Who is Andy Katz?

The day is here. Well, one of them. THE day is Thursday, but today is the day when the brackets come out. And according to one Mr. Andrew Jay Katz, expect there to be some suprises. Not "OMG South Carolina just stole a bid"-level surprises, but "Holy shit, I thought that team was a lock; where ARE they in the bracket?"-level surprises. As in, much bigger surprises.

He specifically said that he's been talking to important peoples, and that his information leads him to believe that the mid-majors are gonna be generally euphoric, and the "major" conferences are gonna have to deal with some "surprise" omissions. Mid-major euphoria? He says Utah State has a great shot at an at-large. He says the MVC could very possibly get all five of their bubble teams in (Creighton is totally out), but he thinks the Colonial is only gonna get 2, and he says it's a toss-up as to whether Hofstra (who was, is, and ALWAYS WILL BE the Flying Dutchmen) or George Mason gets left out in the cold.

As for major conference teams that everyone assumes are in, but who could be on the outside looking in tonight, he named two specifics: Florida State, Alabama...



... and Wisconsin.



"Huh-WHA?" you say? (Sidenote: on College Gameday, Steve Lavin just said that FSU should get in because the ACC is "an underrated conference." No, seriously.) The Badgers aren't even listed in Lunardi's "last four in." But their resume doesn't hold up to inspection too well. 19-11, but with that GROSS home loss to South Dakota Agricultural & Mechanical School for Blind Daughters of War Veterans, no quality road wins, and a 5-9 record in their last fourteen, with their lone solid wins being home games against Indiana and OSU. Andy Katz warns that the Badgers could be a shocking omission tonight. We'll see...


UPDATE: Well excuuuuuuuuuuuse me. Yoni Cohen says there's a significant possibility that Creighton could sneak in. And SI'com's accurate-or-not-Erin-impersonator Stewart Mandel has the Bluejes IN his projected field.

If you're a Buckeye fan, the following incredibly true and incredibly unsettling paragraph from Ken Pomeroy can not be ignored:

"Speaking of the Buckeyes, how about the slump Je’Kel Foster is going through? He's made just one of his last 25 three point attempts and 7 of his last 52, yet still carries a respectable 41.4% accuracy on three pointers for the season. Ohio State may well be seeded as the toughest 2-seed, but without a productive Foster, they’ll be the first to lose."

Ugh.