If you are a loyal reader of this column —and of course you’re a loyal reader— you have heard me say it ten zillion times. I don’t trust guys in suits sitting in a room selecting and seeding teams for a championship tournament. If you want something screwed up, allow a bunch of suits to lock themselves in a room and make decisions. Double my suspicions when there are athletic directors and conference presidents involved. 

The 2025 selection committee shot a big fat err ball.

My complaint has always been that there is no transparency to what they do. One year they focus on one metric, and the next year it is a different metric. This year they claimed to have added a couple metrics including something called the Torvik rating and WAB, or Wins Above Bubble.

Still, there appears to be no rhyme or reason for many of their decisions.

Here are a few that stand out as egregiously bad this year.

  • North Carolina and Xavier made the tournament with two combined quad one wins. West Virginia was left out with six quad one wins. The reason given by Bubba Cunningham, the committee chair, was the fact Tucker Devries was hurt and wouldn’t play. Um, Devries hasn’t played since early December and WVU still won more quad one games than either North Carolina or Xavier. Last year the committee said St. John’s and Seton Hall didn’t make the field because they didn’t have enough good wins. I guess that criteria wasn’t considered this year with North Carolina and Xavier.
  • Louisville is seeded 8. Clemson is seeded 5. Louisville and Clemson have nearly identical metrics, though Clemson does have two wins better than any of Louisville’s wins. However, Louisville beat Clemson twice, finished ahead of them in the ACC standings, and made the ACC Championship Game. Even if you believe Clemson should have the higher seed, it certainly shouldn’t be 3 lines higher. On top of that, Louisville gets to play another team that is seeded too low in Creighton. And if they win that game, the Cards get a date with the tournament overall number one seed in round two. This was a complete snub of a team that has lost only twice in 2025. And for the record, Louisville ranks 19 in the new Torvik metric.
  • Michigan is a 5 seed. Wisconsin is a 3 seed. Purdue is a 4 seed. Michigan has the same amount of losses as Wisconsin and two less than Purdue. The Wolverines were 2-1 vs Purdue and 2-0 vs Wisconsin, including beating both on their way to the Big Ten Tournament championship. It is almost like the bracket was finished last week before the conference tournaments. Make it make sense.
  • Iowa State kept their 3 seed despite losing second leading scorer Keshon Gilbert for the year. Remember when they said West Virginia didn’t get in because of a player injury? Yea, they don’t either. Not to mention, Iowa State was only 4-4 in their last 8 games. 
  • How about all of the 8 seeds. Check this out.

 

  • Michigan should be higher based on winning the Big Ten Tournament championship. But Clemson, Oregon, and Memphis should all be seeded lower, while Louisville, Gonzaga, and UConn should all be at least a seed line higher. Mississippi State is probably the only true 8 seed.
  • Baylor a 14 loss 9 seed and Arizona a 12 loss 4 seed. Baylor was on the bubble, supposedly, as recently as a week ago. Arizona made it to the Big 12 tournament final, but that didn’t seem to matter in other cases.

The bottom line is there not only is no transparency, but there is no consistency. Bubba Cunningham said they followed the procedures, including him leaving the room when North Carolina was discussed because he is their AD. Maybe he did, maybe he didn’t. Either way, there is clear influence when North Carolina is being discussed. It is a bad look for the committee.

And how did they answer questions pertaining to North Carolina making it over other teams?

 

Indiana didn’t take advantage? North Carolina is 1-12 in quarter one games. What an embarrassing answer.

Answers like this and the bogus one Louisville got about being dropped to an 8 seed has led to this fiasco.

 

You know what? Good. Maybe it will take crazy people like West Virginia’s AG to destroy this corrupt and inept organization. The committee gets away with their nonsense each year because the event itself makes us forget the pathetic job they do.

I am tired of committees, where guys in suits make random decisions in setting up the best sporting event of the year. Once the games start, we will forget about the committee. But their poor work  will have influence all tournament long. We have learned over and over and over, that matchups matter.

This year was an all time horrible effort from the committee. One of the ugliest err balls you will ever see.

Who is going to win this thing?

Okay, enough complaining. The games start tonight in Dayton in the First Four. I have discussed all the brackets with my guy Two Cent Cracked Crystal Ball and have all the info needed to pick each region. Check my podcast(with my pal Eric) Two Guys Gone Mad to see how much my column brackets change. I’ve been known to flip flop.

