A news item getting a lot of attention lately- with the NIT wrapping up and the NCAA Final Four this weekend- is the likelihood of expanding the NCAA Tournament.

Indeed, it is now being called 'likely' that as soon as next year the NCAA Tournament field- which (minus the minor addition of the play-in game in 2000) hasn't really changed since it expanded to 64 teams in 1985.

You've heard all the reasons why some people agree and disagree with this move, but let's talk about some of the implications- for college basketball as a sport, but also for college athletics as a whole.

In what has become a tradition around these parts, I'll explain my 2010 NCAA picks. You can click here to see the 2009 version of this blog and click here to see the 2008 version.

Think I'm an idiot? Join our tournament challenge group here and beat me... you can win a prize from G1!

You also have the advantage of knowing my picks ahead of time...

Thursday begins my favorite two-day stretch of the year. On Thursday and Friday, there will be four tournament games on at a time for 12 hours. Even better than that is the fact that I will have a rooting interest in each and every one of those games! The chances that I get fired from my job are much higher this week than normal...

Saturday and Sunday bring the same level of competition, with two games always on for 12 hours. I think the best part is the fact that as the games are coming to close, there is a good chance that buzzer beaters could be all coming roughly at the same time.

This post will discuss my picks for the Sweet Sixteen through the Finals. I took about a half a day to do some research and I've come up with what I see the best bracket to be. Feel free to make fun of my bracket below in the comments section! Also, take us on in our bracket challenge!

This weekend will mark the first time G1 will be traveling as a group to the NCAA tournament, as the Gators will be playing in Oklahoma City, only a short 3.5 hr drive from the Dallas/Ft Worth metroplex. Feel free to follow our live coverage on our twitter page.

From time to time, G1 seeks the opinion from an enemy blogger to give a preview of an upcoming game. Today we bring in Nathan from HDSportsGuide to give his scouting report of the BYU Cougars for tomorrow game. Enjoy!

Thursday begins my favorite two-day stretch of the year. On Thursday and Friday, there will be four tournament games on at a time for 12 hours. Even better than that is the fact that I will have a rooting interest in each and every one of those games! The chances that I get fired from my job are much higher this week than normal...

March Madness - NCAA Basketball Tournament - Round One
[10] Florida (Gators) vs. [7] Brigham Young University (Cougars)
12:20PM(ET) - Thu, Mar 18 - Oklahoma City, OK - On CBS

Watch it here:
Florida vs. BYU On-Demand

The first set of conference tourneys start on Tuesday, March 2nd. Most of the major conferences don't start until March 9-11. Therefore teams have about 2 or 3 games left to impress the committee before starting conference tournament play, and basketball fans are running short on time for March Madness betting and completing their brackets with friends.

Remember, there are 65 spots available, comprised of 31 automatic bids to conference champions and 34 at-large bids. Here is a comprehensive look at the major leagues in Division-I (full rankings are current AP poll)...

From the results that follow, I predict that at this point 63 teams are safe, which includes 31 auto-bids and 32 at-large bids. Out of these 63 teams, 31 come from major conferences and 32 from minor ones. March 14th is approaching rapidly, so teams need to bunker down and play hard to make the field of 65.

This means that there are TWO remaining at-large bids that will go to the ''bubble'' teams that I have listed. If I were to choose from the remaining bubble teams that are listed below, my last two in, in order, would be: Mississippi St and St Mary's. My first four out would be Notre Dame, Arizona State, Charlotte, and Wichita St. And my next four out would be Connecticut, Rhode Island, San Diego St, and Memphis. Mississippi, Cincinnati, Minnesota, Washington, Marshall, Tulsa, Illinois St, New Mexico St, and Louisiana Tech are also on my bubble list (read below).

Now that we are a little more than half way through the 2009-10 college basketball season, we look at where we are right now, as teams are knee deep in their conference schedules. March madness is seven weeks away, and teams have a ton to play for. Remember, there are 65 spots available, comprised of 31 automatic bids to conference champions and 34 at-large bids. Here is a comprehensive look at the major leagues in Division-I (rankings are current AP poll)...

From the results that follow, I predict that at this point 64 teams are safe, which includes 31 auto-bids and 33 at-large bids. This means that there is ONE remaining bid that will go to one of the ''bubble'' teams that I have listed. Out of the 64 that I have found, 30 come from major conferences and 34 from minor ones. A lot can change over the next few weeks, as you've already seen since last week.

Now that we are a little more than half way through the 2009-10 college basketball season, we look at where we are right now, as teams are knee deep in their conference schedules. March madness is seven weeks away, and teams have a ton to play for. Remember, there are 65 spots available, comprised of 31 automatic bids to conference champions and 34 at-large bids. Here is a comprehensive look at the major leagues in Division-I (rankings are current AP poll)...

From the results that follow, I predict that at this point 61 teams are safe, which includes 31 auto-bids and 30 at-large bids. This means that there are FOUR remaining bids that will go to the ''bubble'' teams that I have listed. Out of the 61 that I have found, 27 come from major conferences and 34 from minor ones. A lot can change over the next few weeks, as you've already seen since last week.

