Here are the TEs.  If there is a number in parentheses after the player listed, that number is where I have the player ranked in my Top 100.  I’ll leave some commentary below on the players listed in BOLD.

All rankings assume standard scoring.  1 point for 25 passing yards, 4 for passing TDs; 1 point for 10 rushing/receiving yards, 6 for rushing/receiving TDs; non-PPR.

Bringing “football” and “brackets” together.

I worry about Gronkowski’s health, but it’s still to premature in the rankings process to count that against him. Keep your eyes on it though (same goes for his New England teammate at the same position).

Typically, I don’t like “out-of-nowhere” guys to repeat their amazing seasons, but Baltimore lost a lot of players – including Anquan Boldin – so Joe Flacco will continue to use Pitta as a safety valve.

Keller may well play a prominent role in many Jets fans’ nightmares.

Daniels is still a solid player, but Houston began working in other tight ends (namely Garrett Graham) last season, so Daniels’ ceiling is limited.

Cook reunited with Fisher and sharing interior pass-catching with Tavon Austin? I’m interested.

Gresham is only ranked this low because his team drafted Tyler Eifert in the first round. Speaking of which, is this the most athletic non-New England tight end tandem in the league?

Shhh. He’s a sleeper.

Here are the WRs.  If there is a number in parentheses after the player listed, that number is where I have the player ranked in my Top 100.  I’ll leave some commentary below on the players listed in BOLD.

All rankings assume standard scoring.  1 point for 25 passing yards, 4 for passing TDs; 1 point for 10 rushing/receiving yards, 6 for rushing/receiving TDs; non-PPR.

I can’t help but love his prospects. Does that make me as crazy as he is?

His new nickname after this season might be “The Renaissance Man”

With Roddy White, he’s one of the two top-10 guys to avoid if you’re “old-guy averse”

Not that I’m a UF fan, but I realize now that he’s out of it, I didn’t enjoy him in a Minnesota jersey.

Harvin + a competent, dynamic QB? Yes, please.

One thing to worry about with Wayne and Garcon – health. Wayne is aging, and Garcon never really healed last season.

Can a guy as talented as Fitzgerald be a sleeper? He disappointed the last two seasons with underwhelming QB play but has added Carson Palmer’s big arm and Bruce Arians’ pass-happy, vertical attack to his fantasy profile this season.

Wallace could be WR7 or WR30, but it’s likely he falls pretty close to the middle of that. Pay attention to his camp and preseason chemistry with Ryan Tannehill.

Decker is another player to watch in camp; not because he changed teams but because his team added Welker. It’s difficult to determine how each will be used.

On another team, Gordon could be in the 22-26 range among fantasy WRs.

Miles Austin seems to be the forgotten man, but he has three things working against him: the emergence of Bryant, the drafting of Terrance Williams, and his contract situation (no guaranteed money after this season).

Cordarrelle Patterson is a physical freak-show. Because of situation and volume of targets, Tavon Austin may outproduce him this season, but he’s my favorite rookie receiver in this class.

Heyward-Bey gets Andrew Luck to help him improve, but I would have loved to have seen him running “go” routes in Arians’ downfield attack. He’s another to watch in camp.

Here are the RBs.  If there is a number in parentheses after the player listed, that number is where I have the player ranked in my Top 100.  I’ll leave some commentary below on the players listed in BOLD.

All rankings assume standard scoring.  1 point for 25 passing yards, 4 for passing TDs; 1 point for 10 rushing/receiving yards, 6 for rushing/receiving TDs; non-PPR.

If you’re into picking younger players, he’s your overall #1.

1. Adrian Peterson (1)
2. Arian Foster (2)
3. Doug Martin (3)
4. Trent Richardson (4)
5. Marshawn Lynch (6)
6. C.J. Spiller (7)
7. LeSean McCoy (10)
8. Jamaal Charles (16)
9. Ray Rice (17)
10. Alfred Morris (20)
11. Steven Jackson (24)
12. Chris Johnson (30)
13. Maurice Jones-Drew (31)
14. David Wilson (34)
15. Matt Forte (35)
16. Stevan Ridley (39)
17. Darren McFadden (48)
18. DeMarco Murray (51)
19. Fred Jackson (52)
20. Reggie Bush (57)
21. Frank Gore (60)
22. Lamar Miller (67)
23. Ryan Mathews (68)
24. Chris Ivory (69)
25. Darren Sproles (73)
26. Vick Ballard (74)
27. Eddie Lacy (94)
28. Le’Veon Bell (95)
29. Rashard Mendenhall (96)
30. BenJarvus Green-Ellis (97)
31. Bernard Pierce
32. Andre Brown
33. Mikel LeShoure
34. Daryl Richardson
35. Jonathan Stewart
36. Isaiah Pead
37. Willis McGahee
38. Shane Vereen
39. DeAngelo Williams
40. Mark Ingram

One of these two will finish top-8. I’d try to get both.

