Verb's Sweet Sixteen - 1/8

The college football season is ending as I type.

Florida and Oklahoma are tied at 7 at halftime.

Guess what that means?

It's college basketball time!

BOO YA!

That makes Verb happy.

I have been following ever since the season started but I am sure there are plenty of you out there that would much prefer the pigskin. I totally understand that, but now it is time to focus on the hardwood.

I am going to do a weekly post where I say who I think should be the top 4 seeds in each region of the NCAA tournament if the selection show was tonight. I will keep it on the sidebar for the rest of the season.

The 4 traditional names for the regions are the East, the South, the Midwest and the West. The new way to refer to the regions is by calling them by the name of the city where the regional final will be played. This year those are Indianapolis (Midwest), Phoenix (West), Boston (East), Memphis (South).

The NCAA has really tried to reward the top seeds by letting them play close to home. I am going to use this idea when I predict the seeding.

Anyway, now to how the post is going to be most of the weeks to come...

Conference play started and the Big East is great. Georgetown beat Connecticut, St. John's beat Notre Dame, Notre Dame beat Georgetown, Marquette beat Villanova, and Rutgers played the top 3 teams in the country in 7 days. I also think that Pittsburgh will lose and it will probably be soon.

North Carolina was rudely welcomed to conference play by Boston College. So much for a perfect season. Sorry! Duke is playing great. By the way, I am a Duke fan!

Blake Griffin may be the best player in college basketball.

Gonzaga is overrated.

Stephen Curry still looks like he is 12. He sure can score though.

Let's go with the seeds...

East (Boston)

1. Pittsburgh - They were the second best team until Carolina lost. They are probably still the second best team but for now they are number 1 overall.

2. Wake Forest - They are still undefeated. The big test will come Sunday when they play the Heels.

3. Michigan State - They have 3 quality wins in their last 5 games so they could definitely be rising up the rankings but right now there are at least 8 better teams in the country.

4. Notre Dame - This team is going to be better then their seed because they will lose a few games to great teams. The loss to St. John's really hurts right now.

South (Memphis)

1. North Carolina - I still think this is the best team. Huge game Sunday against Wake and obviously the two games against Duke will tell the story for this team and their seed.

2. Syracuse - I am not sure I truly believe in this team but they are 14-1. The way they play in conference will go along way in deciding their seed. If they can stay in the top 4 of the Big East they will stay at a 2 or higher.

3. Georgetown - They have lost two games in a row. I know they were both good teams but it is what it is and that comes with playing in the Big East.

4. Villanova - This team really has no huge season defining wins yet but I can see it happening soon. This team is good and will come into their own and be very dangerous.

Midwest (Indianapolis)

1. Duke - This team is really deep and playing great. This defense is top notch and the offense is balanced. This is Coach K's best team in a long time.

2. Connecticut - This is the best number 2 seed. They lost to Georgetown at home but Georgetown is good. They could still easily win the Big East.

3. Clemson - 15-0 is 15-0. They haven't played anyone yet which is why they aren't higher but if they can get some quality wins in conference this is definitely a top 16 team.

4. Xavier - The beat Memphis but lost to Duke and Butler. I don't know how good this team is but they should do fine in the A-10 and be right around here at season's end.

West (Phoenix)

1. Oklahoma - Blake Griffin is great! He is getting double-teamed all the time and still is averaging 22 and 12. This is is solid!

2. Texas - This is the best team no one is talking about. I know that making the top 2 seeds in a region from the same conference is silly but I think this makes it interesting.

3. UCLA - A Final Four team the last two years they best number 3 seed. If Collison can get the team playing together this could be the third year in a row for Ben Howland's team in the Final Four.

4. Memphis - They have played 3 quality opponents, Xavier, Syracuse, Georgetown and they have lost all three. Until they beat someone they will be here or lower.

That's the first of many! The season is only going to get better and I am getting hyped!

BOO YA!