8B - The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - March 15, 2004 Michigandaily. com/Papa John's Challenge NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT 4 First Round March 18, 19 Second Round March 20, 21 Sweet Sixteen March 25, 26 Elite Eliht March 7, 28 Final Four April 3 National Title April 5 Final Four April 3 Elite Eight March 27, 28 Sweet Sixteen March 25, 26 Second Round March 20, 21 First Round March 18, 19 1. Kentucky 16. Lehigh/ FAMU 8. Washington 9. UAB Score the most points and receive 10 free one-topping pizzas from Papa.John's 1. Duke 8. Seton Hall 9. Arizona 5. Ilinois 5. Providence 12. Pacific 4.Kansas 13. Illinois-Chicago 70" 0010 W 6. Boston College St. Louis a a 11. Utah 3. Georgia Tech 14. Northern Iowa 7. Michigan State 10. Nevada 2. Gonzaga 15. Valparaiso .__ 3 i } oeooamsugwmi7 12. Murray St. 4.Cincinnati 13. East. Tenn. St. Atlanta 6. North Carolina 11. Air Force 3. Texas 14. Princeton - 7. Xavier 10. Louisville 2. Mississi i St. 15. Monmouth 4 1. St. Joe's 1,Libertyj 8. Texas Tech 9. Charlotte 5. Florida I _..... . . Y 3 i , ,, ,ggr r ":;.:ovtikdi fdwmadootot'oYOY aE ~Qo~ 1. Stanford 16. Texas-San Antonio 8. Alabama 9. SouthernIlilinois 5. Syracuse 12. BYU A Rnnlar 12. Manhattan 4. Wake Forest 13. VCU a : I 4. mvarviaii j 6. Wisconsin 11. Richmond 3. Pittsburgh 14 Central Florida 7. Memphis E. Rutherford Phoenix 6TexaelPaso 6. Vanderbilt 4 - - ---------- - ---- ~~~~~~~~-~~~~~~~~~~-- 4' ,daa*~a.~4~aaa4. 11. Western Michigan 3. N.C State 1. U.L. aae 7. DePaul 10. South Carolina 2. Oklahoma St. 15. E. Washington1 -::.. ............................................... 10. Dayton i:....i 2. Connecticut Better Ingredients. Better Pizza. To be eligible for the Papa John's prize, you must bring in your completed bracket (NCAA only - NIT brackets are not included) to The Michigan Daily, 420 Maynard St., before the tournament begins Thursday morning. E-mail 4 Your Name Total Points in Championship game Phone The first round games are worth one point, two in the second round, then three, four, five and 10 for the other rounds 4 No Michigan? No problem - we've got East Rutherford Admit it. Even though it wasn't listed on any projected brackets, you were watching the Selection Show last night hoping Michi- gan would find a spot somewhere. You had to have hope - especially when North Carolina was shown as a No. 6 seed in the Atlanta region (we'll get to the region names in a minute). Come on! Michigan- North Carolina! 1993 rematch! But it wasn't to be. What was to be was the complete disre- spect of the Big Ten conference. Illinois, the outright regular-season champion, landed a No. 5 seed, while Wisconsin and Michigan State grabbed No. 6 and No. 7 seeds, respectively. Wisconsin can't be too happy with the seed, especially given that the Badgers beat the Spartans like a rented mule this year, going 3-0 against Michigan State, and then won the Big Ten Tournament title. The selection committee won't be receiv- ing any fruit baskets from Pittsburgh in the near future, either. After winning the Big East and barely losing in its conference tournament final to Connecticut, Pittsburgh they're ... Air Force. was screwed out of a No. 2 seed. Then the People around the country will no doubt committee smacked the Panthers upside the be huddled around their television sets to head again by setting up a second-round see if Air Force can stay within 30 of North matchup with Wisconsin ... in Milwaukee. Carolina. Yeah, yeah, that's why they play Nice. the games, upsets happen, etc. Speaking of stupid moves by Meanwhile, out in the the committee: Who decided to East Rutherford region, St. rename the regions? The East Joe's snuck out a No. 1 Rutherford region? The seed. That ought to be Phoenix region? It's not exact- good enough to get them ly inspiring visions of knocked out by Texas Tech grandeur. First off, nothing or Charlotte in the second should be the "East Ruther- round. Florida grabbed a ford" anything. Was it really No. 5 seed and a matchup that difficult to have the Mid- with Manhattan. The win- west and Southeast regions? ner of that game will take Anyway, the Atlanta region on whoever is victorious in appears to be far and away the the Wake Forest-VCU. most difficult right now. Duke, VCU, in case you're won- Mississippi State, Texas, North Carolina, dering, is Virginia Commonwealth, we Cincinnati, Illinois, Arizona, Air Force. Oh, think. It might be Very Cool University ... wait. AIR FORCE? The Falcons RPI wound or Victory City University ... or Vanilla up in the 70s, they got bounced in the first Coke University. Who knows? Or cares? round of their conference tournament and There are some intriguing matchups in the St. Louis region, including Michigan State- Nevada. The Wolfpack romped Kansas earli- er this year, so they're no pushover. And Michigan State beat ... um ... DePaul and ... Michigan and Bucknell. The winner of that one will likely take on Gonzaga, which landed a No. 2 seed and a game with Valparaiso in what will from here on be referred to as the "Cinderella Bowl." Gonzaga's going to be playing in Seattle, so it's basically a home game for the Bulldogs. It's also a rough trip out west for the Spartans. I know everyone in Ann Arbor is devastated. Kentucky's up top in the St. Louis region, playing the winner of the play-in game between Lehigh and Florida A&M. Nothing says March Madness like Lehigh-Florida A&M on Tuesday in Dayton. And that's what we call a lead-in. Dayton (the team, not the city), stole an at-large bid and will battle DePaul in the No. 7-No. 10 game in the Phoenix region. The winner gets Connecticut in the second round after the Huskies beat Vermont. Sleeper in the Phoenix region? Western Michigan, which might be the best team in the state. The Broncos drew Vanderbilt in the first round. The Commodores are led by forward Matt Freije and there's probably some other guys on the team - no one knows who they are, though. Playing the Vandy-Western Michigan winner is the N.C. State-Louisiana Lafayette winner. Could be a tough draw for the Broncos, but at least they get to spend a weekend in Orlando (Yes, Orlando is in the Phoenix region). There are plenty of interesting ballgames to watch on Thursday and Friday when you're skipping class (Note: Skipping class is not condoned by The Michigan Daily) (Note: The prior statement is a lie). So there it is: Selection Sunday is over, Michigan is headed for the NIT and March Madness is upon us. It's the happiest time of year for college basketball fans - not Michigan fans right now, but you'll get over it. If not, you can always head out for a weekend of basketball in majestic East Rutherford. 4 2004 POSTSEASON NIT 4 Drexel (18-10) Villanova (16-16) G. Washington (18-1 1) The final two rounds will be played in Madison Square Garden in New York Purdue 17-13 Notre Dame (17-12) Iowa 16-12 St. Louis 18-12 Virginia (17-13) Temple (15-13) Rutgers (16-12) Boston U. 23-5 R. Island 19-13 West Virginia 15-13) Kent St. 22-8 UNLV (18-12) Colorado (18-10) Oregon (15-12) Tennessee 15-13) George Mason (21-9) Belmont (21-8) Austin Pea 21-9) Nebraska(16-12) 4 9 , omr d