Jabin's March Madness Pool

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Tournament Info

But Jabin, I don't know anything about college basketball??!! Quit your whining! This thing isn't about basketball knowledge. There are so many upsets and unexpected results, you just never know. That's why they call it "March Madness."

That being said, this page is intended to be a resource to help you make your pool picks. It's not going to tell you who to pick, but it will point you in the right direction and give you access to more information than you could ever possibly want about the 2009 tournament. You have my word (and my word is my bond) that after reading this page, you will be no better prepared to make your picks than you were when you started. And you can take that to the bank.

Let's start with the AP Top Ten, going into "Selection Sunday." The court below features the top ten, with a link to each team's "official" men's basketball Web site. Below the Top Ten you'll find links to even more information.

Kansas
1. Kansas

A perennial power, Kansas has been at or near the No. 1 spot in the country all season long, and they are a safe bet for a No. 1 seed in this tournament and a trip to the Final Four. Sherron Collins leads a pretty darned balanced roster (four players average in double figures), which always scares me at tournament time. Balance = less chance of one player having a bad game and the team getting bounced. National Champions two years ago, the Jayhawks are always a popular choice for the Final Four.

2. Kentucky

What a difference a year makes. This time last year, Kentucky was in the NIT and people in the Bluegrass State were on suicide watch. After admitting that the Billy Gillispie decision was a bad hire, they threw a ton of money at John Calipari and got him to leave Memphis. People expected the Wildcats to be back, but not this fast. Correction, their fans probably *did* expect it, but they had not right to, in my opinion. Either way, Calipari has Kentucky right back where the fans think is their birthright, in the hunt for a national championship. They were No. 1 in the nation until a late-season loss to Tennessee, so they have as good a shot as anybody to take the cheese.

3. Syracuse

Speaking of exceeding expectations, there's a lot of people who think Coach Jim Boeheim has done his best work ever in coaching this year's team (I'm one of them, which I'm sure makes Coach Boeheim's day). These guys were picked near the bottom of the Big East, then went out and won the regular season and were No. 1 in the country for a bit before losing to Louisville late in the season. Wes Johnson leads the Orange in scoring, and Scoop Jardine -- although he sometimes disappears for stretches -- just scares the heck out of me. A really good, balanced team.

4. Duke

What can I say about Coach Rat Boy and his gang of "scrappy" players? What a bunch of horse-hockey! OK, my hatred of the University of New Jersey at Durham is well-documented in this space, and this year's version is no exception. The Blue Devils are basically led by three players (one of whom scares my children!). Jon Scheyer is a decent guard who is overrated because he plays at Duke, Nolan Smith is a nice player but not always consistent, but my man Kyle Singler is downright transparent (as in pasty white) and scares my children. How would you like to try to watch a basketball game with your kids screaming: "Dad, he's so creepy." I'm just sayin'. BTW, still one of my favorite YouTube videos of all time.

Ohio State Buckeyes
5. Ohio State

Evan Turner scares me.
If he hadn't done enough this season to impress people -- he is everyone's, and I mean EVERYONE's consensus pick as national player of the year -- he added a bit of drama the other day with a long 3-pointer at the buzzer over Michigan in the Big Ten Tournament. If you haven't seen it, it's worth a look. It's not so much that he made the shot, it's the *way* he made it that scares me, as if he was making a layup. The dude can just flat out play, and a single player on a roll (think Danny Manning at Kansas) can make some serious noise in the Big Dance.

6. Purdue

I wrote this on Saturday afternoon/evening the weekend of the conference tournaments. Before I wrote what a wonderful team Purdue was, I figured I'd check the score and see how they were doing against Minnesota in the Big Ten semis. Ooops. They were trailing 37-11 at the half! -- and went on to lose to the Gophers 69-42. I think it's safe to say that the Boilermakers will be backing into the dance. They've got some studs on the roster -- JaJuan Johnson and E'Twaun Moore among them -- but 11 points at the half? Hmmm.
Purdue Boilermakers

7. West Virginia

Love the team, don't like the coach. The Mountaineers are coached by Bob Huggins (Huggy Bear), who is one of those coaches I can't help but root against because he represents all that is wrong with college athletics. Lest you think these kids are there to get an education, Huggins sets them straight and makes sure their priorities are: 1. basketball, 2. basketball, and 3. basketball. So that makes it hard to root for them. These guys have put together a very nice season, including a late-season OT win at Villanova that drove the locals crazy, and defeated Georgetown in the final of the Big East Tournament on Saturday night.

8. New Mexico

Remember Steve Alford? He was a stud for the Indiana Hoosiers and helped them win the 1987 national championship, and had some pretty memorable scenes in the book "Season on the Brink" about Indiana and Bobby Knight. Well not to make you feel old, but Alford is apparently a darn good coach now. He left Iowa a few years ago for New Mexico, and has the Lobos playing some seriously good ball. They have a 29-4 record this season and had a 15-game winning streak until losing to San Diego State in the Mountain West semis.

9. Kansas State

Hey, I just noticed something -- there are three teams (count 'em, 3!) called the Wildcats in the Top 10. Clearly, with Kentucky and Villanova, Kansas State is enjoying the year of the Wildcat. Kansas State is having a super year in a super conference (lots of folks think the Big 12 is "up" this year), and are led by Jacob Pullen and Denis Clemente. The Wildcats advanced to the final of the Big 12 Conference tourney before bowing to top-ranked Kansas.

10. Villanova

You're probably not surprised to learn that every year when I update this page, I just make changes to last year's page. You probably ARE surprised that Villanova occupied the same No. 10 position in the national polls entering last year's tournament. Myself, I would have thought they were higher, given their Final Four appearance and spectacular play during last year's tournament. Sure, they may have struggled recently after a high-flying start this year, but I repeat, they were in the SAME POSITION going into last year's tournament. I'm just sayin'.

So that takes care of the Top 10. But there's plenty of more information available to help you make your picks.

Take a look at the whole ESPN/USAToday Top 25, and here are some other sites (in no particular order)