Let the games begin! This is my favorite time of year for sports- the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament. As in past years, I’ve been slaving over my brackets, pulling my hair out and agonizing over the picks. Here’s my first attempt, with revisions to come soon, I’m sure

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Some of my thoughts on this field of 65…

Kentucky is a number 8 seed, which was to be expected, but they have a first round game against UAB. For those that don’t remember, UAB beat UK, who was the #1 number one seed, a couple years ago in the second round. UAB was a number 9 seed that year as well. Gonna be a rough game for the Wildcats and I don’t think we’ll make it to the second round. I hope I’m wrong, though. Even if UK makes it past UAB, they’ll face #1 seed UConn in the second round.

The University of the Cincinnati did not make the tournament. They went 8-8 in the Big East, their first year in that conference, with a new coach and basically a 9 player team. They did an excellent job given the circumstances, had some quality wins and should have made it over Seton Hall.

Tennessee, a #2 seed? Over Gonzaga and UNC? Even Florida? I don’t think so.

Florida, coached by former UK assistant coach Billy Donovan, plays South Alabama, coached by former UK player John Pelphrey.

[UPDATE: I've updated my bracket. Nothing major, just a few small changes here and there. Link above now points to the new bracket. Old bracket available here.]