Breaking down the bracket

Get ready for Wildcats vs. Wildcats -- one round too soon

So you had to ruin it, Mr. and Ms. selection committee member.

You had to take two teams that have so clearly separated themselves from the rest of the country over the course of a 30-game season and put them on the same darn side of the bracket.

You had to make sure Texas would be around to sell out the Alamodome in a couple weeks, even if it meant wiping out the possibility of everyone's dream title game.

Kentucky vs. Arizona, in 2002-03, should not be taking place in the Final Four. Period.

But then again, this is the NCAA tournament, home of the upset, land of the Cinderella.

You really think they both were going to make it that far?

It's Madness time, people. No, not the kind the committee exhibited when they decided to invite Auburn. The kind where anything and everything you can't possibly fathom will happen.

No more fretting about RPIs and road records. The bracket's done and ready for dissecting. ...

Toughest region : West. No one will ever accuse committee chairman and Arizona athletic director Jim Livengood of pulling strings for the Wildcats. Perhaps as punishment for completely bagging the Pac-10 tourney, the nation's No. 1 team for most of the season got stuck with (using the most recent AP poll) No. 4 Kansas, No. 12 Duke, No. 13 Illinois, No. 17 Notre Dame and No. 19 Creighton. Ouch.

Easiest region : South. Don't get us wrong, the Longhorns are a great team. But is T.J. Ford's smile just that captivating to not only put them in San Antonio but in the softest region? Florida, Xavier and Stanford all would be a seed lower in any other region, and Nos. 5 and 6 Connecticut and Maryland aren't nearly as good as their reputations.

Best first-round game : Michigan State vs. Colorado. Both teams are physical and love to rebound. But better yet, in both cases, you never know which team you're going to get -- the one that beats Kentucky or Kansas, or the one that loses to Toledo or Iowa State. Runner-up: Mississippi State-Butler.

Game we'll least mind seeing preempted by war coverage: Alabama vs. Indiana. Two teams that went a combined 11-18 since Jan. 22, one of them is guaranteed to win an NCAA tournament game. Surely, the world will be a better place because of it. Runner-up: St. Joe's-Auburn.

Easiest road, geographically: Syracuse can reach the Final Four without leaving the East Coast, playing its first two games in Boston and its next two in the practical home court of Albany, N.Y. Runner-up: Marquette (Indianapolis, Minneapolis).

Save up the frequent-flyer miles: With no logical "pod," Duke gets placed in Salt Lake City where it can team with Arizona to sell some tickets (an overriding theme with this committee). Win two, and the Blue Devils get a trip to Anaheim, Calif. Runner-up: Cal (Oklahoma City, Albany).

Biggest gripe : The Mountain West Conference. Its top two teams, Utah and BYU, finish 16th and 19th, respectively, in the RPI, but get seeded ninth and 12th. Runner-up: The Big East -- are Boston College and Seton Hall any worse than Alabama and Auburn? Methinks not.

Most elated and grateful : Butler, which got passed over last year and was presumably the last at-large that got in. Be sure to send a thank-you note to Tony Cole.

Sure-to-be trendiest upset picks : In the East, Penn over Oklahoma State; in the South, Colorado over Michigan State; in the Midwest, Tulsa over Dayton; and in the West, Wisconsin-Milwaukee over Notre Dame.

Most intriguing second-round possibility: Duke-Creighton. Are Kyle Korver and the Bluejays, who have been ranked most of the season, for real? No better program against which to find out. Runner-up: Xavier-Maryland.

Most intriguing Sweet 16 possibility: Pittsburgh-Marquette. Two similarly matched, fantastic defensive teams go head-to-head. Dwyane Wade vs. Julius Page will be worth the price of admission alone. Runner-up: Kansas-Duke.

Most intriguing Elite Eight possibility: Texas-Florida. Two of the deepest and most purely talented teams in the country, highlighted by player of the year T.J. Ford going up against the underappreciated Justin Hamilton at the point. Runner-up: Oklahoma-Syracuse.

Which brings us too ...: Our official "expert brackets" come out later this week. In the meantime, our "at first glance" Final Four would be Kentucky, Arizona, Florida and Syracuse. But it wouldn't be all that more surprising to see Marquette, LSU, Xavier or Louisville.

And who will cut down the nets? Kentucky certainly enters the dance as the team to beat, the consensus No. 1 and winner of 23 straight. But that may be its downfall -- the Wildcats should have gotten that inevitable cold night out of their system sooner.

Arizona did just that against UCLA. Rejuvenated and with renewed vigor, the nation's preseason No. 1 team finishes that way April 7 at the Superdome.

Stewart Mandel covers college sports for SI.com.

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