Soft Pretzel Logic

For the first time since 1999, the Philadelphia region has sent three teams to the NCAA Tournament.

Now that the bracket is finished, I'm going to leave this post at the top of the blog and just update it with stories as they come through.

And remember to enter Philly.com's Hoops Hysteria contest, in which you can win a 50-inch plasma TV from Bob and Ron's Worldwide Stereo if you have the best bracket.

You can also compare your bracket to a panel of experts from the Inquirer, Daily News and Philly.com, or you can play in the Soft Pretzel Logic group just for fun.

Check back here tomorrow for my picks, as well as audio and video from the Coaches vs. Cancer breakfast.

From the Daily News

Dick Jerardi: Late season excellence puts Temple, Saint Joseph's, Villanova in Big Dance

Owls knew their NCAA day would come
Villanova Wildcats relieved just to be invited to NCAAs
Saint Joseph's Hawks can exhale, on way to Big Dance

Capsule previews of Michigan State, Clemson and Oklahoma

http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/20080316_NCAA_East_Region_capsules.html">East region
West region
South region
Mdwest region

From the Inquirer

Bob Ford: Philly teams find a way to NCAA tourney
The resume gets job done for Villanova
Hawks let out a collective sigh of relief
St. Joe's, Nova join Temple at dance
On College Basketball | 16 tournament questions that demand an answer
East | UNC repeats as NCAA top seed
Midwest | Jayhawks the best of Midwest
South | Memphis leads strong contingent
West | UCLA, of course, is the team to beat

Fan information

St. Joe's

In Anaheim, Calif.

1. UCLA vs. 16. Mississippi Valley State
8. BYU vs. 9. Texas A&M

In Tampa, Fla.

5. Drake vs. 12. Western Kentucky
4. Connecticut vs. 13. San Diego

In Washington, D.C.

2. Duke vs. 15. Belmont
7. West Virginia vs. 10. Arizona

In Washington, D.C.

3. Xavier vs. 14. Georgia
6. Purdue vs. 11. Baylor

In Little Rock, Ark.

1. Memphis vs. 16 Texas-Arlington
8. Mississippi State vs. 9 Oregon

In Denver, Colo.

5. Michigan State vs. 12. Temple!
4. Pittsburgh vs. 13 Oral Roberts

In Little Rock, Ark.

2. Texas vs. 15 Austin Peay
7. Miami vs. 10. St. Mary's

In Anaheim, Calif.

3. Stanford vs. 14. Cornell
6. Marquette vs. Kentucky

In Omaha, Neb.

1. Kansas vs. 16 Portland State
8. UNLV vs. 9 Kent State

In Tampa, Fla.

5. Clemson vs. 12 Villanova!
4. Vanderbilt vs.13. Siena

In Raleigh, N.C.

2. Georgetown vs. 15. Maryland Baltimore-County
7. Gonzaga vs. 10 Davidson

In Omaha, Neb.

3. Wisconsin vs. 14. Cal State-Fullerton
6. Southern California vs. 11. Kansas State

In Raleigh, N.C.:

1. North Carolina vs. 16 Mount St. Mary's or Coppin State
8. Indiana vs. 9. Arkansas

In Denver, Colo.:

5. Notre Dame vs. 12. George Mason
4. Washington State vs. 13. Winthrop

In Birmingham, Ala.

2. Tennessee vs. 15. American
7. Butler vs. 10. South Alabama

In Birmingham, Ala.

3. Louisville Cardinals vs. 14. Boise State
6. Oklahoma vs. 11. St. Joseph's!

East: North Carolina
South: Memphis
West; UCLA
Midwest: Kansas

If all four top seeds were to make the Final Four, North Carolina would play Kansas and Memphis would play UCLA.

I see the TV cameras are at Temple's party.

... is North Carolina.

So the Tar Heels will get the winner of Tuesday night's play-in game between Coppin State and Mount St. Mary's.

It's 6:00 p.m. in Philadelphia.

Do you know whether your team is in the NCAA Tournament?

That sound you just heard was either "Glory, Glory to Old Georgia," or a lot of Villanova fans becoming very afraid.

... is Coppin State vs. Mount St. Mary's.

Coppin State heads to the Dance with a somewhat unsightly 16-20 record, but the MEAC's No. 7 seed beat No. 2 Hampton, No. 3 Norfolk State and No. 1 Morgan State to win the bid.

Mount St. Mary's won the Northeast Conference as the 4-seed in a tournament that was re-seeded after every round. The Mountaineers beat 5-seed Quinnipiac, then upset top seed Robert Morris (coached by ex-St. Joe's assistant Mike Rice) before beating 3-seed Sacred Heart in the title game.

Meanwhile, Kansas just beat Texas and Wisconsin finished off Illinois, but Georgia has led from the start against Arkansas and currently is up by three.

(Hat tip to the D.C. Sports Bog)

An hour to go until the Selection Show begins.

