NOVA GOING TO THE DANCE (ALONG WITH 63 OTHER TEAMS)

I'm shocked. And stunned. I'm shocked AND stunned.

Villanova, my alma mater, is in the NCAA tournament. They got a #12 seed and will play #5 Clemson in Tampa (looks like I picked the wrong month to visit Florida). And they're playing on Good Friday, just as God intended. I couldn't be happier because I have something to root for, and once they inevitably get ousted, I can go back to rooting for Georgetown and Duke to lose.

After taking a look at the bracket, here are my gut reactions (and dumb jokes):

Overseeded: Vanderbilt, Oklahoma, Duke, Georgetown (yes, I knew Pitt was going to beat them in the Big East final--so there.)
Underseeded: Butler, Wisconsin, Indiana, Tennessee (who I really thought would be the 4th #1 seed).
WTF Are They Doing Here? Oregon, Kentucky (who was awful this year; back in February they only scored 11 points in the first half en route to a 41 point asskicking by Vandy).
Team That Got In Simply Because I Blognosticated They Wouldn't: Villanova. Seriously, I did not see 8 teams from the Big East getting in. Though I'm happy the last one in ended up being my school, I don't agree with it. (Again, great work Joe "Bracketology" Lunardi for not getting anything right.)
Best Team Name: The Retrievers of University of Maryland-Baltimore County. As a tribute to "The Wire" I think they should change their name to the Hoppers. Win one for Omar!
#15 Seed I Really Want To See Win: Belmont (over Duke) on the first day.
Upset I Actually Think Will Happen: #13 Winthrop over #4 Washington State.
Team That I'm Never Picking Ever Again Because They Always Kill My Bracket: Gonzaga.
Team With The Best Chant: Austin Peay's "LET'S GO PEAY!" (Get it? You will once you've had too much to drink.)
Most Overrepresented Team Name: The Wildcats of Villanova/Arizona/Kentucky/Kansas State. Oddly enough all four were at-large bubble teams.
Team That Stephen Colbert Is Probably Rooting For: American Eagles. Their colors? Red, white and blue. Duh.
Storyline That I Honestly Know Nothing About: O.J. Mayo vs. Michael Beasley. You see this everywhere regarding the USC/K-State game. I'll have to Google or Wiki it or something. (UPDATE: I guess these are the two freshman everyone considers to be the best in the NCAA, and both are assumed to be skipping school for the NBA after this season. Whatever. Fuck the NBA.)
Teams That Should Just Play Chess Against Each Other: Stanford vs. Cornell.
Team/Player I'm Fucking Sick Of Hearing About: North Carolina and Tyler Hansbrough.
Team Everyone Is Picking To Lose Early (And They're Right): Kansas. The Jayhawks bowing out early is an annual right of spring. It just wouldn't feel right otherwise.
Team That I Have No Opinion About: Kent State.
Team Everyone Is Picking To Lose But I Think Are Going To Win It All: Memphis.

UPDATE: I just found out that Villanova plays at 9:40 PM on Good Friday. That's going to be a looooong day. I hope Bob Hyland's Sports Page has enough beer.