I focused more on which teams got in and what seeds they would be, and less on balancing teams from the same conference in different regions.  As the weeks progress, the bracket will get more realistic.

Last four in:  UAB, Oklahoma State, Virginia Tech, Wichita State
First four out:  Minnesota, Louisville, Old Dominion, San Diego State

Kentucky is the #1 overall seed based on a much tougher strength of schedule than Texas.  Texas does have the benefit of playing its regional in Houston.

Kansas drops to a #2 seed based on having the weakest loss among them, Villanova and Syracuse, as well as the lowest strength of schedule.

Purdue takes a big dip, dropping to a #3 seed after two straight losses in conference play.

Minnesota and Louisville are out because, while they played a tough SOS, they have few if any quality wins.

Oklahoma State gets in because of its 29-point win over Texas Tech Saturday.

Wichita State is in for now, but the Missouri Valley will likely only get one bid if its conference champion wins the conference tournament.

Don’t agree?  Comment below and tell me why.

See the bracket here

However, there are select few instances when a blown call cannot be ignored.  One such occurence happened over the weekend in a very important game between Butler and Xavier.  If you missed it, you can check out the final six minutes by viewing the video below.

A judgment call, such as a foul or who touched the ball last before it went out of bounds, should never be argued by coaches or players.  It’s a judgment call that the refs saw a certain way.  But there are other calls, such as a shot clock violation or 10 second violation, that the referees should never miss because they have the help of an automated clock.

Butler, down by a point, tracked down a loose ball in the backcourt.  The clock operator, thinking it may be a backcourt call, stopped the clock with 14.7 seconds left, then restarted it after realizing that the whistle didn’t blow.  First of all, that person should be fired for causing this whole drama in the first place.  You have one job – start the clock on the official’s signal and stop it on a whistle.  You don’t even need a high school education to do that, just a set of ears and eyes.

Anyway, that pause allowed Butler extra time to dribble back the other way and set the stage for a dramatic finish that saw Willie Veasley rebound his own miss and set up Matt Howard for a layup with 1.2 seconds left.  It was only after the layup did the clock operator point out the “malfunction.”  The referees went back and reviewed it, and somehow determined that the clock had stopped for 1.2-1.7 seconds.  How they came to that conclusion I have no idea, but Xavier got shafted.

I’m trying to figure this out, and I simply cannot.  Before I proceed with my logic, I beg you to ignore Bob Knight’s analysis of the situation in the video.  He is absolutely clueless.  Not only is he the worst color commentator in college basketball history, but he obviously has no sense of time.  He said the clock stopped for “a fraction of a second.”  Not even close actually.  The clock stopped for at least one second, but probably closer to two.

The referees determined that it had stopped long enough not to reward Xavier with any extra time, yet not long enough to disallow Howard’s shot.  That’s a pretty tight window considering it took only .5 seconds for him to release the ball and make it.

The more I watch it, the more I think Howard’s shot would not have counted.  But if the refs had made that ruling, there would have been a bigger uproar.  Veasley would have argued that he would have shot the ball off the rebound if he had known there was less time than what the clock showed.  Although, that play should have never happened because Veasley actually should have been called for traveling before the pass to Howard.  His right knee was on the floor when he gained possession of the ball, and he picked it up before the pass.  Again, that’s a judgment call, so I won’t complain.

But I will complain about the officials denying Xavier an opportunity to win the game.  When you’re a mid-major school, you only have so many opportunities to prove yourself out of conference.  Xavier’s loss to Butler means more than Ohio State’s loss to Butler because unlike the Musketeers, the Buckeyes play a bundle of NCAA tournament teams in January and February.

So why even review that play?  I wonder how many games decided by one possession there have been in NCAA history that have included a clock error.  Come to think of it, I think the clock stopped for a second or two early in the first half of Kansas’ victory over Memphis for the championship in 2008.  How unjust would it have been to go back and review that, and decide to take away Mario Chalmers’ game tying three as a result?  Okay, so there was no clock error in that game, but you see my point right?

Nobody from Butler would have complained if the refs decided not to review it because nobody even noticed that it happened.  I didn’t.  You didn’t when you watched it in real-time.

But Xavier sure noticed when they found out they were beat by the buzzer…and the referees.

Is there any question to who the best team in college basketball is right now? Following a 64-61 win over #12 Connecticut, Kentucky is now 9-0 and look better than they have in years. Did I mention this win came five days after they downed #11 North Carolina? Maybe we should rewind a few weeks. Kentucky beat Miami-Ohio by two, Sam Houston State by 10, and Stanford by eight in overtime. Having second thoughts? Don’t. This team is for real. Freshman John Wall dropped 25 on UConn last night, and seems to be getting better by the game. Freshman DeMarcus Cousins is a phenom as well averaging almost 15 per game. What about freshman Patrick Patterson, who is averaging over 16 per game. Yes, their three best players are three freshmen who do not shadow away in the spotlight.

