Chalkoholics

Last year was the first time four #1 seeds ever made the Final Four. But this year has been an even better year for chalk so far. It's the first time in the 64-team age that every 1, 2 and 3 seed has reached the Sweet 16, and it's the first time since 1995 that merely all the 1s and 2s have made it this far.

It's not just the seed lines, though. It's the programs sitting in them. Did you know:

* Of the 16 teams remaining, nine have won national titles? And not only that, but all nine won at least one of their titles in 1985 or later, i.e. after the field expanded to 64 teams.

* What's more, eleven of the sixteen have been to the Final Four since 1985, and of those teams, only Villanova hasn't been to multiple Final Fours. Duke, North Carolina and Kansas combined have been to 24 Final Fours in the last 25 years.

* Only three remaining teams - Missouri, Xavier and Gonzaga - have never been to a Final Four. However, all have been to the Elite Eight within the past ten tournaments. (Purdue's last Final Four was 1980; Pitt's was 1941, when making the Final Four required winning all of one game, but hey, it still counts.)

And in case you're hoping for Xavier or Gonzaga to go all the way, consider that since the field expanded in 1985, only Villanova in 1985, Michigan in 1989, and Connecticut in 1999 won a title in their first Final Four appearance under the seeded system (begun in 1979). By and large, this tournament is won by teams who have been there before. Which is why, even though I thought Pitt did a good job of not getting rattled in their closer-than-expected wins over East Tennessee State and Oklahoma State, I think that if you have Pitt going all the way right now, you cannot be feeling too good about your chances.

The good news, of course, is we should be in for some pretty decent games the rest of the way. Even though Western Kentucky gave Gonzaga all they could handle, and probably should have beaten them, don't you think Gonzaga has a better chance of beating UNC, or playing them close, than WKU would have? I do. Most double-digit seeds, particularly 12 and below, run out of gas in the Sweet Sixteen; it's telling that the only seed below #11 ever to make an Elite Eight was #12 Missouri - a major-conference team - in 2002. After two rounds those smaller conference teams tend to wear down. What if Siena had held on against Louisville? As much as I love seeing the little guys win, it's entirely likely that Siena/Michigan State or Siena/Kansas as potential Elite Eight matchups would have ended up ugly. And for those of you who say "Hey, if they could beat Louisville why couldn't they hang with Michigan State," yes, I agree in theory, but remember Florida/George Mason in the Final Four? That game sucked. George Mason made a great run but at the end they'd just had it. And so would have Siena. Heck, look at what happened to Cleveland State in Round Two.

So yeah, I'm a little sad there weren't more fun upsets. And it's a little annoying to think that we could easily have a Final Four of Kansas, Connecticut, Duke and Carolina. On the other hand, virtually every game from here on out should be close and exciting. For all the great upsets of 2006, the Final Four was a real snooze. I don't think we'll see that again.