournament / Screw Boston College" Committee. BC finished 24-4, won the regular season Big East title and was in the top ten for most of January and February. The Eagles' four losses came against three NCAA Tournament teams and Notre Dame, one of the last teams left out. The Eagles were not only "rewarded" with a #4 seed but they were the lowest of the #4 seeds because they were placed in the same bracket with #1 Illinois. If BC survives the first two rounds, they will almost certainly play the Illini in Chicago. This is not the first time that the Selection Committee has treated BC unfairly. In 2003, BC won their Big East division (there were two divisions then) with a 10-6 record, won 7 of their last 10 games, were 9-4 on the road and had a respectable RPI of 49. They were left out of the tournament in favor of Alabama (7-9 in the SEC, 1-8 on the road, 4-6 in their last 10 games) and NC State (3-7 on the road, 5-5 in their last 10 and LOST TO BC AT HOME!!). In 2001, BC cruised to the Big East regular season and conference tournament championship while finishing 26-4. They were given a 3 seed that year and lost to red-hot USC in the second round. During the past five years, there have been 26 teams in the major conferences (ACC, Big East, Big XII, Big Ten, SEC and Pac Ten) that have finished the season with between 3 and 5 losses overall. A total of 22 of those 26 were rewarded with either a #1 or a #2 seed. The other four were: BC in 2001 (4 losses/3 seed), Pitt in 2002 (5 losses/3 seed), Pitt in 2004 (4 losses/3 seed) and of course BC in 2005 (4 losses/4 seed).

On the opposite side of the coin is UConn, a team that somehow managed to get a #2 seed despite having seven losses overall and getting tattooed by Syracuse in the Big East semis (it was not nearly as close as the score indicates). BC won the Big East regular season title and Syracuse won the tournament, yet both were given #4 seeds while UConn was given a #2. It doesn't take a scholar of college basketball to know that either money or favors had to have changed hands to make that happen. Selection Committee Chairman Bob Bowlsby summed it up when he said on national television that UConn was the #2 seed because they wanted to give the Big East Regular Season Champion at least a #2 seed. The only problem is that UConn wasn't the champion (BC and UConn both finished 13-3 but BC was the #1 seed in the league tournament because they beat UConn on the road in their only meeting). I guess the Committee was using the "who sells more jerseys" tiebreaker that they are so fond of. Even if one considers BC and UConn co-champions, why wouldn't Bowlsby's rule apply to BC? The other part of this equation is that UConn was set up with first and second round games in Worcester, Mass, just a short bus ride from their campus. It's almost as if Jim Calhoun set up the brackets himself.

If BC's seeding was ridiculous, I can't even come up with a word to describe Louisville's #4 seed. The Cardinals finished 27-4, won the regular season and conference tournament and are ranked 4th in the nation. Louisville fans had every right to think that they had an outside chance for a #1 seed. From fourth in the country to fourth in the Albuquerque bracket. It couldn't make less sense.

Best Name: I'm really happy that George Washington made it into the NCAA Tournament because I love hearing the name Pops Mensah-Bonsu. There's something about a 21-year-old guy named "Pops" that makes me laugh.

That reminds me of another bracket rule. Don't pick teams whose star players have hyphenated names.

Best Chance for a First Round Upset by a Team Seeded Higher than 12: Utah State over Arizona. The Aggies shoot the ball very well (they lead tournament teams in Points Per Shot) and play solid defense (they allow 57.7 points per game). They have won eight of their last ten games and beat Utah earlier this season. They played #2 seed Kansas very tough (64-61) two years ago. Arizona is not a great defensive team and that makes them susceptible to the upset.

First #1 Seed to Lose: Washington. I think Washington will lose in the second round if they have to face Pittsburgh. If not, they could face Louisville in the Sweet Sixteen. If that happens, the 4 seed may actually be favored to beat the 1 seed. I can't imagine that has ever happened.

Fatigue Factor: West Virginia, Syracuse, Georgia Tech, NC State, Florida, Arizona, Wisconsin, Iowa, Texas Tech and Louisville all played three or more games last week in their conference tournaments. That could take it's toll in the second round, especially for the teams that aren't as deep on the bench. Duke, Washington, Kentucky, Oklahoma State and Illinois also played three times last week, but as #1 and #2 seeds, their second round matchups will not be quite as formidable.

Good luck with your brackets and Happy St. Patrick's Day.