The Most Misguided Announcer of the Tournament Award goes, only two rounds in, straight to Billy Packer who, in one of the more ridiculous moments in recent sports history, claimed that Indiana University had thrown their basketball team "under the bus" by firing onetime head coach Kelvin Sampson before the tournament.

Wha.....?

Please, someone, explain to me what planet Packer is from. Uranus comes to mind, but it might be too obvious. Does he honestly believe that the administration at Indiana would have taught the kids on the basketball team a better lesson by allowing a two-time cheat to stick around as their head-coach? That repeated breaking of the rules, clear rules, near-identical breaking of rules that had, in fact, led to Sampson's ouster at his previous head-coaching gig at Oklahoma, is something that goes without consequence? That the kind of hubris displayed by Sampson when he tried to pin the cheating on his assistants, on someone, anyone, other than himself, somehow goes without consequence? That cheating is encouraged, not only if you don't get caught, but especially if it gets you to the big dance?

And, just out of curiosity, when would Packer feel the time for firing Sampson would be more appropriate? After the first round of the tournament? The second? After Indiana had won the whole darn thing? What, pray tell, does that teach the kids? Because then all that happens is the NCAA steps in and wipes out all the games, as if they never happened. And then Sampson gets cut loose.

Sweet.

Someone should throw Billy Packer under the bus....

The Most Classless Post-Game Press Conference Award goes to, you guessed it, Jim Calhoun of Connecticut. During a long, rambling press conference following his team's loss to upstart San Diego, Calhoun went on and on about how his team had somehow allowed San Diego to believe they belonged there, facing Connecticut, in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Not once did he concede that the other team might have been better or played harder than his over-hyped Huskies.

Who is this guy?!?!

Villanova, Davidson, Western Kentucky. Those were the 3 teams seeded 10th or lower when the tournament started that have moved on to the Sweet 16. Hell's bells, even West Virginia is a 7 seed! And, contrary to Calhoun and all the other blowhards, those teams belong in the Sweet 16, they weren't allowed to play in the Sweet 16. They played better, they played harder, and now they're playing longer than the teams that were "supposed" to send them home. Did they get lucky? Sure. But any good coach, any coach who's ego hasn't swollen to Calhoun-ian proportions, will tell you that the best teams make their own luck, by fighting and clawing and scrabbling and believing and shutting out all the nattering naybobs of negativism that say they don't belong.

Calhoun said he was "mystified" at the result of the game against San Diego.

I'm mystified that the guy who coached the vaunted Connecticut team that lost to #11 ranked George Mason just two years ago could still be so full of himself and his program.

As for me, well, sadly it would appear I'm no smarter than either of these two clowns. My bracket looks like the floor at Leatherface's house. I picked plenty of upsets, just all the wrong ones. Siena? You bet! But they were supposed to lose to Clemson, not 'Nova. Davidson? Well, d'uh! But apparently Stephen Curry didn't get the memo that Georgetown was just too big a reach for the Wildcats. I, homer that I am, had Georgetown going to the Final Four, the same Georgetown team I'd watched all season peak out wins over supposedly inferior teams they were supposed to beat handily, the same Georgetown team whose star center, Roy Hibbert, had pulled one too many disappearing acts like the one he pulled against Davidson on Sunday.

To add insult to injury, my mom is beating me in our tournament pool.

No lie.

Not the wifey, though, who, thankfully, had Georgetown and Duke going to the Final Four.

Succer.

North Carolina looks plain scary in the East. But they're doing the job they're supposed to, not looking beyond the team in front of them, pounding their opponents with no regard for mercy or second-chances. You won't see anybody coming back from 17 down against Roy Williams and this year's Tarheel squad, that I'll wager just about anybody.

I still like Texas and UCLA coming out of the South and West regions, respectively. Apologies to all the Texas and UCLA fans out there.

Kansas should be my new logical choice out of the Midwest, but boy, I love the idea of a Wildcat regional final....

All the #1's are still alive, too, raising the unlikely specter of an all #1 seed Final Four, something that's never actually happened.

Still, you kind of need at least one underdog in the Final Four, really.

If only to shut up the blowhards.