Nina's Sports Bad Boys Blog World: Who got hosed and other bracket breakdowns

Tim Gardner usually makes the Bracket Racket for USA TODAY. Today, Steve Berkowitz and Reid Cherner break down the 68-team NCAA men's basketball tournament field:

By Charlie Riedel, AP

The University of Colorado and coach Tad Boyle seem to be a near-consensus choice as a snub from this year's NCAA Tournament field. Colorado had six Top-50 RPI wins but may have been undone by a 331st-ranked nonconference schedule.

By Charlie Riedel, AP

The University of Colorado and coach Tad Boyle seem to be a near-consensus choice as a snub from this year's NCAA Tournament field. Colorado had six Top-50 RPI wins but may have been undone by a 331st-ranked nonconference schedule.

Those who got hosed

RC: I have never been able to figure out why teams that win their conferences and get automatic bids are treated like second-class citizens. The committee did not offer a spot to them they earned it on the court. So Texas-San Antonio, Alabama State, North Carolina-Asheville and Arkansas-Little Rock have already been reduced to being beggars at the banquet and that is not only wrong it's embarrassing.

Colorado also seems to have some quality wins (Kansas State three times, plus Missouri and Texas) to get them in but I'm not sure who should have been knocked out. As for Virginia Tech, I think the committee has a voodoo doll of Seth Greenberg and just enjoys sticking pins into it.

BRACKET CENTRAL: All your tournament needs
BRACKET TIPS: USA TODAY experts weigh in

SB:�Here's who got hosed: Nobody.

Any team that couldn't make this field doesn't deserve to be in. There are 19 at-large teams with at least 10 losses, a record for the 64-and-more-teams era. There are five at-large teams with 14 losses; in tournament history, there had been a total of six.

Virginia Tech? Don't lose twice to Virginia and Boston College. Don't lose by 15 to Georgia Tech. Or, don't lose to Clemson. Colorado? Don't lose to San Francisco or Harvard. Play some tougher non-conference teams than Alcorn State, Texas-Pan American, The Citadel, Longwood, Maryland-Eastern Shore, Cal State Bakersfield and Western New Mexico. Or win more than two Big 12 road games.

Let's talk about two teams that got in with automatic bids: Butler-Old Dominion in the second round is like Boise State-TCU in the Fiesta Bowl.

Upset potential

RC: The tournament has gotten to a point that unless a No. 1 gets beat by a No. 16 we are no longer surprised. Of course unless you know something about Boston University and Hampton that the rest of us don't know, that is probably not going to happen this week. We might have said the same thing in 2001 when Hampton as a No. 15 upset Iowa State.

Based on the seeds, the upset I'm picking is No. 12 Memphis over Arizona and No. 11 Missouri over No. 6 Cincinnati but keeping an eye on No. 12 Utah State vs. No. 5 Kansas State; No.13 Belmont vs. No. 4 Wisconsin and No. 14 Wofford vs. No. 3 BYU.

Kansas State and Wisconsin have the ability to be Final Four teams but if they were going to throw in a clunker my best bet is early rather than later. As for BYU, never bet against a team that has the best player and Jimmer Fredette is just that. Wofford was a No. 13 last year and just missed out knocking Wisconsin back to Madison.

SB:�Here's a salute to a huge upset that's already occurred (although any outcome in which Roadrunners come out on top is a questionable inclusion in this category). Ten days ago, Texas-San Antonio needed a win at Texas-Arlington just to make the Southland Conference tournament.

Down 10 points at halftime, UTSA won. Then, in the quarterfinals as the No. 7 seed, it trailed Northwestern State by 14 points with 7:40 to play before winning 97-96 on a dunk with two seconds left. It won in the semifinals by nine and the final by two.

Now it faces Alabama State, which began the season 1-8 and 2-10 overall, and at one point was 3-6 in Southwestern Athletic Conference play.

I'm with Reid on Belmont and Wofford. Also, Richmond has the ability to be a big problem for Vanderbilt.

TV coverage

RC: Everybody gets into the pool this year and that includes the TNT guys. Consider that Ernie Johnson Jr. was described his role as a traffic cop between Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith as "an insult to traffic cops" this could get very interesting. Johnson added that traffic cops are "trying not to have guys T-bone each other. And that is exactly what I am trying to do."

But really the tournament for me is Jim Nantz throwing the alley-oop to Clark Kellogg and any close game done by Gus Johnson. Kellogg is a terrific analyst in my book and its enough to say about Johnson that I'm still trying to get "Rise and Fire" to be my ring tone. But I'd also settle for a couple of Johnson's "Ha-has." As for Kellogg, he's get a lexicon second to none and I'll be looking forward to every "board the orange" and "chowing down at the buffet line" as I can get.

SB:�How great will it be to have Marv Albert again doing play-by-play of college basketball? Used to be nothing like Marv and Bucky Waters doing the ECAC game of the week from the Palestra.

Match game

RC: Somebody on the committee must have had something against Pittsburgh. True, they got a No. 1 seed and are expected to have zero trouble with the UNC-Asheville/Arkansas-Little Rock winner. But after playing 18 games in the Big East they could get a second round meeting with Old Dominion who could be called a junior Big East member. Or as my colleague Steve Berkowitz refers to the Monarchs, a sawed-off Pittsburgh. The Panthers spent two months playing teams that could take a punch and now they could get more of the same.

Other matchups that intrigue me: UCLA with 11 titles vs. Michigan State, a two-time winner in the first round; George Mason and Villanova, who have been two of the biggest Cinderellas in tournament history playing for the right to play Ohio State. In 1985, Villanova beat two No.1s and two No. 2s to win a title and in 2006, to get to the Final Four, George Mason beat Michigan State, North Carolina and Connecticut.

SB:�My favorite second-round matchup is Kentucky-Princeton: early to the NBA vs. early to the MBA. I'm also pleased to see Notre Dame meeting Akron in the Gerry Faust Bowl. Morehead State gets a shot at in-state rival Louisville. In an AL West rivalry, we have Texas vs. Oakland. UNLV coach Lon Kruger, formerly of Illinois and Kansas State, gets to see the Illini again with the Wildcats likely on deck. And, of course, it takes the NCAA tournament to get former Atlantic 10 foes Temple and Penn State back together again ? in Tucson.

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