KenPom is my favorite metric. This is the closest thing to a cheat code there is in March Madness. The last 22 champions have been in the top 40 defense and top 25 offense in the KenPom rankings. That leaves you with 13 teams that could win it all this year: Auburn(1), Duke(1), Houston(1), Florida(1), Tennessee(2), Ole Miss(6), Clemson(5), Louisville(8), Michigan St(2), Michigan(5), Wisconsin(3), Maryland(4), UCLA(7), Iowa St(3). Pick against these teams at your own peril.

Here are my picks. Do with them what you will.

South Region

This pains me more than you can imagine. I think Tom Izzo and his annoying Spartans win the South Region.

  •  My one first round upset in this region is the team that shouldn’t be there, North Carolina, winning their First Four game versus San Diego State then upsetting 6 seed Mississippi.
  •  With Iowa State shorthanded I can’t see them going any further than the Sweet Sixteen, and they may not make it that far.
  • It may sound crazy, but I think Auburn is vulnerable coming into the tournament. I think Louisville could give the Tigers a game in round two, and as a Louisville fan I want to pick them. I think Texas A&M will be tough in the Sweet Sixteen because they know Auburn well.
  • Michigan State has been playing excellent basketball. Kam Jones won’t be enough for Marquette to Beat Michigan State in round two. Iowa State is shorthanded, so the Spartans will handle the Cyclones. I just think Auburn will eventually blow up, and an Izzo coached team has the knack to frustrate teams.

The Michigan State Spartans get Tom Izzo back to the Final Four.

West Region

The most talented team in the country, Florida, will win this region.

  • Florida will end UConn’s bid for a third title in a row. Maryland will be tough, but not tough enough to handle the Gators.
  • I picked St. John’s to make the Final Four in my preseason column, but then they got thrown in Florida’s bracket. Ultimately, St. John’s won’t score enough to keep up with Florida.
  • I have my first 12 seed over 5 seed —a March Madness tradition— with Colorado State beating a probably shorthanded Memphis team, with Tyrese Hunter likely out.
  • I desperately wanted to pick Drake, but it seemed too trendy. Missouri will force the Bulldogs to play faster than they want.
  • A second round game between John Calipari and Rick Pitino is super juicy.

The Florida Gators will chomp the competition in this region and move to the Final Four.

East Region

This one pains me far more than the South Region. Duke plays far too much defense for the offensive minded only teams in this region.

  • It was shocking that Duke got the easiest region. It is possible they could win this region without Cooper Flagg, though I’m not sure they want to test that theory.
  • Alabama will be fortunate enough to play offensive teams, which is right up their alley. Duke, on the other hand, will play tough defense.
  • BYU is my Cinderella in this region, if a 6 seed can be a Cinderella. The Cougars will shoot their way to the Sweet Sixteen.
  • Arizona vs Oregon will be an old Pac-12 matchup. I love Dana Altman in March, but Arizona is playing their best basketball right now.

The Blue Devils are off to yet another Final Four.

Midwest Region

This year Houston seems to have enough offensive firepower to finally reach the Final Four.

  • This is where I am throwing my Cinderella in the ring. High Point has players who played in power conferences in the past. They won’t be intimidated. They get two tough but beatable teams in Purdue and Clemson to reach the Sweet Sixteen.
  • I wanted to pick Illinois to reach the Sweet Sixteen or even Elite Eight, but the Illini has disappointed me far too often this year.
  • Kentucky gets Lamont Butler back, which will make them much more of a threat.
  • Tennessee will join Auburn in needing to beat a fellow SEC foe to move to the Elite Eight.
  • Houston clearly has the toughest path to the Final Four. If High Point doesn’t come through in my picks, Houston will have to go through Gonzaga/Georgia, Purdue/Clemson, Tennessee/Kentucky. Not easy.

Kelvin Sampson will finally get his shot on the big stage.

Final Four

Let’s face it, picking this thing is a crapshoot. Florida is the best team in the country and have been for awhile. Michigan State is one of those Izzo teams that can reach the Final Four but no more. Duke is really good, but up against other high caliber teams they will look much more normal. This is Houston’s best chance to win it all. Even though the offense is better, it won’t be enough to take out a high powered Florida offense. Florida has the most complete roster, a superstar in Walter Clayton, and a great coach in Todd Golden. I’ve been on their bandwagon for a couple months. I’m not getting off now.