One of these two will finish top-8. I’d try to get both.[/caption]One of these two will finish top-8. I’d try to get both.[/caption]Many are citing his nagging injuries from last year as a reason he’ll improve (obviously assuming he won’t have them), but what about the offensive-minded Rob Chudzinski as the new Head Coach and the historically RB-friendly Norv Turner as the new Offensive Coordinator?

Pay attention to the same thing with Spiller and McCoy – how they’re being used in their respective offenses.

Tennessee improved their offensive line, improved their receiving corps, and Jack Locker should progress. These are all good things for Johnson.

David Wilson has “Jamaal Charles in his best season” potential.

52 receptions, 485 receiving yards, 414 rushing yards on 5.1 yards per carry, 3 rush TDs. Those are stats put up by Joique Bell in Detroit last year. Bush is much more talented than Bell and has shown in recent years that he can be more than just a third-down type.

Miller is the unquestioned started in Miami with Bush gone and Daniel Thomas being Daniel Thomas.

This may seem high for any Jets player, but Shonn Greene has been fantasy-relevant in seasons past. Ivory’s a better player.

Offseason drinking game: take a shot whenever BenJarvus Green-Ellis is described as “plodding.” Giovani Bernard, if he can be trusted in pass protection, will take over this job at some point.

Pierce and Brown are this year’s nominees for the Ben Tate Memorial “Handcuff You Want But His Price Tag is Too High Award.” In other words, these guys will have decent flex value even when their starters are playing.

Here are the QBs.  If there is a number in parentheses after the player listed, that number is where I have the player ranked in my Top 100.  I’ll leave some commentary below on the players listed in BOLD.

All rankings assume standard scoring.  1 point for 25 passing yards, 4 for passing TDs; 1 point for 10 rushing/receiving yards, 6 for rushing/receiving TDs; non-PPR.

1. Drew Brees (11)
2. Aaron Rodgers (14)
3. Colin Kaepernick (22)
4.Tom Brady (28)
5. Cam Newton (38)
6. Peyton Manning (42)
7. Matt Ryan (43)
8. Russell Wilson (49)
9. Matthew Stafford (62)
10. Robert Griffin III (67)
11. Tony Romo (86)
12. Andrew Luck (87)
13. Eli Manning (88)
14. Michael Vick (94)
15. Andy Dalton (100)
16. Jay Cutler
17. Josh Freeman
18. Joe Flacco
19. Jake Locker
20. Ben Roethlisberger

Sean Payton returns, the team will improve, and Brees has incredible weapons.

Colin Kaepernick played 10 games last season including the playoffs. Those stats, prorated over 16 games, would make him QB7. I’m expecting them to skew a bit more towards his playoff numbers as he gains more experience.

Cam Newton calmed down in the second half of the season, having a 13:4 TD:INT ratio compared to 6:8 in the first half. His second half splits would have made him QB7 on a per-game basis.

I’m assuming 1-2 missed games and a slow start from RGIII in this ranking.

As always, Michael Vick is such a huge-upside player. If he can pick up the offense of his offensive mastermind head coach, he’ll be the backup that becomes your starter.

Before we get to the full depth of the player pool, let’s take a look at this year’s rookie class now that we know the teams for which they’ll be playing.  I’ll include a blurb from their rookie scouting report on CBSSports.com’s NFL Draft Tracker.

Talent.? Yes.
Opportunity? Soon.

2. Cordarrelle Patterson, WR – Minnesota
“Good height and length. Good initial burst and strength to release to the inside and gain separation.” We know Christian Ponder and/or Matt Cassell will need said separation. Hopefully for his long-term prospects, he gets paired with a better QB.

3. Tavon Austin, WR – St. Louis
“Deceiving strength to stay on his feet through contact. A tough ball carrier to tackle in motion. Good body control to make tough catches look easy.” Typical knocks on small slot receivers are that they aren’t strong and are only just possession guys who don’t gain a lot of YAC. Scouts think otherwise of Austin.

