[agharah1]

Everybody talks about teams you don't want to face. You know the type, the scrappy underdogs with compelling storylines like Nate Wolters and South Dakota State, Mike Muscala and Bucknell, Bob McKillop and Davidson, or Zeke Marshall and Akron. But what which teams are you hoping your team *does* draw in the field? My candidates are:

1. Iona - Entertaining and talented, the Gaels run the floor and play a lot of high scoring games. But inconsistency and poor defense resulted in them losing a lot of games in the MAAC. They won the conference tournament just by out-talenting everybody. If you're a major conference team with a good point guard, you should be glad to face a guy like Momo Jones who would rather out-score you than shut you down defensively.

2. Mississippi - I know they just won the SEC Tournament, but really how much of an accomplishment is that? This team plays zero defense, no team ball, and just does whatever. They're a collection of misfits and transfers that came to Oxford because Andy Kennedy gave them the permanent green light to chuck 3s. The only thing separating them from Kentucky is that Andy Kennedy purchased a 20-win season so he could keep his job rather than scheduling meaningful nonconference games.

3. NC State - Another member of my all-flake team. How does a team this talented and with this much size defend and rebound so poorly? You've heard the phrase "give me an A or give me an F"? Well with CJ Leslie its more like "give me a C+ or give me an F." I can't believe there was talk of him going pro early. What the hell did Sidney Lowe do to him and Ryan Harrow?

4. Gonzaga - As far as #1 seed candidates go, this is about as easy of a draw as you can get. Would you rather face Coach K and his biased officials? Jim Larranaga, quite possibly the most underrated coach of all time? Rick Pitino and Louisville? Cody Zeller and Victor Oladipo and Indiana?

5. Memphis - Josh Pastner thinks he's John Calipari, but not half as much as Memphis' athletic director wishes he was. Other than Scott Drew at Baylor is there another coach with more undeserved talent?

6. UCLA - Shabazz Muhammad is looking so far ahead to the NBA Draft you'd think he was being coached by Dino Gaudio at Wake Forest, and with Jordan Adams hurt this team is a dead man walking.

7. LaSalle - Every year there's a team that did enough to earn an at large bid, but you just knew wasn't good enough to compete in the tournament. Last year it was Colorado State and Southern Miss. This year, its the Explorers.

Bonus pick - Harvard. Fade Tommy Amaker, Fade Tommy Amaker, Fade Tommy Amaker.