John Calipari has this team running on all cylinders. No, they have not faced big size down low like Kansas or as an athletic of a team as Texas, but these past two wins have shown a lot in the character of this team. This is a team who is going to win the SEC easily. Florida and Mississippi are off to good starts but one can only ask how long it will last. Tennessee seems to figure as the Wildcats biggest task within conference play. Next up is a young Indiana team who is playing with a lot of heart, but simply will not contend with this team. After that, Kentucky does not leave their home floor for 30 days. Jan. 2 figures as their next challenge against Louisville. Inexperience seems to be the one question about this team, and I don’t see it being an issue. Kentucky may have finally found its way with one of the best recruiting classes of all time, and in sequence, could be heading to their first final four since 1998. Until then, there is a lot of basketball to be played!

Too bad.

Only one non-tournament game features ranked teams, and it’s Minnesota  Butler.  Yuck.

Duke is on a path to play UConn for the NIT Tip Off title in the Garden Friday night.  Two days before that, Arizona State and LSU will put up respective tests before falling in the semis.

None of e games were on the staff’s schedule, because we didn’t know what the results would be.

I wanted to find out how conferences in major college football matched up with one another.  Big 12 vs. SEC, Big Ten vs. Pac 10, ACC vs. Big East, C-USA vs. MAC, MWC vs. WAC, Sun Belt vs. everyone else…top to bottom.  Basically, the best team from one conference plays the best team from another conference all the way to the worst playing the worst to see which conference gains bragging rights.  I alternated East vs. West, North vs. South and Coastal vs. Atlantic where needed so it wasn’t unfair to one particular division.

This project was much harder than I originally anticipated.  I think I worked on it for three hours, but it was very fun.  It would appear that all of the conference match ups were fair as, according to my predictions, no conference beat another conference by more than two games.  I need more of the season to occur to make some of these calls.  Some of these teams are undefeated with two FCS opponents while some of them are 0-2 against Division 1 Powers.  I randomized which teams got home games and which teams got road games.  Then I realized it wouldn’t be fair (you probably won’t play the same team next year so you may have two or three straight years with this day as a road game).  Some of these games were ridiculously close to call.  Penn St. over USC was tough because Penn St. has played no one, and you know Pete Carroll would have the Trojans ready at Penn St. Ohio St. going across the country to Oregon was tough too because both teams are worse than originally anticipated (I know OSU played well against USC, but a four point home win against Navy?)  In some of those games, I went with the home team by default.  If you have problems with any of my picks, I have reasoning behind all of them and I’d love to hear your opinion.  This format did produce some very intriguing games.

The teams without an opponent will inevitably play each other.  This gave me the perfect opportunity to set up the annual event of Navy losing to Notre Dame (except for 2007).  Everyone else gets a Sun Belt team.  Fun Stuff.

Both Kyle and I made our picks for every game, and we listed them below.  Here are a few points to remember:

- There is no room for subjectivity here.  All of these games are determined strictly by 2008 season results using the formula 1v1, 2v2, ect., and our picks are based on the 2009 season’s teams.

- You will notice that, for example, in the SEC/Big 12 series, the #1 Big 12 South team played the #1 SEC East team.  That means the #2 Big 12 South team plays the #2 SEC West team.  This way it’s not just divisions playing divisions.  That means next year the #1 Big 12 South team plays the #1 SEC West team and alternates from there.

- Home field is determined randomly, then alternates after that.  For example, in the SEC/Big 12 series, the SEC East #1 team (Florida) got the home draw, meaning the SEC East teams #3 and #5 also get home, while #2, #4 and #6 are away.  In the West, #2, #4 and #6 are home.

- This whole weekend would have to take place sometime in September as to not interrupt the conference season.

And now on to the games and picks!

