Let's Talk about College Basketball

We're trying to savor every last ounce of football that's left this week and next - but meanwhile college basketball is heating up with upsets usually reserved for tournament time in March and other news of importance. While looking at the schedule of games on Monday morning, I was tantalized by the upcoming schedule and fired off this steaming hot take of a tweet:

It got a single retweet and a couple likes, so watch out Twitter-sphere - Hank is heating up with the 140 character limit. [This was my plug to promote my account, so give your boy Hank a follow]

Now that that's done let's get back to the point of the blog. While I had intention of studying for my test during the afternoon on Tuesday and wrapping it up to go catch some Tuesday night sports action, memorizing fifty-four First Amendment court cases for a test was too much to simply wrap up before the evening games. Currently giving myself a pat on the back for studying and fending off my addiction to recliners and channel surfing different games.

I stayed off the internet for the most part, and after waking up Wednesday morning to catch up with the sports world I became filled with rage. Because this happened:

Three of the top four teams in college basketball lost. I didn't have either side of the picks while placing my wagers for the evening, only a puck parlay that would've won had I picked entirely opposite. Regardless of how I lost money, it was upsetting that I failed to tune in. But I'm moving on to this weekend and next week because the news and slate is significant.

The NCAA casually dropped unprompted changes to the NCAA Tournament selection. Much like what is done with the College Football Playoffs releasing their standings every Tuesday, the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee will reveal the top 16 seeds as it stands on February 11th, and we can then track the changes week-by-week until the actual selection on March 12th.

I think anytime you introduce content sports fans can talk about or get up in arms over selection committee choices, it's a good thing. Knowing what the seeds look like before the final conference games as well as the conference tournaments is good.

But I think the NCAA really missed out on a much more intriguing conversation.

Instead of releasing the top 16, which is very predictable at this point in the season, why not declare which teams are the last four in, first four out and next four out. Knowing where those teams stand would inject ten times more drama into a conference tournament than hearing the 16 teams that we already know are in.

Just sayin'

Now, to the games this weekend:

Tonight you've got one ranked matchup, 19 Cincinnati and 24 Xavier, crosstown rivals that do not like each other, remember?

You've also got 9 UNC hosting Virginia Tech - Tar Heels have played well recently, but they should be on upset alert against Va Tech, who Buzz Williams has in tournament selection contention.

Then no games worth mentioning on Friday, but you've got titans clashing on Saturday.

Despite both teams losing this week heading into the matchup, 2 Kansas visits Rupp Arena to play 4 Kentucky. This is possibly a future Elite Eight/Final Four/Championship matchup that we get in January, as apart of the Big12/SEC midseason challenge.

The other games in the challenge, which unfortunately for the SEC features only one other ranked team:

Finally, to wrap up the weekend, you get two or three possibly big games.

First, Villanova and Virginia will meet in Philadelphia to decide which V-shaped logo is truly better. Villanova is equally as strong this year, while UVA isn't on quite the same level as last year, but a very formidable opponent with the similar recipe of defense and ball control. In this matchup, like the Kentucky-Kansas game, some air was taken out with the recent Villanova loss but it should still be worth watching.

In addition to the 1 vs 12, Louisville hosts NC State who is trying to ride the momentum of their upset over Duke and carry it into the KFC Yum! Center. <-- sidebar, how the hell did somebody let a program like Louisville play in an arena titled that. Absurd.

I threw in the Washington-Arizona game because the Wildcats are also fresh off the upset over UCLA after getting Trier back from suspension and they look liked contenders for the best team in the county. But they could also be on upset alert, with Washington starting to play better with one of the country's best talents.

Should be a good weekend for college basketball. Enjoy.