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The Must Watch Game Of The NCAA Tournament Is Texas vs. Oakland

Lost in all the controversy of the teams that did and did not make it into the NCAA tournament are the actual games that will be played. As we move closer to tip-off, that will change.

When the brackets were announced, there was one game that stood out above all the rest: No. 4 Texas taking on No. 13 Oakland in the West Region. There is always that one upset game that everyone picks, which would seem to negate the whole idea of the upset, and this year the first-round game (yes, I still consider this the first-round despite what the NCAA wants to call it now) is the Texas-Oakland game.

Texas, which is miscast as a No. 4 seed, stumbled down the stretch, but the Longhorns are still very talented and very dangerous in this tournament. Oakland, which has an argument for being seeded to low at No. 13, poses a lot of problems for this Texas team, such as size inside and the ability to score with anyone in the country.

Matt Norlander from CBSSports.com lists this game among his five must-see first-round games. "Oakland's Keith Benson is a future pro with great ability and low-post savvy," Norlander wrote. "He's more than just that though: he can score with the best of the big boys."

He also calls this a "GREAT matchup."

Andy Katz from ESPN.com says that he liked Oakland a lot this season. "I like Oakland as a possible Sweet 16 team when I watched the Golden Grizzlies early in the season, but once again it's all about matchups," Katz said. "I don't like Oakland beating Texas because of the Longhorns' ability to defend on the perimeter."

While Katz doesn't like Oakland to win this particular game, to say that they are a potential Sweet 16 team is very high praise for a school that plays in the Summit League. They will give this Texas team a lot of problems because of their size and athleticism.

Oakland ranked second in the nation in both points per game (85.6) and field goal percentage (.494). They were 14th in rebounds and 17th in assists. This team is the real deal and, like Katz thought earlier this season, they can win a couple games in the tournament.

Texas does play good defense overall, but they have had lapses at times this year - namely against Nebraska, Colorado and USC.

This will be an exciting game, and I think that Oakland knocks Texas off. They are playing really well right now, which Texas isn't, and Oakland's inside presence can offset the solid Texas perimeter defense.

Check out Bleacher Report's NCAA Tournament page by clicking here.

Download the NCAA Tournament Bracket by clicking here.

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Carmelo Anthony Hasn't Made A Bit Of Difference For This Knicks Team

When Carmelo Anthony was acquired from Denver by the New York Knicks last month, fans and analysts felt like the Knicks would be better as a result. After last night's 106-93 loss to the Pacers, there aren't so many people who believe in the Knicks.

Don't be fooled by that 13-point margin of defeat. The Pacers were all over them in this game. Carmelo Anthony did his part with 25 points, but the problem with the Knicks was never on the offensive side of the ball.

The Knicks rank 29th in the NBA in points allowed per game (105.8). Nothing that they did at the trade deadline was going to fix that because the problem isn't with the players they have now or the players they had before the trade was made. The problem is Mike D'Antoni's coaching style.

D'Antoni coaches a fun, up-and-down style that leads to a lot of high scoring games, but it has never been conducive to serious winning. He won a lot of games in Phoenix with the style, but he never got past the Western Conference Finals because no one ever played defense.

If this team wants to win (or at least contend for) a championship sometime in the near future, they have to get someone on the coaching staff that teaches defense...or get rid of Mike D'Antoni, which won't happen for at least another year when the shine wears off this Anthony trade.

The Knicks are 6-5 with their new lineup with Anthony, Chauncey Billups and A'mare Stoudemire. Before the trade they were 28-26. I said it before, but it has to be said again: The problem was not with the players they had on the team; it is the system that this team runs.

Related Story: What The Knicks Need To Be True Contenders

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Given All The Bracket Controversy, Should Someone Like Joe Lunardi Pick The NCAA Tournament Field?

The NCAA tournament field of 68 is set. The announcement was made on Sunday evening and was met with a mountain of controversy. Everything ranging from some of the teams that got in to the way that teams were seeded is being seriously scrutinized today.

The two most controversial choices among the teams that were selected for the tournament are UAB and VCU. Everyone has an opinion on these two teams, and it's not very kind to either program.

Eamonn Brennan from ESPN.com wrote about Colorado's omission and UAB's inclusion in perhaps the nicest possible way. "If you're interested in this little thing called "wins," the two resumes don't really compare," he wrote. "Colorado has six top-50 RPI victories; UAB has none. Colorado beat No. 5 seed Kansas State three times and No. 4 seed Texas once. UAB beat...VCU? Kent State? UTEP?"

