Pick 'em in pencil

NCAA bracket: West loaded, South light, Gonzaga got ...

Jimmy Miggins and Pepperdine may have what it takes to knock off Wake Forest. AP

By Stewart Mandel, CNNSI.com

Welcome to the 2002 NCAA tournament. Home of the few, the proud ... and Charlotte.

Amazingly, in a year when there should have been almost no intrigue in the pairing announcements, when nearly every "bubble team" made things nice and tidy by blowing its chances, the selection committee still managed to blow it.

Because the committee insisted on adhering to the RPI ratings as if they were delivered from Moses, 29-3 Gonzaga is sitting on a No. 6 seed and 25-5 Butler is sitting at home, while Oklahoma can't get a No. 1 seed despite beating the No. 1 team.

And have we mentioned Charlotte?

But it's still March Madness, and we still love it, and all the things wrong with it will be forgotten the minute some Davidson or Valparaiso player hits a game-winning shot.

So without further ado, let's dissect the bracket ...

Toughest region: West. Not even close. You've got seven conference tournament champs -- Cincinnati, Oklahoma, Arizona, Ohio State, Gonzaga, Xavier and Hawaii -- among the top 10 seeds, and the Bearcats, Sooners, Wildcats and 'Zags are all Final Four-capable. You've even got a No. 12 seed, Missouri, that was ranked second in the country at one point.

Easiest region: South. Duke is by no means infallible, yet there's only one team in the entire region, USC, that should threaten the Blue Devils. That includes No. 2 seed Alabama, which itself has a potential cakewalk to the Elite Eight against paper tigers Oklahoma State, Pittsburgh (more on the Panthers later) and Cal in its half of the bracket.

Best first-round game: No. 8 UCLA vs. No. 9 Ole Miss (West). It's a matchup of two teams with polar-opposite philosophies. The Rebels believe in playing defense, the Bruins don't. The trouble with trying to pick a winner is that UCLA is grossly talented but certifiably unpredictable. Heck, some Vegas casinos are offering lines on whether the Bruins make their flight to the game.

Dream second-round game: No. 3 Arizona vs. No. 6 Gonzaga (West). Thanks to the selection committee's senselessness regarding the 'Zags, we could have an Elite Eight-caliber matchup a week early, not to mention a heavenly showdown of point guards Jason Gardner and Dan Dickau.

Sounds like an NIT first-round game: No. 8 Notre Dame vs. No. 9 Charlotte (South). It's where the RPI-blessed 49ers should be, and it's where the Irish were, until the past couple of years, a mainstay.

Sounds like 1989 all over again: San Diego State, whose coach Steve Fisher led Michigan to that year's national championship, against Illinois, former Big Ten rival and fellow participant in that year's Final Four.

After Gonzaga, teams with the biggest gripes: How about those on the short end of the NCAA's "close-to-home" craze movement? Like Mississippi State, a three seed sent to Dallas -- where Texas could be its second-round opponent. Same with fifth seed Florida, which could face fourth seed Illinois in Chicago, and fifth seed Indiana, which must travel substantially farther than its first foe, 12-seed Utah, to Sacramento.

Blatantly obvious "upset" pick: No. 10 Pepperdine over No. 7 Wake Forest (Midwest). The Waves have beaten UCLA and USC. They didn't lose a conference game to anyone but Gonzaga. And they've won 16 of their past 18 games. The Demon Deacons finished their season losing six of nine.

Sucker pick: Western Kentucky over Stanford. Everybody loves the Hilltoppers because of glamour big man Chris Marcus, but Marcus will meet his match in the Cardinal's Curtis Borchardt.

An upset pick per region: