Knowing is Half the Battle

The other half is actually filling the bracket out.  That's usually a whole war's-worth of battles anyway...

Here's a quick look at seeds 1-4:

No. 1 seeds:
Kansas, Kentucky, Duke, Syracuse
Who got screwed: Kansas.  They get a very talented non-BCS school in round two, whether that be UNLV or Northern Iowa.  Then, they would play last year's runner-up in Michigan State or Greivis Vazquez and the Maryland Terps, coached by a future Hall of Famer.  In the Elite 8, they could match up with Big Ten Regular Season and Tournament Champion Ohio State, Big East Tournament Runner-up Georgetown, or giant-slayer (and previous winner of a head-to-head game) Tennessee.
Who doesn't belong on this seeding line: tough to argue with any of these 4 teams.  You have the best two teams in the country who won their conferences and their conference tournaments with Kansas and Kentucky, the ACC regular season and tournament champion with Duke, and the team that won the toughest conference in America (by TWO games!) with Syracuse.
Who doesn't make the Final Four: Syracuse.  They overachieved all season (except in the Big East tourney or that exhibition game they lost prior to the season).  Or Kansas because of the potential difficulty of their road.  Or Duke, simply because they are Duke.  Any of the other 1 seeds would DEFINITELY make it through to Indianapolis in the South Regional.  I wouldn't be surprised to see only one or two survive through to the Final Four: I would be stunned if all four made it (by the bye, only one time in the history of the 64/65-team field has all four number one seeds made the Final Four).

No. 2 seeds:
Ohio State, West Virginia, Kansas State, Villanova
Who got screwed: West Virginia.  How does a top 10 ranked Big East Tournament Champion not get a 1 seed?  Well, the problem is: all of the 1 seeds were VERY deserving of 1 seeds.
Who doesn't belong on this seeding line: Villanova.  The late-season collapse of Jay Wright's squad is baffling.  Even more baffling: that the Selection Committee didn't punish them more for dropping 5 of their last 7 games.
Who makes the Final Four: I'm tempted to say Villanova.  I don't think they will get pushed/tested until the Regional Final against Duke, with whom they match up very well.  It's tough to pick against West Virginia given what they did in the Big East Tourney, but what if one of those crazy shots by "The Butler" didn't go in?

No. 3 seeds:
Georgetown, New Mexico, Pittsburgh, Baylor
Who got screwed: Georgetown.  The Midwest is pretty stacked and they are sitting across from Tennessee in the second round who has the best collection of top-10 wins among the 6-seeds (or really among any seeds).
Who doesn't belong on this seeding line: New Mexico.  They may or may not have the resume to back it up (the 4 seeds didn't necessarily do much more), but given the seedings of other MWC teams, they aren't a 3-seed.  They weren't THAT much better than BYU, UNLV, or SDSU to have such a large seeding disparity.
Who makes a push for the Final Four: Pittsburgh.  They quietly had a stellar season and can play with anybody on a neutral site, and Salt Lake City should be as neutral as they come (provided BYU doesn't sneak through to the Sweet 16).

No. 4 seeds:
Maryland, Wisconsin, Vanderbilt, Purdue
Who got screwed: Purdue.  No way, no how should they be among the 4s.  Not only that, but they got matched up against a Siena team that has won an NCAA tournament game two years in a row.  Then they would face up against the most athletic and tested of the 5-seeds in Texas A&M or one of the more underrated of the at-large teams in the tournament in 12th-seeded Utah State.  I thought the Boilermakers should have been awarded a 2-seed over Villanova, personally, and they were certainly more deserving of a 3-seed than New Mexico.  Body of work, baby.
Who doesn't belong on this seeding line: Wisconsin.  They are a nice team, but very unsexy for a 4-seed.  For whatever reason, the Big Ten is always "over"-seeded (that might explain Alford's New Mexico team, since he is a former Big Ten guy) and they may prove me wrong in the end.
Who knocks off the 1-seed: Vanderbilt.  I had to pick somebody and Vandy nearly toppled Kentucky, so playing the Cuse in Salt Lake City (where Syracuse is NOT well-liked after bouncing BYU from the Tourney a few years back on a record-setting performance by Gerry McNamara) shouldn't be too intimidating.