He then brings up the difference in the teams RPI - Colorado was 66, UAB was 31. The only reason that the difference was so great in this ranking is because Colorado didn't play anyone out of conference and UAB did. The problem is UAB didn't beat any of the nonconference teams that they played - Duke and Georgia were the two most noteworthy.

The head of the selection committee, and Ohio State Athletic Director, Gene Smith was on television with George Smith from ESPN to defend the selection of both VCU and UAB. "We always look at how you did....and where you play, and look at how well a job they did when they played," Smith said. He gave the politically correct answers, as you would expect, but didn't really answer why they got in.

Once again the question that needs to be asked - Should an independent third party be selecting the NCAA tournament teams?

We know that the selection committee is run by a bunch of people that are affiliated with certain schools. This would seem to create a conflict of interest when they are picking teams to be in the tournament.

This is why someone with a great college basketball resume and a history of picking NCAA tournament teams should be brought in to at least help when selecting the teams. Someone like Joe Lunardi, ESPN's resident bracketologist.

No one studies the selection process more than Lunardi does. He understands exactly what the committee looks for (or what they should be looking for) when they pick these teams. He has a great track record of picking teams and he has matched the committee selections around 98 percent of the time. On the rare occasions that he has made an error it has been because the committee did something outlandish...like they did this year.

We can debate the merits of tournament teams all day long (most of us probably will today), but there is no way that everyone will be satisfied. There simply aren't enough spots in the tournament to do that, but so long as the selections aren't as egregious as these two, then everything should be fine.

There are hidden agendas within the selection committee every single year, which is why it makes zero sense for these people to be selecting teams to play in a tournament. Plus, this year there were three men on the committee who had no experience with college basketball. The NCAA needs to delegate the responsibility of selecting tournament teams to people who really understand what the tournament is about and what teams need to accomplish in order to make it in.

Check out Bleacher Report's NCAA Tournament page by clicking here.

Download the NCAA Tournament Bracket by clicking here.

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Ohio State Will Not Be Cutting Down The Nets At The Final Four This Year

Ohio State earned the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA tournament. The Buckeyes have been the best team in college basketball since the first game of the year way back in November because they have a great nucleus of players led by Jared Sullinger. They are a 7-2 favorite to win the tournament, according to the race and sports book at the Las Vegas Hilton.

Everyone is so high on Ohio State. Gary Parrish from CBSSports.com has them as No. 1 on the list of seven teams that he could see winning it all. He has them in the Final Four against San Diego State and then winning it all against Kansas in the title game.

Pat Forde from ESPN.com says that Ohio State has "the best six-man rotation in college basketball." You would be hard pressed to argue with that point, but if any one of those six players gets into foul trouble or has an "off night," shooting this team could be in trouble.

To be fair, Forde does mention potential problems that the Buckeyes could face in the tournament. "An injury or foul trouble could unspring everything," Forde wrote. "A team relying on a freshman point guard and freshman center...could wobble in the March crucible."

That's the biggest point of contention that I have with Ohio State. Yes, the Buckeyes are talented, but at the same time, they are very young. In last year's tournament, Kentucky had all the talent in the world, but the Wildcats were too young and got bounced in the Elite Eight by West Virginia.

Another thing that concerns me is the schedule that this team has played. What is this team's signature win? They beat a good (not great) Florida team in the second game of the season. They beat Wisconsin, but as Penn State revealed in the Big Ten tournament, that isn't the most impressive victory in the world.

Look at the teams they beat in the conference tournament: Northwestern in overtime, Michigan and Penn State.

That's not exactly a murderer's row of teams.

The third and final point of contention I have with Ohio State is the Buckeyes' bracket. The selection committee did not do this team any favors with the other teams in their region. The two, three and four-seeds in their bracket are North Carolina, Syracuse and Kentucky. Going deeper, George Mason, the eight-seed, is a good, dangerous team. Don't underestimate West Virginia at the five-seed either because they have a number of impressive wins this season including Louisville, Connecticut and Notre Dame.

Ohio State is a very good team. The Buckeyes have won 32 games on the year and deserve to be a one-seed, but this team is not the best team in the tournament. They will be knocked out in the Sweet 16 by Kentucky, another young team that is playing really well right now and looks extremely dangerous.

Check out Bleacher Report's NCAA Tournament page by clicking here.

Download the NCAA Tournament Bracket by clicking here.

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