It's March Madness... and the ES has been AWOL for travel across the country the last few days. Sorry for the delayed response, Spartan fans. 

But, it was nice to see MSU get a #3 seed in the Midwest, in the "Region of Doom."  When you think about how close MSU was in its two losses to Indiana, its loss at Michigan, and its loss to Ohio State in the tourney... well, the Spartans really had NO bad losses and are good enough to make a deep run. We'll see if Gary Harris' potential shoulder issue hampers Michigan State, but the bracket is a good one... let's take care of business in the first stanza, and potentially oust Duke and Louisville to advance to the Final Four.  That would be a nice capstone to a great season in an outstanding conference.

Nice to see the Spartans end the regular season polls in the top 10, at #9 - they certainly earned it.  And, the ES is enjoying the amount of publicity Tom Izzo and the Spartans are receiving, with Izzo being the dean of B1G coaches and having a great team.  Particularly loving this quote: "I'm looking forward to playing anybody [else]," Izzo said. "I'd play the Lakers tomorrow instead of some of the teams I've played recently."

Previews: a Mid-Major preview of MSU vs Valpo here; the Chicago Tribune preview picks MSU as a 72-58 winner.  A quick preview from Bracketologyexpert.com is here.

Here is the ESPN preview of the Midwest region.  And, Jay Bilas picks MSU to beat Duke, and for Michigan to bow out early.  The ES hates Pitino, and everything about him.  He is a poor ambassador for college basketball.  Thank goodness Kentucky didn't make it - Calipari is just as bad, if not worse.  In this tourney, the ES will be rooting for MSU and rooting against Michigan and Louisville.

Can't wait for tipoff -- for once, MSU gets the early game, this Thursday at 12:15 pm against little ole Valparaiso University... with the game right here in the state of Michigan.  The Palace will be crazy this weekend with Spartan Green and White.

ES has MSU picked in his bracket to the Final Four, and put down $20 in Vegas for the Spartans to win the whole damn thing.  NEVER PICK AGAINST IZZO IN THE TOURNAMENT.  Never.  And, is the Big Ten for real?  We should find out.  It was certainly interesting watching college hoops all year, and certainly Michigan  State, Wisconsin, Ohio State, and Indiana pass the eyeball test - they've looked GREAT all year long, even as they beat each other up. 

Here's the bracket.