All eyes on the bracket

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OK, I'm clearly way ahead of myself in planning another NCAA Tournament trip already. Penn really did lose to Columbia, after all, and Dartmouth's playing good ball these days. But let's be honest, a pair of wins this weekend and a little help in New Jersey (I'm calling for Harvard to soundly beat Princeton like it should have done earlier) locks up the league.

Joe Lunardi at ESPN has the Quakers currently pitted against No. 3-seed Iowa in Detroit. Of the threes, this Big Ten matchup is the most favorable for Penn. Two of the others, Illinois and Florida, are either too quick and athletic (the Illini) or too big and athletic (the Gators).

Also in the mix is Pitt. I saw the Panthers take on Rutgers a couple weeks ago (when they were undefeated) and wasn't impressed. If RU's Quincy Douby would have gotten any help at all, his team would have won. Penn could hang with this team if it plays a near-perfect game.

That leaves the Hawkeyes, who like everyone else in the Big Ten wins every home game, but can't travel. They are 3-4 in conference road games with losses to (get this) Minnesota and Northwestern. From what I have seen of Iowa, it's not a bad defensive team, but lacks the offensive firepower to put anyone away -- even Penn. But don't get your hopes up. Steve Alford's team won't stay a three for long, especially when the Big Ten tournament rolls around and they have to win games that count.

That's where we stand today. Expect that to change by tomorrow.