The Florida Gators will cut down the nets in San Antonio. And if this comes to fruition, you can bet you will never hear the end of it from this guy.

 

Two Cent Takes

March Madness Announcers

~Here is my ranking of the announce teams for March Madness.

  1. Ian Eagle/Bill Raftery/Grant Hill- I hate Hill being on this team. He starts announcing college games a week before the tournament, and doesn’t really know the teams well. It is a square peg in a round hole.
  2. Kevin Harlan/Dan Bonner/Stan VanGundy- These guys are good together, and VanGundy lifts this team higher than it normally would be. VanGundy is a classic.
  3. Brian Anderson/Jim Jackson/Allie Leforce- Leforce is great on the sidelines and Anderson and Jackson gel well together.
  4. Lisa Byington/Robbie Hummel/Jalen Rose- Rose is very good and Hummel should be Raftery’s heir apparent.
  5. Spero Dedes/Jim Spanarkel/Jon Rothstein- Rothstein is Mr. College Hoops and will be fun on the sidelines. I’ve always liked Spanarkel.
  6. Andrew Catalon/Steve Lappas/Evan Washburn- Washburn is another solid sideline reporter. Lappas has grown on me over the years. Catalon is growing into a solid play by play guy.
  7. Tom McCarthy/Debbie Antonelli/Steve Smith- Smith is excellent, but these guys don’t do much for me otherwise.
  8. Brad Nessler/Brendan Haywood- Nessler is getting too old and Haywood is eh.

~It will be fantastic to once again have Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley joining Clark Kellog in the New York studio. Those guys make Kellog bearable.

March Madness Thoughts

~I hate the First Four. It isn’t going anywhere, and may expand if the tournament expands. I think the joy of winning your conference tournament is knowing you will get your shot in the Big Dance. The First Four isn’t the Big Dance.

~Rick Pitino resurfacing at Iona, then moving to St. John’s last season was a godsend to college basketball fans. Here he is yesterday spitting truth on the inept NCAA.

 

~I liked it better when you had to go to the region you were placed in for all your games. Ironically Rick Pitino and St. John’s are in the West Region, but they won’t have to head west until next week. Pitino used to love going west in March. He would get his team away from all the distractions for two weeks and allow them to focus on simply basketball.

~The NIT invited South Alabama, whose players were told their season would continue. Then they called back to say South Alabama was not getting an invite. Have I mentioned the NCAA needs to go away?

~The new Crown tournament that FOX is sponsoring and has been bragging about for the past month invited five teams with losing records. USC is 16-17, but Arizona State, Colorado, DePaul, and Butler are 13-19, 13-20, 14-19, and 14-19 respectively. What are we doing here? 

The Weekly Shiny Penny

I was caught off guard by the emotions I felt when CBS properly paid respect one last time to the man that was synonymous with Selection Sunday. Very nice tribute.

 

A Penny For My Final Thought…

March Madness.

It is perfect.

That is why expansion will likely happen. The NCAA makes approximately 220 million dollars on the Big Dance yearly. The participating teams and conferences divide most of that money amongst themselves. But we know it’s never enough.

The expansion sounds like it will probably go to 76. Those extra teams will be in more play-in games. Just what we need. A bunch of marginal teams playing to become the last teams into the actual tournament.

If I thought expansion would open up more opportunities for mid majors I might get on board. Texas, North Carolina, and Xavier sucking up three of the last four bids show that we will just allow more mediocre power conference teams. And the NIT and all the others may as well go away.

Expansion is silly.

March Madness is perfect right now. I would prefer it going back to 64, which would end the need for play-in games. Otherwise it is perfect.

The first two days of the tournament are fantastic. Arguably, the best two days of the sports calendar.

Upsets.

Buzzer beaters.

Cinderellas.

Joy.

Tears.

Shining moments.

A perfect way for a sports fanatic to spend two days.

The rest of the tournament ain’t too shabby either.

Along with the Super Bowl, March Madness is the one sporting event non fans pay attention to. Why?

Everybody fills out a bracket. Everybody.

It is estimated that 3.1 billion dollars will be bet on March Madness this year.

It is the perfect sporting event, and it rings in springtime as an added bonus.

Why mess with perfection?

Just my two cents…