SEC vs Big 12

Oklahoma at Florida
Kyle:  Florida
Jaryd:  Florida

Alabama at Missouri
Kyle:  Alabama
Jaryd:  Alabama

Texas at Mississippi
Kyle:  Texas
Jaryd:  Texas

Georgia at Nebraska
Kyle:  Nebraska
Jaryd:  Nebraska

Texas Tech at South Carolina
Kyle:  Texas Tech
Jaryd:  South Carolina

LSU at Kansas
Kyle:  LSU
Jaryd:  Kansas

Oklahoma State at Arkansas
Kyle:  Oklahoma State
Jaryd:  Oklahoma State

Vanderbilt at Colorado
Kyle:  Vanderbilt
Jaryd:  Vanderbilt

Baylor at Tennessee
Kyle:  Tennessee
Jaryd:  Tennessee

Auburn at Kansas State
Kyle:  Auburn
Jaryd:  Auburn

Texas A&M at Mississippi State
Kyle:  Texas A&M
Jaryd:  Texas A&M

Kentucky at Iowa State
Kyle:  Kentucky
Jaryd:  Kentucky

Results…
Kyle:  SEC wins 7-5
Jaryd:  SEC wins 7-5

Big Ten vs Pac 10

USC at Penn State
Kyle:  Penn State
Jaryd  Penn State

Ohio State at Oregon
Kyle:  Ohio State
Jaryd:  Ohio State

Oregon State at Michigan State
Kyle:  Oregon State
Jaryd:  Michigan State

Iowa at California
Kyle:  California
Jaryd:  California

Arizona at Northwestern
Kyle:  Arizona
Jaryd:  Arizona

Minnesota at Arizona State
Kyle:  Arizona State
Jaryd:  Minnesota

Stanford at Wisconsin
Kyle:  Wisconsin
Jaryd:  Wisconsin

Illinois at UCLA
Kyle:  UCLA
Jaryd:  UCLA

Washington State at Purdue
Kyle:  Purdue
Jaryd:  Purdue

Michigan at Washington
Kyle:  Washington
Jaryd:  Michigan

Results…
Kyle:  Pac 10 wins 6-4
Jaryd:  Big Ten wins 7-3

Big East vs ACC

Cincinnati at Virginia Tech
Kyle:  Virginia Tech
Jaryd:  Cincinnati

Florida State at Pittsburgh
Kyle:  Florida State
Jaryd:  Pittsburgh

West Virginia at Georgia Tech
Kyle:  West Virginia
Jaryd:  Georgia Tech

Boston College at Rutgers
Kyle:  Rutgers
Jaryd:  Rutgers

Connecticut at North Carolina
Kyle:  North Carolina
Jaryd:  North Carolina

Maryland at South Florida
Kyle:  South Florida
Jaryd:  South Florida

Louisville at Miami
Kyle:  Miami
Jaryd:  Miami

Wake Forest at Syracuse
Kyle:  Wake Forest
Jaryd:  Wake Forest

Results…
Kyle:  ACC wins 5-3
Jaryd:  Tied 4-4

Conference USA vs MAC

Ball State at Tulsa
Kyle:  Tulsa
Jaryd:  Tulsa

East Carolina at Buffalo
Kyle:  East Carolina
Jaryd:  East Carolina

Bowling Green at Rice
Kyle:  Bowling Green
Jaryd:  Rice

Southern Mississippi at Western Michigan
Kyle:  Western Michigan
Jaryd:  Western Michigan

Central Michigan at Houston
Kyle:  Houston
Jaryd:  Houston

Memphis at Temple
Kyle:  Memphis
Jaryd:  Memphis

Akron at UT-El Paso
Kyle:  UT-El Paso
Jaryd:  UT-El Paso

Marshall at Northern Illinois
Kyle:  Northern Illinois
Jaryd:  Northern Illinois

Eastern Michigan at Tulane
Kyle:  Tulane
Jaryd:  Tulane

UAB at Kent State
Kyle:  UAB
Jaryd:  UAB

Southern Methodist at Ohio
Kyle:  Ohio
Jaryd:  Ohio

Central Florida at Toledo
Kyle:  Toledo
Jaryd:  Toledo

Results…
Kyle:  Conference USA wins 7-5
Jaryd:  Conference USA wins 8-4

Mountain West vs WAC

Utah at Boise State
Kyle:  Boise State
Jaryd:  Boise State

Louisiana Tech at TCU
Kyle:  TCU
Jaryd:  TCU

BYU at Nevada
Kyle:  BYU
Jaryd:  BYU

Hawaii at Air Force
Kyle:  Air Force
Jaryd:  Air Force

Colorado State at Fresno State
Kyle:  Fresno State
Jaryd:  Fresno State

San Jose State at UNLV
Kyle:  UNLV
Jaryd:  UNLV

New Mexico at Utah State
Kyle:  Utah State
Jaryd:  Utah State

New Mexico State at Wyoming
Kyle:  Wyoming
Jaryd:  Wyoming

San Diego State at Idaho
Kyle:  Idaho
Jaryd:  Idaho

Results…
Kyle:  Mountain West wins 5-4
Jaryd:  Mountain West wins 5-4

Sun Belt, Independence and Leftovers

Navy at Notre Dame
Kyle:  Notre Dame
Jaryd:  Notre Dame

Troy at Indiana
Kyle:  Indiana
Jaryd:  Troy

Louisiana-Lafayette at Clemson
Kyle:  Clemson
Jaryd:  Clemson

Florida Atlantic at N.C. State
Kyle:  N.C. State
Jaryd:  N.C. State

Arkansas State at Virginia
Kyle:  Arkansas State
Jaryd:  Arkansas State

Florida International at Duke
Kyle:  Florida International
Jaryd:  Duke

Middle Tennessee State at Miami-Ohio
Kyle:  Middle Tennessee State
Jaryd:  Miami-Ohio

Louisiana-Monroe at Army
Kyle:  Army
Jaryd:  Army

Western Kentucky at North Texas
Kyle:  North Texas
Jaryd:  North Texas

Now what a weekend that would be!