4. DeAndre Hopkins, WR – Houston
“Savvy route-runner with the body control to make tough grabs look easy, caught 18 TDs in 13 games in 2012.” Hopkins will have a chance to start from Week 1 for Houston. The fact that he already runs good routes puts him ahead of most rookie WRs.

The Bell vs. Lacy debate could last a long time.

6. Eddie Lacy, RB – Green Bay
“The draft’s most intriguing combination of power and lateral agility, Lacy can bowl-over defenders or spin away from them.” Add the phrases “injury-prone” and “potentially has two toes fused together” to that report, and you’ll see why Lacy wasn’t selected until 61st overall.

Did you know his nickname is “Jet Ski” because “he leaves defenders in his wake?”

8. Markus Wheaton, WR – Pittsburgh
“Eats up the cushion due to his quick burst off the snap. Has a good arm-over swim move and the lateral agility to elude when pressed.” Quick enough to beat off-coverage deep and strong enough to swim through a press? Where do I sign?

Editor’s Note: Both Green Bay and Pittsburgh have two players in the top eight here. However, these organizations are in different places. The Packers still have a championship window open while the Steelers are rebuilding.

9. Keenan Allen, WR – San Diego
“Tracks the ball well over his shoulder. Experienced route-runner who has extensive experience lining up outside and in the slot.” Competition ahead of him inconsistent (Malcom Floyd) and injury-prone (Danario Alexander).

10. Robert Woods, WR – Buffalo
“Polished and crafty route runner. Does a nice job changing speeds in his patterns. Can climb the ladder and snatch the ball out of the air.” Getting open is an elite skill, and Woods possesses it. He has a chance to start from Day 1.

11. E.J. Manuel, QB – Buffalo
12. Tyler Eifert, TE – Cincinnati
13. Montee Ball, RB – Denver
14. Justin Hunter, WR – Tennessee
15. DaRick Rogers, WR – Buffalo
16. Steadman Bailey, WR – St. Louis
17. Zac Stacy, RB – St. Louis
18. Christine Michael, RB – Seattle
19. Geno Smith, QB – New York Jets
20. Travis Kelce, TE – Kansas City
21. Marcus Lattimore, RB – San Francisco
22. Josh Boyce, WR – New England
23. Terrance Williams, WR – Dallas
24. Quinton Patton – Baltimore
25. Marquise Goodwin, WR – Buffalo

I would have made comments on them all but wanted to spare you the novel. Any questions on the guys listed 11-25 (or not listed at all), please ask in the comments.

The Favorites
There are only three whose odds separate them from the field, and I like them in this order:

• Phil Mickelson (10/1) > Rory McIlroy (8/1) > Tiger Woods (3/1)

That’s not to say I don’t think Tiger can/will win.  I’d just rather shoot for the bigger payout.

No Euro has won at Augusta since 1999. These guys could be the best chance to change that.

Adam Scott finished T-2 in 2011 and T-8 here last year. He also finished all four majors last year at T-15 or better. Westwood’s Achilles heel has always been his short game. He moved to Florida year-round to practice the “American” style of golf more (faster greens, tighter lies around the green, etc).

Oosthuizen’s swing is perfection, and last year’s high finish inspires confidence. Kuchar is a Georgia native with a ho-hum kind of game that isn’t flashy but produces steady results. He showed that he can go low in winning The Players Championship at Sawgrass last year.

Seriously, Jason. Keep it trimmed.

Longshots
Ian Poulter – 40/1
Jason Day – 50/1
Peter Hanson – 80/1
Nicolas Colsearts – 100/1

I have said that Poulter will win a Major this year ever since his dominating and intense performance at the Ryder Cup last fall. The Masters seems to me like it fits him the best. He is 8-8 in cuts made and has never finished worse than 33rd. Jason Day finished 2nd in two majors in 2011, had a distracting 2012 year in which he was hurt, had a child, and experimented with a silly, shaggy hairstyle – all three of which can be very distracting things.

Peter Hanson is a relative unknown Swede who has nice game. He’s ranked 22nd in the world and finished T-3 here last year after holding the 54 hole lead. Nicolas Colsearts is an even lesser known Belgian ranked 42nd in the world. He was in contention at last year’s US Open until he shot 76 on Sunday. He finished T-7 at last year’s British Open. Most importantly, Augusta National favors bombers, and Colsearts is seriously long off the tee. He’s basically the European Dustin Johnson at this point.

