Apologies to:

The first 5 out:
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Colorado

North Carolina State

Oklahoma State

Northwestern

Pittsburgh

The next 5 out

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Virginia Commonwealth

Syracuse

Texas Tech

Saint Bonaventure

Ohio State

Rough year for the MWC and MVC.  I knew that the MVC lacked depth behind Wichita State, but Northern Iowa again will have to play their way into the main field, barring a spectacular conference season (like 16-2) or a big surge from the bottom of the conference to drive up their strength of schedule.

Giving the regular season title and first round bye to Nevada, San Diego State will play their way in as well.  Steve Fisher finds a way to win games, but this looks to be a slightly down year.  The conference second tier schools just aren't bringing enough clout to even get to the final 24, which makes it difficult to objectively compare the Aztecs outside head to head.

I gave Michigan the nod over Ohio State and Northwestern.  They will finish .500 in league play, but will get the nod in all the metrics (Pomeroy, Sagarin, RPI).  I had to do some deep digging, and really feel any of the top 3 teams on the first 5 out list have earned it more, but I'll ignore week 1 results and give Georgetown the nod for the other slot.

I also just have no desire to put Syracuse in until they prove they aren't going to mail in the first four months again, but they could end up clowning me again.

Seeding the bracket tonight.

Nice!!

Post and you shall receive!!

Cabrera has been bumped from Thursday's start.

Stammen has been solid-awesome for Syracuse this year, but I think the bar of expectations will be set a little lower for him. I don't think he projects to much more than a number 5 in the pros, but considering most of the Nats other options are number 6s, 7s, and 13s, it will be nice to watch a guy who hasn't been proven to be a liability.

Hopefully the bullpen treats him better than Detweiler.

Nationals sign MacDougal

I liked Mike MacDougal when he popped up with KC and slammed the door on a few games. He was an ACC-guy getting a legit shot, and while deep down it was obvious he only had fringe tools to compliment his vicious heat, he basically held down the Royals' closer job for three seasons, while healthy at least . After he washed out of KC with injuries, he showed up on the radar with the White Sox and was effective for about a month. Since then, he has walked 52 batters in his last 63+ innings while striking out 54. These numbers look great next to Daniel Cabrera's, but they still have no business on a major league roster.

In the end, he doesn't seem to have been able to entirely shake the injuries. His violent motion will only make him more prone with age. This is a good risk for a contending team who may need veteran help down the stretch, but the Nats aren't contending, and already have a busload of guys that can't throw strikes. At 32, he is a righty fireballer with little fire left, and when he does light it up, it hasn't been pretty. Honestly, I'd be shocked if he makes the big club, but Syracuse seems to be loaded with his type (Dave Williams, Ryan Wagner, Gary Glover). This is a step backwards from a team that looked like they were taking a step forward by overhauling the rotation.