Now that we are a little more than half way through the 2009-10 college basketball season, we look at where we are right now, as teams are knee deep in their conference schedules. March madness is seven weeks away, and teams have a ton to play for. Remember, there are 65 spots available, comprised of 31 automatic bids to conference champions and 34 at-large bids. Here is a comprehensive look at the major leagues in Division-I (rankings are from current AP poll)...

From the results that follow, I predict that at this point 63 teams are safe, which includes 31 auto-bids and 32 at-large bids. This means that there are four remaining bids that will go to the ''bubble'' teams that I have listed. Out of the 63 that I have found, 28 come from major conferences and 35 from minor ones. A lot can change over the next few weeks, as you've already seen since last week.

Now that we are a little more than half way through the 2009-10 college basketball season, we look at where we are right now, as teams are knee deep in their conference schedules. March madness is six weeks away, and teams have a ton to play for. Remember, there are 65 spots available, comprised of 31 automatic bids to conference champions and 34 at-large bids. Here is a comprehensive look at the major leagues in Division-I (rankings are current AP poll)...

From the results that follow, I predict that at this point 61 teams are safe, which includes 31 auto-bids and 30 at-large bids. This means that there are four remaining bids that will go to the ''bubble'' teams that I have listed. Out of the 61 that I have found, 28 come from major conferences and 33 from minor ones. A lot can change over the next few weeks, as you've already seen since last week.

Now that we are a little more than half way through the 2009-10 college basketball season, we look at where we are right now, as teams are knee deep in their conference schedules. March madness is seven weeks away, and teams have a ton to play for. Remember, there are 65 spots available, comprised of 31 automatic bids to conference champions and 34 at-large bids. Here is a comprehensive look at the major leagues in Division-I (rankings are current AP poll)...

From the results that follow, I predict that at this point 58 teams are safe, which includes 31 auto-bids and 27 at-large bids. This means that there are seven remaining bids that will go to the ''bubble'' teams that I have listed. Out of the 58 that I have found, 31 come from major conferences and 27 from minor ones. A lot can change over the next few weeks, as you've already seen since last week.

Now that we are a little more than half way through the 2009-10 college basketball season, we look at where we are right now, as teams are knee deep in their conference schedules. March madness is exactly two months away, and teams have a ton to play for. Remember, there are 65 spots available, comprised of 31 automatic bids to conference champions and 34 at-large bids. Here is a comprehensive look at the major leagues in Division-I (rankings are current AP poll)...

Tomorrow begins my favorite two-day stretch of the year. On Thursday and Friday, there will be four tournament game on at a time for 12 hours. Even better than that is the fact that I will have a rooting interest in each and every one of those games! The chances that I get fired from my new job are much higher this week than normal...

Saturday and Sunday bring the same level of competition, with two games always on for 12 hours. I think the best part is the fact that as the games are coming to close, there is a good chance that buzzer beaters could be all coming roughly at the same time. What excitement!

I took about a half a day to do some research and I've come up with what I see the best bracket to be. Feel free to make fun of my bracket below in the comments section! Also, take us on in our bracket challenge! Or, if you're just concerned with Gator Basketball, follow the NIT here. Anyways, here are my picks…
 

The last weekend of the season is upon us as the conference tournaments are coming to a close. The selection committee is watching closely, as they will make their decision late Sunday afternoon.

Remember, there are 65 spots available, comprised of 31 automatic bids to conference champions and 34 at-large bids. Here is a comprehensive look at the major leagues in Division-I

From the results that follow, I predict that at this point 58 teams are safe, which includes 31 auto-bids and 27 at-large bids. Out of thees 58 teams, 30 come from major conferences and 28 from minor ones.

This means that there are SEVEN remaining at-large bids that will go to the 20 "bubble" teams that I have listed...
 

The last weekend of the regular season was thrilling. Along with the great bubble matchups, many teams have already punched their ticket to the big dance by winning their conference tournaments.

The first set of conference tourneys started this past Tuesday. Cornell, East Tennessee State, Morehead State, Northern Iowa, and Radford are guaranteed a spot in the tourney. The major conferences start their tournaments Tuesday-Thursday, culminating in the tournament selection on Sunday afternoon. This week will be the last chance to impress the selection committee.

Remember, there are 65 spots available, comprised of 31 automatic bids to conference champions and 34 at-large bids. Here is a comprehensive look at the major leagues in Division-I (full rankings are current AP poll)...
 

The weekdays slot of games during March 2-5 were fantastic. Some bubble teams got the big wins they needed, while most faltered.

The first set of conference tourneys started this Tuesday, March 3rd. Most of the major conferences don't start theirs until March 10-12. Heading into the weekend, most teams have only one game left to impress the committee before starting conference tournament play.

Remember, there are 65 spots available, comprised of 31 automatic bids to conference champions and 34 at-large bids. Here is a comprehensive look at the major leagues in Division-I (full rankings are current AP poll)...