Matchups
Bubba Watson (EV) vs Dustin Johnson (-120)
Matt Kuchar (+115) vs Keegan Bradley (-135)
Hunter Mahan (+105) vs Ian Poulter (-125)
Nick Watney (EV) vs Jason Day (-120)
Bill Haas (EV) vs Jim Furyk (-120)
Tiger (-185) vs Phil (+165)

When looking at matchup bets, I usually like taking guys who are EVEN money or better.  Laying too much juice on something so seemingly hard to predict isn’t my thing.  But the Poulter bet looks too good to pass up when you like his chances as much as I do.  And Nick Watney is a choker until he proves otherwise. You’ll see a theme here with some of these guys and the ones I mentioned above.

Props
36 Hole Cut: OVER 146.5 (-110)
That’s a cut of +2. I believe it will be +3 or higher due to the “top 50 and ties plus everyone with ten shots” rule.

Finish Position for Lee Westwood: UNDER 19.5 (-110)
This is the absolute best bet you’ll read in this whole post. Westy has finished 19th or better at Augusta in four of his last five starts there (2012: 3rd; 2011: 11th; 2010: 2nd; 2008: 11th). As mentioned above, he’s been priming himself for the Majors this year.

Finish Position for Adam Scott: UNDER 19.5 (-110)
If not for the potential of having last year’s British Open collapse enter his mind, I’d like this even more. As noted above, though, he was able to set that aside for a strong finish at the PGA last year.

1st Round Score for Ian Poulter: UNDER 71.5 (+105)
As you can tell from above, I’m bullish on Mr. Poulter’s chances this week. I even drafted him and Westwood together in a fantasy draft on the 6-7 swing between Rounds 1 and 2.

Goofy Props (without picks because I don’t like any of them)
Will the winner of the Masters be wearing a hat (-500) or a visor (+300)?
You’d have to lay a lot down on the “hat” side, but Tiger, Phil, and Rory all wear hats. Some notable visor-wearers are Keegan Bradley, Ian Poulter, and Bubba Watson.

Which brand of clubs will the winner use?
Nike: 5-4
TaylorMade: 4-1
Ping: 5-1
Titleist: 13-2
Callaway: 13-2
Cleveland: 14-1
Cobra: 20-1
Mizuno: 33-1
You could basically have a Woods-McIlroy combo bet for 5/4 if you wanted. Ping is good for Oosthuizen; Titleist for Scott; and many guys use TaylorMade’s – Day, Hanson, and Justin Rose to name a few.

What color shirt will the winner wear on Sunday?
Red: 2-1
White: 5-2
Blue: 3-1
Other: 3-1
Black: 9-2
Green: 10-1
Pink: 12-1
Orange: 16-1
If you want to bet on Rickie Fowler, don’t bet “orange” here. Just bet him outright at 40/1. No one else will be wearing orange.

Tiger Woods Special
Tiger to win by five or more shots: 10-1
Tiger wire-to-wire winner: 16-1
Tiger to chip in on No. 16 (any day): 20-1
To make a hole-in-one: 80-1
I might drop a modest bet on either of the first two here.

It’s ironic that the song is called “One Shining Moment” when there are always so many good ones that it’s hard to pick the one that shines the most.

Now we wait 213 days until the 2013-14 season tips off on November 8 in the Barclay’s Center.

This team – and the phenomenon they’ve created – have made the internet go crazy with stories, GIFs, videos, and tweets.  Here are some of the highlights: 

The Tweets, Part I – The Comedic Edition

The FGCU website server actually lobs the information to your computer.

— Mark Ennis (@Mengus22) March 25, 2013

All things considered, UF-FGCU in the Sweet 16 maybe the funniest/most glorious matchup in tourney history.

— J. Wheatley-Schaller (@vegaswatch) March 25, 2013

I can’t even imagine the party at Del Boca Vista tomorrow morning, when they all wake up and see this score.

