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[bill brill]

the ncaa changed the rules two years ago. now they seed the final four instead of doing it by rotating regions. so whichever team is no. 1 will be bracketed with no. 4 and nos. 2 & 3 will be bracketed together. would that had been done in '86 (duke-kansas in the semis) and '04 (duke-uconn). or, for that matter, '66 (duke-kentucky). in those cases, the top two teams played each other in the semis, and only uconn won the finals. because duke has been seeded highly with regularity, perhaps too high on occasions, this new system would be beneficial. if you make it to the final four, you don't have to play the no. 2 or 3 team. and if duke wins the next three, it will not be the last no. 2 seed, trust me and thus would not be bracketed with memphis in houston. the real kicker is that if tennessee stays no. 1, it would likely be in charlotte with acc no. 1 as the 2-seed. that reminds me of the year dean will never forget, when lower-seeded duke got to play in chapel hill and made it to the final four, while unc was upset.

[Faustus]

Thank you, Bill. It's always great to see you appear on the forum. I don't know that I ever realized the Final Four pairings had been "rationalized". Wish that had been done years ago.

This could be a year when the 3 and 4 seeds turn out to be as important as the 1 and 2's in actuality. And I rather suspect K thinks of all these as mini-tournaments anyway. Only one team comes out of the other side of each bracket; often not the top one. Beat your next opponent and the rest will take care of itself... and other coachspeak. But I still don't want to be in UCLA's region. And GT Weds. is what matters first.

[Salty Breezes]

Any thoughts out there about who the top seeds will be? I thought ESPN and CBS have missed a bit in their prognostications; schedule will play a BIG role in sorting this mess out.

Tennessee is on the top line right now. Upcoming games: @Vandy, UK, @Fla, SCar. I know they're on a roll, but I don't see this team making it through those four games unscathed. They've never played as a #1 before. Another loss would still leave them in a #1 position, but not the top line. And the SEC tourney is no cakewalk. Best guess is that they're still a 1, but probably the fourth 1.

UNC is probably second as of now. They've got @BC, FSU, @DUKE. Win all three, and a #1 is locked up, probably at our expense. I think that for both Duke and UNC, though, the ACC tourney could provide the March 8 loser a path to a 1 seed, if and only if we play each other a third time. Best guess -- winner of March 8 gets a 1, so let's hope not.

Memphis is 3rd. Tulsa, @SoMiss, @SMU, UAB. Please. I'd love to see UAB knock them down a peg, but don't count on it. Pencil them in as a 1 seed in the South. In fact, do it in ink.

Texas is fourth. Man, who knows what this team can do. Upcoming games: @TTech, Neb, Ok St. Easy. Easy. Easy. But I think, since they get no respect, they still need to win the Big 12 tourney. It says here they don't. I say 2 seed.

UCLA is probably 5th. They've got @Herb, @AZ, Stan, Cal. Wow. No way they run the table. Just saying. 2 seed. Again.

Duke is 6. We know who we have. Should be winnable through UNC. 4-0 through the next 4 may lock up a 1. Lose one of those four, and we need an ACC crown, preferably through UNC. Let's call it a 1.5.

Kansas is 7. They have @ISU, KSt, TTech, @TA&M. Not easy with 2 hungry teams out there. I see them losing one of those, and winning the Big 12 tourney, to put them and Texas as 2's.

Xavier is 8. With GW, @St Joe, Rich, no heft left. RPI may drop. Here comes a 3, even with that win streak.

Stnford is the forgotten lurker out there at 9. Wash, Wazzu, @UCLA, @USC. If UCLA struggles out in Arizona, they could walk away with the Pac-10. A 1 seed would be really hard to get, but it's not out of the question with that lineup of games.

Best guess, after it all plays out (let's assume, optimistically, Duke runs the table regular season, wins over UNC in Cameron, but loses to UNC in the ACC):

1. Memphis (by default)
2. Duke (please?)
3. Tennessee
4. UNC (if they win the ACC tourney)
5. UCLA
6. Texas
7. Kansas
8. Stanford

Just a guess, but it's fun to play the guessing game...