Purdue Basketball Shorts

It is the eve of the NCAA basketball tournament and not a creature is stirring. All media were filled with care and visions of buzzer beaters and Cinderella teams dancing in our heads.

Snacks are ready to go in the refrigerator and the email claiming that you have laryngitis is written and ready to send to your boss.

For sports fans, the NCAA tournament is a bit like Christmas. In a way the tournament is better because you can not watch 12 hours of Basketball December 25 and there is no fear, you will receive a fruitcake.

The 2009 tournament has the potential to be one of the best memories of the past. Any of the four top seeds, Louisville, Pittsburgh, Connecticut and North Carolina Tar Heels, can reduce the nets and the field-65 is filled with sales teams, well trained.

Even the two seeds are strong this year. The number of both the East, the Duke has the best RPI in the country and they won their conference tournament. Blake Griffin, probably the number one pick in the NBA Draft next, the anchors of a strong team from Oklahoma that the seeds of a second in the South. And Memphis, the number of western region of the two seeds, won 31 games this season and 61 conference games the United States in a row.

On Thursday, the action begins in Philadelphia, Portland, Kansas City and Greensboro. College powers like Texas, Purdue, Maryland and Illinois will have to court and try to advance to the second round.

On Friday, the focus is in Dayton, Miami, Minneapolis, and Boise. Schools like Syracuse, Marquette, Kansas, and Pac-ten champions of the tournament will begin what they expect USC to be long tournament.

The Sweet Sixteen and the Elite Eight will be held one week later at Indianapolis, Glendale, Boston and Memphis. The Final Four will be held in Detroit on April 4, with the championship game played Monday night, April 6.

Which teams will reach the Final Four? Like Christmas, everyone has a wish list, it's called a medium. And everyone, no matter how much they like or do not like college basketball is filled.

Even President Obama took a break from fixing the economy to fill out a bracket. He took North Carolina to win it all. This should make him the Grinch fans of Duke.

So we hope that the tournament games of our media, we do not mind if it deviates as it produces a good Cinderella story. This is not the NCAA tournament until there is at least a major upheaval.

Many people think that UCLA seed region of the Middle sixth and a team that reached the Final Four each of the last three years, fell to the eleventh-seeded Virginia Commonwealth. Some experts believe another seed eleventh, Dayton, this year is George Mason.

Twelfth seed Western Kentucky and Wisconsin, as well as seeds eleventh State of Utah, are also primed to kill Goliath.

Do not expect miracles from the Eagles of American University. This team courageous Patriot League play Villanova in Philadelphia.

And speaking of travel, Portland, Oregon is hosting the final games of the tournament, but Portland State does not get the advantage of home cooking, they must travel to Boise. However, two other teams in the Northwest, Gonzaga and the University of Washington, have the advantage of making the short trip to the Rose City.

Arizona and Arizona State have to travel to Miami Florida and west to stay in Boise Cornell. Hopefully this is not a violation of NCAA players retain their loyalty miles.

Of course, the Red Rider BB Gun "NCAA Tournament is the drummer of the buzzer. These indelible images dramatic second if we are used to memorize instead of the real victor of the tournament.

For example, Richard Hamilton, UConn and fade-away jumper that ended Wa.