— Matt Norlander (@MattNorlander) March 25, 2013

Put out 2 treats. L = fav R = underdog. Did it 63x w/ my dog. Picked FGCU to go to NC. Who’s laughing now? (Not him. He’s licking his penis)

— Mark Titus (@clubtrillion) March 25, 2013

The GIFs, Part I – Alley-Oop Edition

The Rap Song
This was made after the Georgetown win, so these crafty students got to work fast. As I said in an e-mail to friends when I came across this on Monday, the levels of awesomeness and corniness have never been higher in the same piece of work.

I mean, in what other three-minute, 32 second video can throwing stuffed eagles as if they’re alley-oop’ed basketballs and subsequently dunking them through a Nerf hoop be intertwined with the following gangsta-as-can-be lyrics:

And Fort Myers, got my seat back
We givin’ top seeds asthma attacks.

Editor’s Note: by no means do I really think those lyrics are “gangsta-as-can-be,” nor do I think that any awesomeness went into this video. It’s 100% corniness. But now that I think about it, isn’t that what makes it awesome?

The GIFs, Part II – Celebration Edition

The Inspiration
We’ve all heard about Andy Enfield’s wife. As a matter fact, let’s take another look to refresh your memory.

OK, now that we’re done asking “how could that guy do that,” let’s read a little bit into the answer of that question.

Their first date was arranged by a mutual friend, and Enfield said that upon first seeing Marcum, “As soon as I saw Amanda get in the car, I knew it would be a good trip.” He took a fashion model to a game at St. John’s and ate Taco Bell at the student union beforehand because nothing else was open.

“I figured if she still likes me after Taco Bell and a basketball game…” Enfield said.

To steal a sports term, she even looks good in her “street clothes.”

Another good bit of that story is how enfield recruited Eric McKnight – the lanky gentleman you saw throwing it down in the second GIF of Part I above.

He was in a room at Tallahassee Memorial Hospital, talking to Eric McKnight, a freshman at Iowa State University who had just received his formal permission to transfer. Enfield was in a hospital because his wife was about to deliver their third child.

The wife breathed. The coach recruited. “At one point, Amanda said, ‘Put the phone down, we’re about to have a baby,’” recalled Enfield before his team’s practice at the Wells Fargo Center on Saturday afternoon.

He stopped. Marcum was born, the couple’s third child, after daughters Aila and Lily. Soon after the baby was delivered and transported to the nursery, Enfield fired up his cell phone again. As he recalls it, this time the obstetric nurse was changing his wife’s IV when Amanda began questioning his sanity.

“Amanda said ‘Will you please be quiet? The nurse is trying to change my IV and I can’t even hear.’ I left the room. And I kept my recruiting call going.” This time he wandered the hall until he found an empty birthing room, plopped onto the bed and continued talking to McKnight. At one point another nurse walked in and said, “Are you having a baby?”

The coach is just one of the stories of this unprecedented run. Another great story is that of Brett Comer – a guy who was only the second-most heralded guard on his high school team, because he played with Austin Rivers at Winter Park High (go Orlando).

More than three years ago, Troy Comer died from lung cancer.

In Troy Comer’s obituary in the Orlando Sentinel, Brett is described as his “best friend.” In the year after his diagnosis, Troy Comer spiraled so fast that he couldn’t drive a car, couldn’t leave bed and eventually couldn’t talk. All he could do was moan, as the tumors grew so fast that every movement caused discomfort. Heather Comer said her husband, who was 46, looked “90 years old” at the time of his death.

“I feel like it literally killed me,” Brett said. ”That’s stuff I’ll never be able to forget for the rest of my life.”

While Brett Comer’s father wasn’t able to be there in body, Brett absolutely gained another memory that he’ll never be able to forget for the rest of his life.

And while not inspirational as much as funny, here’s a link on the University as a whole.

The Tweets, Part II - Wishful Thinking

Coaches..let your kids play..let them have fun..stop the boring hoops..learn from FGCU ..

— Dan Dakich (@dandakich) March 25, 2013

Why don’t more coaches let their teams play like this?

— Seth Davis (@SethDavisHoops) March 25, 2013

Goodness, this team might just revolutionize college basketball. Everyone’s a copycat, after all. #FGCU

— Rush the Court (@rushthecourt) March 25, 2013

While this style of play is fun to watch, teams are afraid to use it because they don’t want to be a “novelty” and give away possessions by rushing shots. Yet teams like Wisconsin and Georgetown continue to put up fantastic regular seasons only to flame out earlier than expected in the NCAA Tournament.

