Three of the four teams finished the past season in the top 10, and the other is a top-five program, all-time.

We're now just hours away from the start of the Final Four. Since the start of the season we haven't had a drought of games like this one. But that's how it works. Anticipation plus few games plus magnitude and we've got ourselves a whole bunch of hype. But let's get to the hoop. Have you taken time this week to ponder that reality? This team winning it all. The Butler Bulldogs, ... Read More

1) Because no team has guarded it like Butler will. The Bulldogs are favored for a few reasons over MSU. I'd like to believe the unafraid man-to-man defense is one of the reasons. Whether Draymond Green or Korie Lucious are running the show, we have the right to ponder if MSU will revert to the norm this season: turning itself over too many times. During its rocky road in the ... Read More

Two down, two to go.

1) Because Joe Mazzulla can't do it again. The — sorry for the term here — downright average player that's been at the focal point of WVU's success is bound to drift back toward his mean, right? Mazzulla had, arguably, the two biggest games of his career in the NCAA Tournament. The first was against Duke in 2008; the second Saturday night in Syracuse. So while Mazzulla, who did foul ... Read More

As I do every year during the week leading up to the Final Four, here are five reasons I believe Butler could be held back from winning a national championship, followed by the biggest reason why it can and will. Just a fun little overview of the teams, with a dash of hyperbole thrown in. West Virginia will be coming Wednesday, Duke Thursday and Michigan State on Friday. 1) Because a ... Read More

The final installment of this pathetic excuse for a preview focuses on the Midwest, wherein we've seen the Man Region already eat up two of the top three seeds. Of the four regions, this one's the hardest to drum up some cynicism for. Then again, Bruce Pearl's involved. So away we go. Michigan State vs. Northern Iowa When and where it’s going down: Friday, 9:40 p.m. in St. ... Read More

No objective analysis. All cynicism and a temporary leave from my normal writing style. Why? Because it's my site, bitches, and I'm sick of all the repeated preview crap that's around every turn on the damn Internet. Have we forgotten sports can be fun and drive us to absolute anger? I've got more ammo for the cannon. Let's do this. Duke vs. Purdue When and where it's going down: Friday, 10 p.m. ... Read More

Screw tempo-free stats. These previews are about 100 percent unadulterated opinions. If you want to get nerdy with it, head thataway. And now, I look at the other set of Thursday games, the games that are being the most ignored right now and that's just unfair. These guys deserve ire as well! Syracuse vs. Butler When and where it’s going down: Thursday, 7 p.m. in Salt Lake City. On the call: Gus Johnson ... Read More

The last thing you want is another breakdown and analysis of two teams you've gotten to know plenty by now, right? Too many people are already doing that. So let's have a little fun. I'm bringing out my acid tongue and letting out a little humor, a little cynicism and a little truth with these "previews." Kentucky vs. Cornell When and where it's going down: Thursday, 10 p.m. in Syracuse. On the call: ... Read More

And he delivers a preview of a true toss-up of an 8/9 game.

CHJ's final regional preview comes to you in the dinner hour, and it's a full meal of games that the East is offering up. In fact, a buffet's more like it, and you won't want to treat this group of tilts like an à la cart menu (too heavy on the food metaphors? Stopping now). In the past decade no region has had more unpredictability, in terms of which seed ... Read More

Now we're going to talk about Duke and all that's been handed to it and how easy it's going to be for it to saunter to the Final Four. Wait. We're not doing any of that. See, Duke can't "win." Either it reaches the Final Four and everyone rolls their eyes, or it loses before then and Duke gets pummeled for not being able to roll through what's conceived to ... Read More

Heard it called The Man Region yesterday, and that's a great call. I went on the radio last night to talk about these 16 teams, and as I was feebly trying to come off as something barely resembling an analyst, I realized this region is great for us, the viewers. Yeah, it really sucks that Kansas got the toughest region possible, but what a television experience this quadrant is going ... Read More

Today is the day I'll be doling out all the previews for all the regions. I don't want to get you straight-and-narrow analysis and over-exhaustive breakdowns from every game; you can find that in plenty of places, and it's often way, way too much, wouldn't you agree? Doesn't a lot of the stuff so many people slave over just become white noise? So, my own little take on the games, ... Read More

Here are the five games that will be deciding our first automatic bids for the 2010 NCAA Tournament. Yep, it's already that time. Can you believe it? Why, it seems like the NFL season just ended. Perhaps the Olympics masking another chunk of the season made it all go by so much faster than we realized. But March is well underway and it's time for college basketball to shake off ... Read More

I'm not even going to address the surefire teams that are playing tonight and will be in The Tournament (and there are a few interesting games there, too). These are the games with only bubble impact. Last night, I used an interest level, tonight, it's another arbitrary measuring tool: urgency for each team. Temple-Saint Louis. Temple is securely in but Saint Louis needs to win out and lose in overtime of ... Read More

Got a chance to speak with Joey Brackets today, and while I still don't read his prognostications, I figured most of you do. So this is a work for you, the reader. All I did was put my phone speaker and listen to a bunch of newspaper men and women were holed up in their offices around the country and asking regional-related questions about their teams. I got three questions ... Read More