Well, today’s the day. Opening riff of the Big Dance.

The Tennessee Volunteers take on the Winthrop Eagles at 2:40 p.m. EST. Will it be the beginning of the reversal of fortunes, or will it be another double reverse?

For anyone interested, I’ve opened up the comments (meaning they’ll go live as soon as you leave them instead of being held for moderation) so you can discuss the game as it happens here. I’ll be working diligently at my desk, trusting my TiVo and avoiding the news as best I can until I can watch this evening. But feel free to congregate here for free.

By the way, placement firm Challenger, Gray, & Christmas estimates that March Madness will cost employers somewhere around $1.5 billion dollars in lost productivity this year. Wow.

The Tennessee Volunteer basketball team is overjoyed with its No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Its opponent, Winthrop, is not.

A four-and-six close to a season, the Dane Bradshaw cat-out-of-the-bag wrist injury, Chris Lofton’s struggles to get open, the team’s wading-pool depth, and a penchant for early exits in tournament season.

An opponent with something to prove.

Could spell trouble for the Volunteers.

Wow. The Tennessee Volunteer basketball team was awarded a much-coveted No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament despite closing the regular season on a 4-6 skid and losing the first game in the SEC Tournament.

To put it in perspective, Tennessee is behind No. 1 seeds Duke, Connecticut, Memphis, and Villanova, and even with Co-No. 2 seeds Texas, Ohio State, and UCLA.

Pretty good company.

The Vols will play the Winthrop Eagles [?!] of the Big South Conference [?!] on Thursday. The winner of that game will play the winner of the Witchita State – Seton Hall game.

This is big news. Most of the pundits figured that the Vols’ poor close to the regular season would result in a No. 4 seed, perhaps No. 5. There is apparently a huge difference between No. 2 and No. 4. John Pennington broke out the calculator to find out how much of a difference and found the following:

• No. 2 seeds win 95% of their first round games.
• No. 4 seeds win 78% of their first round games.

Those are the numbers. How will they play out? Who knows? Just enjoy the ride.

Here’s a couple of bloggers that cover the Winthrop Eagles:

• The Joe Cribbs Car Wash
• Unearth South Carolina

That’s really all I can find at the moment. If I’m missing some, send me a link!