As I write this, Georgia is winning the SEC, Wisconsin is up big in the Big 10, and Kansas just took the lead on Texas in a possible battle for a No. 1 seed.

Somewhere out Lancaster Avenue, Jay Wright is watching nervously, his Wildcats poised on a knife-edge.

Phil Martelli might just grab his rosary beads a little tighter if Georgia wins, but deep down you have to believe he knows his Hawks have done everything they need to do.

And at the Draught Horse just off North Broad Street, Temple is getting ready to throw a big party.

Tick, tock...

Welcome to Soft Pretzel Logic's live coverage of Selection Sunday.

With the Selection Show just hours away, here's the final edition of Crunchy Numbers of the season. As we find out who's in and out of the field among the local teams, here's the last rundown of all the big stats.

Remember to enter Philly.com's Hoops Hysteria contest, in which you can win a 50-inch plasma TV from Bob and Ron's Worldwide Stereo if you have the best bracket.

You can also compare your bracket to a panel of experts from the Inquirer, Daily News and Philly.com, or you can play in the Soft Pretzel Logic group just for fun.

(Ignore the Philly.com group; I created it by accident when trying to build a group for the blog and now I can't get rid of it. Sorry.)

After the jump, the usual team and individual breakdown.

Here it is.

By clicking here. I'll post mine in a bit.

That bracket is interactive, by the way -- you can just click on the lines and type the team names in.

The NIT bids have just come out.

Drexel gets the 3 seed in the East region, taking on No. 6 N.C. State. The game will tip off at 8 p.m. on Tuesday and will be televised on ESPNU. I'd love to know where it will take place.

UMass gets a 4 seed against 5-seed Alabama. That game will be at 9:30 p.m. Tuesday and will be televised by ESPN.

Delaware State is an 8-seed against 1-seed West Virginia. They'll play Tuesday but the time has not been announced yet.

Syracuse is a 2-seed in the South and will play South Alabama on Wednesday at 7 on ESPN (big surprise there).

And Hofstra out of the CAA gets a 6-seed against 3-seed DePaul. That game will also be Wednesday, but without TV, so no tipoff time is known yet.

So no St. Joe's, Fordham or Rhode Island. Having watched the Rams all week at the A-10 Tournament, I find it rather amazing that they didn't make it. I can understand Fordham and St. Joe's, but I think the light blue Rams got a bit jobbed.

The latest Inquirer sports poll asks whether Drexel got jobbed.

Go vote in it.

Villanova will beat Kentucky, then lose to Kansas. Even though I regularly pick the Jayhawks to make the Final Four and they never do, I think they'll beat Southern Illinois in the Sweet 16 and UCLA in the Elite Eight to make the Final Four. Elsewhere in the West, Virginia Commonwealth will easily beat Duke, and will barely lose to Pittsburgh.

Penn will get destroyed by Texas A&M, leaving my most recent commenter pleased because I won't talk about Penn anymore after that. The Aggies will then beat Louisville in the second round, Nevada in the Sweet 16 and Ohio State in the Elite Eight to make it another year where all four No. 1 seeds don't make the Final Four. Elsewhere in the South, Sean Singletary's Virginia will have no trouble with Albany and will squeak by Tennesee before falling to the Buckeyes, who will beat Xavier in the second round.

Florida will cruise to Atlanta, beating Arizona, Old Dominion and Wisconsin along the way. Winthrop will beat Notre Dame and Davidson will give Maryland a scare.

Finally, in the east, North Carolina will beat Marquette, Texas and Georgetown to make the Final Four. Maureece Rice's George Washington Colonials will beat Vanderbilt but lose to Washington State. The Hoyas will beat Boston College and Washington State to make the Elite Eight.

I think we are looking at the Kansas-Carolina matchup that has been looming ever since Roy Williams left Lawrence for Chapel Hill. This could finally by the year. Kansas-Florida will be one hell of a game, but I give the Jayhawks the edge because they've beaten the Gators once already. The Georgia Dome crowd will be much more in the Gators' favor than the Vegas crowd was earlier this season, though.

Courtesy of the Daily News, here are some quick breakdowns of the Penn-Texas A&M and Villanova-Kentucky matchups.

Seth Davis correctly rips the selection committee for leaving Drexel out.

I remember now that at the beginning of the day, selection committee chair Gary Walters told Greg Gumbel that the committee already knew all 65 teams in the field.

I thought at the time there was something wrong with that, and now it's clear why.

In Lexington

1. Ohio State vs. 16. Central Connecticut State -- Penn assistant Chris Sparks used to be an assistant there, so that got some reaction here.
8. BYU vs. 9. Xavier

In Columbus

5. Tennessee vs. 12. Long Beach State -- Drexel's out.
4. Virginia vs. 13. Albany -- That is stunning to me. I can't believe Albany was put higher than Penn, but Sean Singletary should be in the second round.

