Break out the brackets!

Selection Sunday saw three different destinations for beltway schools--as well some NIT-picking for a pair of ACC area teams...

Georgetown looks to move past its Big East Championship Game loss to Pitt (Hoyas were outrebounded 39-25, bringing back an achilles heel at the most inopportune time)--John Thompson III's team is the 2nd seed in the Midwest and faces Maryland-Baltimore County Friday in Raleigh.

George Mason earns a 12th seed in the East Region; the Patriots play Notre Dame Thursday in Denver. Let the record show the 5-12 game has been upset special over the last decade--but let the record show the Fighting Irish boast the Big East Player of the Year in Luke Harangody (despite bearing an uncanny resemblence to the guy who took Brenda Walsh to the senior prom on 90210).

American makes its NCAA Division I Tournament debut in Birmingham Friday; the Eagles tangle with Tennessee as the 15th seed in the East Region. While a 15 isn't a bad spot at all for AU, the Vols were in contention to get a #1 until they lost in the SEC Quarterfinals-- their subsequent placement in overall top seed North Carolina's bracket quite a slip.



On the outside looking in...
Virginia Tech is headed to the NIT, despite winning 5 of its last 7 games (losing at Clemson by one and falling to North Carolina by two)--a case can definitely be made for the Hokies getting into the field of 65-- this team improved vastly over the course of the season as most young teams do (over 60% of the minutes and points coming from the freshman class) and clearly would be capable of winning one or two games this week--but unfortunately the lack of wins against top 50 teams (just their ACC quarterfinal victory over Miami) and a non-conference slate that included losses to Old Dominion and Penn State were just too much to overcome. Catch the Hokies entire NIT run on Redskins Radio, beginning with their game against Morgan State Wednesday evening at 7pm.

Maryland makes its way to Minnesota for a Tuesday night game with the Golden Gophers, an opportunity for the Terps to salvage a positive spin heading into the offseason. The NIT can be a real boost to a young team, and this year's crop of six freshman and three sophomores will benefit from any bonus grooming they receive over the next week.