Columnist Mark Selig, deputy sports editor Adi Joseph and I were chatting online as the 2008 NCAA Tournament bracket was revealed tonight. We were most surprised by not seeing “Maryland” pop up on the screen … err, nevermind, too easy.

Anyway, some quick thoughts amongst the three of us:

-UNC got hosed and has the toughest road of the No. 1 seeds to the Final Four. Indiana, Notre Dame, Washington State, Louisville and Tennessee in that bracket is brutal. We don’t understand how Tennessee has the top RPI in the country and is considered the worst No. 2? “East is so much stronger than the other brackets,” Adi says, “despite the No. 1 overall team being in it. Very unusual.”

-Butler as a 7 is ridiculous. The Bulldogs had just three losses and won the Horizon Conference (season and tourney). Why so low this season compared to a 5 last season?

-South Alabama a 10 seed playing in Birmingham? What is this, the women’s tournament?

-Wisconsin, Big Ten regular season and tourney champs, gets a 3 seed… Xavier, A-10 regular season but not tourney champs gets a 3 seed. What does that say about those two conferences? “I dont think they’re great, but what more could they have done?” Mark asks of the Badgers.

-All three of us agree Virginia Tech did not deserve to get in.

-I think Arizona State deserved to get in over Villanova, but other than that, I actually think the committee got it right with the bubble teams.

-Adi thinks Arizona as a 10 is “absurd” and Miami is “overseeded.”

-Mark says Georgetown got “too much love” and UCLA has “an absolute cakewalk.” I agree and would expect most of the country will pick UCLA to win it all because of its road to the Final Four.

zuckermandbk@gmail.com, ajosephdbk@gmail.com, mseligdbk@gmail.com