In New Orleans

2. Memphis vs. 15. North Texas
7. Nevada vs. 10. Creighton

In Lexington

3. Texas A&M vs. 14. Penn. That is about the worst matchup Penn could have received. The Aggies should be a dark horse contender to win the national championship, with Acie Law running the offense and one of the truly outstanding defenses in the country.

6. Louisville vs. 11. Stanford. Not sure the Cardinal deserved it either.

In Winston-Salem

1. North Carolina vs. 16. Eastern Kentucky
8. Marquette vs. 9. Michigan State

In Spokane

5. Southern Cal vs. 12. Arkansas -- that should do it for Drexel, sadly. Not sure Arkansas deserved to get in.
4. Texas vs. 13 New Mexico State -- the Penn fans forgot that because the Quakers played the Longhorns in last year's Tournament, they can't this year.

In Winston-Salem

2. Georgetown vs. 15 Belmont
7. Boston College vs. 10. Texas Tech

In Sacramento

3. Washington State vs. 14. Oral Roberts
6. Vanderbilt vs. 11. George Washington, with star guard Maureece Rice of Strawberry Mansion.

The last time three City Six teams made it to the NCAA Tournament was 1999, when Temple, Villanova and Penn all went.

It's looking highly unlikely right now that this streak will end this year.

In Chicago

1. Kansas vs. 16 The play-in game: Florida A&M vs. Niagara
8. Kentucky vs. 9. VILLANOVA!!!!!!!!! Oh man. That's going to be a real defensive game... and Kansas will be a very tough 2nd-round game

In Columbus

5. Virginia Tech vs. 12 Illinois
4. Southern Illinois vs. 13 Holy Cross -- the Penn fans let out a huge groan, thinking that was their spot.

In Sacramento

2. UCLA vs. 15. Weber State
7. Indiana vs. 10 Gonzaga -- Hmmm. That's an evenly-matched one.

In Buffalo

3. Pittsburgh vs. 14 Wright State -- Big cheers from the Penn faithful, who were desperate to avoid that matchup.
6. Duke vs. 11. Virginia Commonwealth -- It's looking more and more like Drexel's out.

In New Orleans:

1. Florida vs. No. 16 Jackson State
8. Arizona vs. 9 Purdue

In Buffalo:

5. Butler (wow) vs. 12. Old Dominion -- that could be a disaster for Drexel.
4. Maryland vs. 13 Davidson -- the Penn fans here really, really wanted that slot. I think it could be an upset given how badly Maryland got knocked out of the ACC Tournament by Miami.

In Chicago:

2. Wisconsin vs. 15 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
7. UNLV vs. 10 Georgia Tech-- so much for that matchup a lot of Penn fans thought they'd get with UNLV as the 4.

In Spokane:

3. Oregon vs. 14. Miami, Ohio -- big applause from the Penn fans, who were scared of that game.
6. Notre Dame vs. Winthrop -- Everyone thinks Winthrop is odds-on to pull a first-round upset, and I'm still just a little skeptical of Notre Dame.

Florida should be going to New Orleans. If Villanova is an 8 or 9, it would be quite something to see a rematch of the game that knocked Villanova out last year.

And I'm sure Wildcats fans would love a trip to the Big Easy.

Florida gets the overall top seed in the Midwest, which ends in St. Louis.

North Carolina is the top seed in the East, which ends at the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, N.J.

The South's top seed is Ohio State, with that region ending in San Antonio.

Now the suspense...

The fourth number one is ---- Kansas! Not UCLA. Which makes sense, but I thought that Kansas would get the South regional.

So the way it works is that Florida would play Kansas and Carolina would play Ohio State in the Final Four.

Greg Gumbel announced the name of Gary Walters, the Princeton athletic director who chaired this year's Selection Committee, and he was booed by the crowd here.

Greetings from a jam-packed World Café Live in University City, where the Penn basketball team awaits its fate in this year's NCAA Tournament. Out on the Main Line, Villanova is buzzing just as loudly with anticipation, and a few blocks north of here Drexel waits to see if it will escape the bubble and make it to this year's Big Dance.

Over the course of the next hour, all will be revealed. So stay tuned.

Hi everyone, and welcome to Soft Pretzel Logic's live coverage of Selection Sunday. I'm on my way to the World Cafe Live in just a few minutes, and once I get there, I'll be blogging the entire selection show.

You can follow along yourself at home with the blank NCAA Tournament Bracket that ran in this morning's Inquirer. Fill it out as the show goes on, or print out a bunch and try to dream up some mock brackets à la our good friend Joe Lunardi.

Will Drexel survive the bubble and give Philly three Tournament teams for the first time since 1999? Will Penn get shipped across the country? Will Villanova avoid the dreaded 8-9 game?

We'll all find out together starting at 6 p.m. Until then, enjoy the rest of the day's games, including what looks like a barn-burner between Kansas and Texas in the Big 12.