#9 BYU 23, Florida State 16

#2 Texas 38, Texas Tech 19

#20 Miami 31, #14 Georgia Tech 28

#19 Nebraska 35, #13 Virginia Tech 28

UPSET SPECIAL:  Oregon 20, #18 Utah 16

Last week:  4-2
Overall:  8-4
Upsets:  2-0

That kick sealed OU’s fate and gave BYU its biggest win in a long time – a 14-13 upset of the Sooners at Texas Stadium in front of a largely Sooner-dominate crowd.

Most people were probably happy with the result, although not Sooner fans, who know they now must run the table and get some help to have a chance to play for a national championship.

Maybe it’s karma.  Oklahoma stole Texas’ spot in the Big 12 Championship game last season for reasons we’re still not sure.

BYU’s win will boost them in the rankings, yes.  But more importantly, it gives the Mountain West Conference some ammo in their constant struggle for national respectability.  The Cougars’ biggest fans last night were the Utah Utes, the team that went undefeated last season but was left out of the national championship while two one-loss teams got their shot instead.  All Utah did was smoke Alabama in the Sugar Bowl.

Hypothetical scenario – BYU runs the table, beating TCU and Utah along the way.  Oklahoma runs the table, beating Texas, Oklahoma State, Nebraska, Kansas and Kansas again in the Big 12 championship game.  BYU finishes 12-0.  Oklahoma finishes 12-1.  Assuming Florida is the only other undefeated team, who faces them?  The Sooners don’t really have an argument.  They would have the one loss, and that one loss would be to BYU nonetheless.

But we all know who the BCS is picking.  And what an uproar that would be.  BYU goes to the Rose Bowl, then Oklahoma comes there one week later to play the game BYU should gave been in, because the Sooners beat better teams during the season and get more computer points. Of course Sooner fans would say that a one point loss to a ranked team on a neutral field without the Heisman trophy winning quarterback isn’t a big deal.  BYU would argue that they won the head-to-head matchup and have a better record.

Enter a playoff.  It’s what the Mountain West has wanted, and it may finally become a reality.  A snub in this scenario would be far worse than Texas or Utah last year.

Until then, get ready for the Mountain West to continue to gripe.  We’ll see if anyone listens.

I’ll start by lobbying for Kansas, a team that should be in at least the top 20 if not the top 15. Quarterback Todd Reesing, KU’s all time passing leader, is back with the usual suspects.  Dezmon Briscoe was fourth in the nation last season in receiving yards, and set school records for receiving yards and touchdowns.  And Kerry Meier shattered the school record for receptions, including 14 against rival Missouri.  All in all they have 17 returning starters, the Nebraska game at home, and only two other tough ones (Texas and Oklahoma).  This team could finish 10-2, but they’ll have to (and will) prove the coaches wrong as they did two years ago.  They currently are not ranked.

Florida got all but six first place votes to start the season #1.  Texas is #2, edging #3 Oklahoma by fewer than 30 points.  With Oklahoma having to retool its offensive line, I agree with giving Texas a slight edge.  Let’s also not forget the fact that Texas beat OU last season, although it seems like the Longhorns are the ones out for revenge come Oct. 17.

A lot of eyes are on Jevan Snead of Ole Miss, who will start with his team in the top 10.  That Cotton Bowl victory must have gone a long way for these coaches, because I don’t think the Rebels are that good.  The scheduling gods did shine light on them though.  They avoid Florida, Georgia and Kentucky in the SEC East.

An opening day showdown between #13 Georgia and #11 Oklahoma State is exactly what the coaches will need to see to believe that the Cowboys are underranked and the Bulldogs are overranked.  Oklahoma State should win going away.

Somehow Florida State always seems to find its way into the preseason top 25, and for much of this decade, they’re out of it by midseason.  This year should be no exception.  The spotlight is on the cheating scandal and Bowden’s wins, but it should be on FSU’s schedule.  Conference road games include Boston College, Wake Forest, North Carolina and Clemson, and the nonconference schedule includes road trips to BYU and Florida.

The jury is still out on Butch Davis’ Tar Heels.  They start the season #20, but I thought last year was supposed to be the year.  Same goes for Iowa at #21.  The defense will be good, but there’s no Shonn Green this year.  The Hawkeyes, like FSU, may be doomed by the road schedule.  They go to Michigan State, Penn State, Wisconsin and Ohio State.

My complaining ended when I saw Notre Dame ranked.  Yep, I’ll leave it to you.

Overall a pretty fair first assessment by the coaches.