Oh, Manchester, So Much To Answer For

What a wild season of basketball: I can't think of a year in recent memory when so many #1 seeds in the NCAAs were still up for grabs the day before Selection Sunday . Mississippi State lost theirs by virtue of a 74-70 OT loss to Vandy last night (do you see all the links below, people? Find the recap for yourself), and the consensus seems to be that St. Joe's #1 went the way of their play against Xavier in the A-10 quarters. Kentucky looks mighty solid, especially now that the path, as it were, has been cleared for them to win yet another SEC tourney title - and their SOS and RPI are fairly impeccable. Duke is a lock, even if they were to lose today in the ACC semis. You might think Stanford's a lock as well, but if they lose to Washington for the second time in 7 days today, I expect their top seed would be in jeopardy, especially considering how "down" the Pac-10 is this season. Fair or not, Pittsburgh has got to beat UConn in the Big East final tonight, which I think they will. 30 wins in a power conference certainly warrants a #1 seed. Oklahoma State's still got their eye on a top seed as well (watch out for Texas Tech in their Big 12 semi, though - the Red Raiders seem to be gelling all over again, and OSU doesn't have their tournament won just yet), but I'm penciling in Stanford; I don't think they'll let U-Dub get 'em again (especially on a neutral court). OSU, Gonzaga, St. Joe's and ___________ (MS St.? UConn? Anyone else?) will probably be the #2s.

Something else to ponder: unless Michigan does the improbable and wins the Big Ten tourney (which I don't think they'll do), the Big Ten and Pac-10 will have the same numbers of teams dancing, combined, as C-USA: 6. How's that for a weird college hoops season?