The brackets are a day late this week? Why?

Well, it’s mostly because the at-large pool is so horrific. Not only are there teams in this week’s field that have no business being in a championship tournament, but those teams are nearly impossible to seed properly.

Yes, the reality of this week’s bracket is that it’s simply ugly. It contains teams who have beaten practically nobody, teams that have lost most (or all) of their meaningful games, and/or teams who appear to have forgotten that the season doesn’t end in mid-February.

Let’s take a closer look at the carnage, starting in the East Region:

Notes: Duke hangs on to the fourth and final #1 seed, thanks mostly to their overall resume. Another loss in the ACC regular season probably means a 2 seed for the Blue Devils. Pittsburgh is teetering on bubbledom — they don’t really deserve the 6 seed in this region, but who do you put ahead of them? Kansas is now solidly a 2 after losing at Oklahoma State. Drake might be slightly overvalued as a 4, but they deserve some credit for an excellent road win against a top-10 team.

Now, onto the South Region:

Memphis is still fine as a 1 seed, despite the loss to Tennessee. Indiana moves into a protected seed after a good week on the court. Washington State is in danger of slipping into Texas A&M mode — the Cougars need to start winning more consistently. North Carolina is poised to take over Duke’s position as a 1 seed if they can beat the Blue Devils, but not before that … despite a lot of hype, the Tar Heels’ resume is not that impressive.

On to the Midwest Region:

Tennessee is your new #1 overall seed. Stanford is getting a bit more difficult to justify as a 2 or a 3 — other teams have done more. Butler’s loss to Drake highlighted how little of substance is actually on the Bulldogs’ resume. Miami has done a nice job rebounding from early ACC troubles and is now solidly in the field. Louisville moves into the 2 seed vacated by Georgetown and UConn.

Finally, the West Region:

Don’t sleep on Texas — they have a remarkable resume, with great wins both in and out of conference. They also own a head-to-head win against UCLA. Michigan State as a 5 seed is probably overvalued, but again, there’s not much on the 6 line to replace them with. Oregon is the last team in the field, and will be out altogether with one more loss before the Pac 10 tournament starts.

BRACKET BREAKDOWN:

Last 4 in: Ohio State, Florida, Maryland, Oregon

Last 4 out: Rhode Island, Mississippi, Kentucky, Houston

Next 4 out: Dayton, Syracuse, New Mexico, Arizona State

Seeding changes due to bracket rules: Baylor, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Miami (down 1 seed); Kent State, UNLV, Villanova, West Virginia (up 1 seed)