It's hardly the murderer's row of 2012, which is sort disappointing, at least in a general sense. Last fall, when everyone (from reporters to scouts to the programs and players themselves) touted the tourney's merits (including the fact that you get to stay in a really nice place without having to fly to the middle of the Pacific Ocean, to name one), it genuinely looked like the Battle 4 Atlantis was on a path toward early-season bracket domination. This year's field is a little bit pedestrian -- certainly by comparison, and arguably even without it.
But that's OK, because there are still some very interesting teams. Kansas is obviously chief atop that list, seeing as we'll be buying tickets for the Wiggins show right around this point, but Iowa is right up there too. A really good, even ahead-of-schedule young defensive team in 2012-13 that will carry over almost all of its best players and even add a couple of pieces, the Hawkeyes are a legitimate threat in the top half of the Big Ten next season, and this will be their first best chance to let the rest of the world know about it. Tennessee has plenty of talent in Jordan McRae, Jarnell Stokes and a back-from-injury Jeronne Maymon; now it's time to go out and earn a tournament bid. Xavier is Xavier. Villanova appears to be back on an upward trajectory after a couple years spent backsliding into mediocrity, and Andy Enfield's first season at USC will be interesting to track. And, hey, we'll get a full accounting of where Wake Forest basketball is at the start of its fourth season under Jeff [Redacted]. Doesn't that sound like fun?