Tweets, Part III – What’s Next

So, the Mountain West is about to bow out with losses to a 12, 13, 14 and 15 seeds, as well as a 1.#notsogood

— Jerry Palm (@jppalmCBS) March 25, 2013

Florida can reach the Elite Eight by beating a 14-seed, an 11-seed and a 15-seed.

— Jay Bilas (@JayBilas) March 25, 2013

Billy Donovan has coached in 3 national title games. Bet he’ll be a heck of a lot more nervous for this.

— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) March 25, 2013

While Mr. Mandel may be exaggerating slightly, he makes a good point. Getting to the title game and losing is bad, losing in the Sweet 16 is worse, but losing to a 15-seed is the worst.

I think I speak for all of us when I say GO EAGLES.

Round of 64
Thursday and Friday were marked with intra-conference trends.  Here’s a look at my Conference Power Rankings as they stood after Friday night and a quick description on each.

Can they *explore* their way into the Elite 8? Yeah, I couldn’t resist.

Thursday:

• The aforementioned Billikens won with little resistance against New Mexico State.
• Butler beat a Bucknell team that many were picking as their upset special.
• VCU steamrolled a flu-bug-bitten Akron team by 46 points.

Friday:

• Temple beat a favored NC State team and dominated them for 35 minutes in doing so
• LaSalle got out to a huge lead and held on to beat Kansas State.

This league was very impressive in the Round of 64 – the only league with at least three bids to go undefeated.

2) Big Ten
The Big Ten was absolutely dominant in the Round of 64.  Two things kept them from the top spot in the rankings:

• With four teams on top four lines, two of which were playing “home” games in Michigan, so many of their teams were expected to win.
• Wisconsin was upset Ole Miss.

Nice job, Committee.

Thursday started very well with two 12-seeds (including Cal, who was fortunate to draw a quasi-home game) knocking off 5′s and Arizona easily getting by Belmont, another popular upset pick.  Friday wasn’t a banner day, though, as UCLA lost by 20 to Minnesota and Colorado was down by 16 at halftime before losing by 8. The Buffs only managed 49 points.

4) ACC
The top-heavy ACC had two 2-seeds and two 8-seed, so their 3-1 record was probably to be expected.  But the way in which Miami thoroughly dominated combined with North Carolina’s hot shooting made the league look pretty impressive.

5) SEC
The Ole Miss upset of Wisconsin brought the SEC up more than the Missouri loss to Colorado State Thursday night.  While Florida’s win didn’t count much toward this “grade,” they’ll be carrying the flag for the league in the upcoming rounds.

6) Big 12
Kansas won, but they were in a dog fight with 16-seed Western Kentucky – a team that was just 10-10 in the Sun Belt Conference.  With Oklahoma State and Kansas State laying eggs to double-digits seeds, Iowa State’s domination of higher-seeded Notre Dame is the only thing keeping this conference from being in the bottom tier, which begins below.

7) Mountain West
Colorado State was strong in beating Missouri, and San Diego State’s sometimes-present offensive woes didn’t show up against Oklahoma.  But the rest of the nation’s 2nd-ranked RPI conference was awful.  Boise State couldn’t get out of the First Four; UNLV lost to 12-seeded Cal and looked very uninspired throughout; and New Mexico fell victim to Harvard – which would have been the biggest upset of the Tournament if not for one to be mentioned below.

HASHTAG: Dunk City

• Record: 3-5
• Wins by teams not on the top four lines: 0
• Record against the spread: 2-6
• Percentage of teams all time that have lost to a 15-seed: 14.3%
• Teams I’m tagging for the first – but not the last – time in blog history: 1 (Florida Gulf Coast)

Sorry, Georgetown, I couldn’t resist those last two.

Round of 32
The weekend results made the rankings change a little bit.  Here’s how they stand followed by the results that caused the changes.

1) Big Ten
2) Pac-12
3) ACC
4) Atlantic 10
5) SEC
6) Big East
7) Big 12
8) Mountain West

The Big Ten moves up for obvious reasons. They’re the only league with more than two teams in the Sweet 16, and they have four. The A-10 moves down because they went from 5-0 in the Round of 64 to 1-4 in the Round of 32 – with the only win coming against a 12-seed.

Florida DUNK Coast

Despite having two teams remaining, the Big East is still near the bottom. Louisville and Syracuse were expected to get here, so their accomplishments aren’t held in a regard as high as a team like Oregon or La Salle. At the very bottom, we get to the very disappointing Mountain West. After three of its five teams didn’t survive the Round of 64 (and Boise State didn’t even get there), the Mountain saw its last two survivors go out with a whimper.

