Like Moses appearing before his followers with the Ten Commandments, a bearded and sleep deprived Joe Lunardi has descended a mountain of preseason polls and prognostications to give the pilgrims of college hoops a stone tablet engraved with the first Bracketology of the season. Lunardi gets a chance to redeem himself every week...but 55 Wyckoff is going to take a stand. We're calling Lunardi out for a few sins:
Texas as a one seed
In the words of Dan: "Barnes somehow turned Kevin Durant into a sweet sixteen loss." Texas is a competitive team year in and year out, so the logic follows that more talent will mean even better results in March. Not so fast. We're willing to bet the 'Horns lose a pair of games to Kansas, and take losses in out of conference games against Michigan State and UConn. Sorry Lunardi, better ask the burning nylon for a new tablet.
Dayton as a seven seed
Have a little faith in the Davids of the world. Xavier and St. Joes have parlayed strong records in the atlantic-10 conference into decent seeds in the big dance. Dayton should be able to do the same. The Flyers return a nucleus that upset West Virginia last March. The preseason hype means that another strong regular season and a good showing in the conference tournament could get Dayton a fifth seed--perhaps even better.
Tennessee the three seed
Bruce Pearl's tenure at Tennessee is like a college basketball version of the River Phoenix story. The Vols burst onto the scene like hot stuff in 2006. A few hits ensued, but the rockstar lifestyle is starting to wear down Pearl's sweaty orange jacket. The team looked slower last year. Tennessee could turn it around and be a one seed, or, more likely, they'll barely sneak into the dance. Welcome to the hot seat Mr. Pearl.
Stay tuned for 55's full predictions during Tuesday's marathon.
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