Liveblogging the 2010 Selection Show

Just because they won't be calling North Carolina's name doesn't mean I'm not going to yell at my TV over the internet. So here goes:

5:34 pm And again, coaches are being interviewed on their court, in front of screaming crowds. (This year it's New Mexico.) Why do this? Act like you've been to a tournament before, will you?

5:40 pm Over on ESPN, Joe Lunardi is reading off his bracket like it means something. You are on television talking about the imaginary games in your head. Perhaps it's time to lie down?

5:42 pm Someone asks Bill Self who he thinks is the best team other than Kansas. Self dissembles admirably, but why would you think any coach would give a remotely interesting answer to that sort of question?

5:48 pm I will not end this comment with a fourth straight rhetorical question. So, Mike Brey is being interviewed by CBS, which is a good excuse to link to John Gasaway's great article on Notre Dame's resurgence in the last few weeks. It's also why I don't think the Irish will go far in the tournament.

5:54 pm CBS is running last year's One Shining Moment as filler; talk about throwing salt in the wounds of Carolina fans this season. And is this the time to admit that One Shining Moment has never done a thing for me? The song annoys me. The clips always strike me as emotionally manipulative as opposed to the ones I actually want to see.

5:58 pm According to my Twitter feed, I am alone in my thoughts on One Shining Moment. It's true, I have no soul.

6:00 pm Kansas gets the overall number one seed. Kansas players seem bored by this.

6:03 pm Kentucky, Duke (sigh) and Syracuse get the other three. Duke even slips ahead of the Orange. Midwest meets West (Syracuse) and East meets South in the Final Four.

6:04 pm Nobody likes Duke ahead of Syracuse. Of course, this is all pretty meaningless as far as things go until you see how the rest of the brackets fill out.

6:05 pm This, by the way, is the rare year when North Carolina is not hosting any round of the tournament. So UNC picked the correct year to, you know, not show up.

6:14 pm First bracket in with the Midwest. Things don't look good for Maryland or my other alma mater UC Santa Barbara. (Expect a lot of UCSB coverage next week, by the way.) That top half looks brutal; I'm also down on Georgia Tech's chances, although the fact they squeaked in is good for the other ACC bubble teams.

6:21 pm Wasn't Oakland a play-in team a few years ago having to face UNC? And now they're ahead of Santa Barbara. Brutal. The bottom half of this bracket looks like a pretty easy road for KSU and Pitt, which would be nice, since I always pick Pitt to go too far anyway. No one's allowed to whine about UTEP without seeing their possession stats. Florida State's nine seed seed despite a third-place ACC finish says something about the conference this season, and has to make the Hokie fans a little nervous.

6:30 pm Wake Forest lucked out in getting the only team in the country flailing as badly down the stretch as they are. Don't think it will help them get the win though. Temple has to be irritated at being a 5th behind Wisconsin's 4th, and Cornell should be higher than a 12th, so that'l be an interesting game. Overall, Kentucky and WVU should make it to the Elite Eight without too much difficulty.

6:39 pm Now you can complain about Duke over Syracuse, because Duke's half of this bracket is ridiculously easy. Also, Virginia Tech (4th in the ACC) gets left out. Which means six more weeks of Seth Greenberg complaining, I think. 

6:40 pm Overall, I like that there are more small-conference teams in the tournament, and this is the the year to do that, with a lot of teams week overall. Unfortunately, this will only increase the calls for a 96-team tournament, because the names that just missed it are big ones folks will recognize. It would still be a mistake though.

6:45 pm My girlfriend's response to Clark Kellogg's defense that Duke did win the ACC regular season and tournament, and should be above Syracuse. "Yeah, but my eleven year-old nephew could have done that."

6:50 pm Backing the Pack informs me that the NIT selection show is at 9. Meanwhile the NCAA rep is trying to justify Duke over Syracuse, and indeed is blaming the injury in the Big East tourney.

6:55 pm Consensus puts the Midwest and East brackets as the toughest, which I both agree with and approve of, as I dislike both KU and UK. Duke's easy NCAA path after an easy ACC tournament is going to grate on me for quite some time though.

7:04 pm Dick Vitale is advocating for Virginia Tech over Wake Forest, since VT beat Wake. Of course they did it at home, and Wake is a horrible road team. That 339 non-conference strength of schedule is killer though. Also, the fact that Seth Greenberg continues to brag about beating N.C. State. That is not an argument in your favor, Seth.

7:10 pm Looking at Tech's schedule, by the way, and there are a lot of bad losses there. UNC, Miami twice, and Boston College. Although Wake's shame of UNC, State, and Miami twice doesn't help, either.

7:14 pm I love when Jay Bilas turns on full-hatred mode. "This is the weakest field in the history of the tournament. If you couldn't get in, you flat-out couldn't play." Dick Vitale, in response, randomly name drops Sam Perkins and moves on to how they shouldn't expand the tournament. Good for you Vitale. ESPN can't be happy with the way Vitale harps on it, though.

7:17 pm Bob Knight, on the other hand just hates the committee (not enough basketball expertise), November games, mid-major teams, conference tournaments, Virginia Tech not being in the tournament, Virginia Tech's players for screwing up, and possibly your mom. No wait, he definitely hates your mom, too.