Tough at the Top of Each Region

That No. 8-9 for IU is fine. Neither Temple nor NC State guard anyone.

— Eamonn Brennan (@eamonnbrennan) March 17, 2013

Indiana probably has the easiest potential 1-8 matchup despite NC State returning many players from a team that made the second weekend last year. That speaks just as much to the difficulty of the others (Louisville – Colorado State; Kansas – North Carolina; and Gonzaga – Pittsburgh) than it does to NC State’s comically bad 106 ranking in Adjusted Defensive Efficiency.

The Cal Section

Cal playing 30 mins from its campus as a #12 seed. Weird. — Rush the Court (@rushthecourt) March 17, 2013

Yeah, wait … that UNLV-Cal matchup is all sorts of odd/wrong. — Matt Norlander (@MattNorlander) March 17, 2013

Every amateur bracketologist knows better than to create a Round of 64 rematch. How’d the committee give us UNLV-California?

— Gary Parrish (@GaryParrishCBS) March 17, 2013

Cal and Oregon were pushed down a line to 12 AND YOU STILL HAVE A REMATCH WITH UNLV??!!?

— Andy Glockner (@AndyGlockner) March 17, 2013

First of all, the Committee never has regular season rematches before the Sweet 16. They even have a document that states how much they try to avoid it. But UNLV and Cal played earlier in the year (UNLV won 76-75 in Berkeley). I could see this happening if the Committee had no other choice (i.e. – if they couldn’t avoid breaking any of the other guidelines related to conference affiliation), but Oregon is also a 12-seed.

These two Pac-12 teams could have easily been swapped to avoid the rematch. Even more bizarre is that Cal gets to play in San Jose, just 45 miles away (yes, the 30 minute number in the tweet above was a little exaggerated), from their campus.  That’s a tough break for UNLV, but perhaps even tougher for another team in the same pod.

Syracuse will be lucky to escape the first weekend.

— Bill Riccette (@Bill_Riccette) March 17, 2013

Syracuse-to-San Jose is a little bit further than 45 miles (try 2,826). If Cal can get past UNLV (the Rebels are only favored by 3, so it’s certainly feasible), Syracuse will basically be playing a road game against a 12-seed in the Round of 32.

The “What’s Wrong With the Pac-12″ Portion of the Program

Colorado a 10 and Oregon a 12?
— Rush the Court (@rushthecourt) March 17, 2013

Bucknell is an 11? I don’t think they have a top-100 win. Come on. Ahead of Oregon? — Andy Glockner (@AndyGlockner) March 17, 2013

In conclusion:

The committee HATES the Pac-12, apparently. — Nicole Auerbach (@NicoleAuerbach) March 17, 2013

Miami Has a Nice Draw

Extremely easy road for Miami to get to Elite Eight.

— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanCBS) March 17, 2013

Wild, Wild West

New Mexico is a 3 after winning the No. 1 RPI conf with 19 top-100 wins. Nice job, committee.

— Andy Glockner (@AndyGlockner) March 17, 2013

New Mexico is the ultimate “does the RPI really tell the whole story” team. Their non-con was essentially this: win vs UCONN on neutral court, home win vs Valparaiso, home loss to South Dakota State in a game New Mexico actually paid the Jackrabbits to come play, road win at Cincinnati, blowout loss at Saint Louis, wins against whole bunch of nobodies mixed in. The Mountain West’s standing as the RPI’s 2nd-ranked conference all year really helped the Lobos get to being #2 in the system. Pretty ironic how they’re not even the second-best in their own region despite the RPI ranking.

Whoaaaaa. Arizona a 6 seed. The committee HATED the Pac-12.

— Jeff Borzello (@jeffborzello) March 17, 2013

More anti-Pac-12 bias from the Committee. For what it’s worth, I have filled out more than one bracket with Arizona winning this region.

Thanks for reading. I have a feeling this will be an amazing tourney. And despite the talk of parity all year, I think this tweet from Seth Davis of CBS/SI.com is spot-on.

Here’s a big picture storyline for you: Everybody has been saying there will be a bloodbath among the favorites. I don’t see it happening.

— Seth Davis (@SethDavisHoops) March 17, 2013

Enjoy the Dance!