This one's for Blob reader Tom Pitzen, who wants to know how my bracket's going.
Bracket? What bracket?
You must mean this neat little pile of ashes here.
Because that's what it is now, see. Arsonists snuck in under cover of night, doused it with lighter fluid and turned it into a Homecoming bonfire. Now it's nothin' but an insurance claim.
Georgetown?
Yeah, they were one of my Final Four teams. Then they blew a 16-point lead with 15 minutes to play this afternoon against Stephen Curry and Davidson (Davidson!) , and now they're gone. Why did Dell Curry have to have kids, anyway?
Pitt?
Yeah, they were another of my Final Four teams, until Michigan State (Michigan State?!) kicked 'em to the curb last night. Why couldn't Drew Neitzel, the shaved-head little goober, have taken up tennis?
UCLA?
My national champ pick looked shakier than a drunk on stilts against Texas A&M (Texas A&M?!) before finally pulling it out at the very end. Which means I don't trust the Bruins anymore, either.
Here's what all this means: It means once again I made the mistake of listening to all that East Coast media-driven hype about the Big East, annually the most overrated conference in college basketball. Notre Dame going down without a whimper is one thing, because Notre Dame always goes down without a whimper in Da Tournament. But Pitt, the Big East tournament champ, losing to the fourth best team in the Big Ten? Georgetown, the regular-season champ, losing to the champion of whatever conference Davidson's the champion of (the Southern)?
Pah. Big East, Schmig East. They stink as bad as my bracket does.
-- Ben Smith