SLAM Jon Scheyer and Duke were all smiles after getting a #1 seed.

(1) Duke
See, I get myself into these little jams. There really is no obvious favorite, but if you were to ask me right now, yes I'd have to go with Duke (I guess). Don't get me wrong the Blue Devils are a good team and have had a very good season. Do they deserve a 1 seed? Yes, I think they do. Kyle Singler, Jon Scheyer and Nolan Smith are a solid trio and when Duke catches on fire, there's not many teams that can slow them down.

Notre Dame I may be a bit picky, but I had the Irish as an 8 seed. The Fighting Irish's body of work was decent - in recent weeks it's been great - but for the beginning of the season I don't think they did enough to warrant a 6-seed.

The committee got the seeding in this bracket mostly right.

CNNSI St. Mary's or Richmond could make some noise in the South.

(7) Richmond / (10) St. Mary's
Either team that wins can match-up with Villanova and give them a ballgame in the second round. Richmond plays excellent defense and has one of the best backcourts in the country while St. Mary's can score inside (Omar Samhan) and from three-point land (40.9 3-pt fg%).

(13) Siena vs. (4) Purdue
Siena has won their last two first round NCAA tournament games - both went down as upsets - and gets the task of facing a Purdue team that is a bit in the dumps (well they are 8-2 in the last 10 games, but not the same team they were at the beginning of the year b/c Robbie Hummel is out). The Saints don't have many wins over marquee programs this season, but March is when the Saints always go marching in.

(11) Old Dominion vs. (6) Notre Dame
Not taking anything away from Mike Brey and his Notre Dame squad, but I really like Old Dominion. For starters, they have a great coach in Blaine Taylor (he also has a great mustache). They have a great post player in Gerald Lee who would start in most frontcourts. The Monarchs played in a uber-tough conference (CAA) and already own a win at Georgetown. Watch out for the Monarchs.

(12) Utah St. over (5) Texas A&M
Don't even think about it. Utah St. beat BYU, but that's really it. Sure, the Aggies are a solid 3-point shooting team, but the other Aggies were one of the best defensive groups in the Big 12 (a conference that had some high prolific scorers). Look elsewhere for a 12-5 upset city baby.

(7) Richmond vs. (10) St. Mary's
See above (dark horse).

(1) Duke vs. (9) Louisville
Mainly because it'd be Coach K vs. Rick Pitino. Louisville does own wins over Syracuse (x2) and Notre Dame and just may give the defensive effort to slow down the Blue Devils high-octane offense. Even if they don't, it should be a good game nonetheless.

(3) Baylor
For all the off the court issues Baylor went through last decade, it's good to see Scott Drew turn this program into a contender. Drew comes from a solid basketball family (see: Valparaiso). The Bears have three legitimate players (and names) in Tweety Carter, LaceDarius Dunn and Ekpe Udoh.

(1) Duke vs. (2) Villanova
I had a tough time picking between (2) Villanova and (3) Baylor, but I went with the Wildcats because of their experience. In the upper half of the bracket, Duke will be tested by Louisville and better come out sharp against an underrated Texas A&M team.