Conspiracy theorists unite at NCAA Tournament

This NCAA Tournament is good, really good, but the action on the court would be truly hot if it matched the hoopla off it.

It started within seconds of the CBS Selection Sunday show, which gave us ...

Billy Packer vs. Phil Martelli: Packer, who has made a career out of his grumpy insightfulness -- and insightful grumpiness -- had the audacity to suggest everyone's sweetheart, Saint Joseph's, wasn't all that.

Why blame yourself if you can blame the refs, as N.C. State was wont to do.(AP)

Martelli, the Saint Joseph's coach, was watching on television when Packer dissed his one-loss team as undeserving of a No. 1 seed. The eloquent and passionate Martelli, the wrong coach to engage in a war of words, lashed back at Packer.

Along the way the media has taken sides -- Martelli's, mainly -- while ignoring the obvious: Packer is paid to have an opinion, not to be a cheerleader.

The next off-court prize fight pitted ...

Bob Ryan vs. White People: Ryan must be smart to have risen to columnist for the Boston Globe, but for a smart guy, he says some dumb stuff.

Ryan once said Jason Kidd's wife needed to be smacked, and in the days before the tournament he was at it again, dismissing Vanderbilt as "too white."

Vanderbilt has since beaten Western Michigan and N.C. State to reach the Sweet 16, but let's be honest: Ryan's comments were embarrassing even if Vanderbilt had lost in the first round.

Besides, a more germane story in this tournament seems to be black and white, like ...

N.C. State vs. Zebras: A misguided intentional foul helped Vanderbilt rally past N.C. State. The Wolfpack led by six with less than two minutes left, but Vanderbilt scored five in one possession (two free throws, then a 3-pointer) to get within 71-70.

The incident happened when N.C. State's Marcus Melvin tripped Vandy's Corey Smith as Smith cruised in for a breakaway. It was a foul, but intentional? No way.

Still, N.C. State coughed up an 11-point lead in the final four minutes, allowed Vanderbilt's Matt Freije to outscore stars Melvin and Julius Hodge 31-22 and managed nothing better than Engin Atsur's no-chance 3-pointer in the final seconds of a 75-73 loss.

Not that we blame Wolfpack fans for pointing the finger at the referees. It's better than the truth, which also explains ...

Pacific vs. Reality: After his team lost 78-63 to Kansas, Pacific coach Bob Thomason said the Jayhawks had an unfair advantage playing in Kansas City.

File that under: Duh.

Thomason felt a No. 1 or 2 seed deserved to play close to home, but not a No. 4. In the pod system, though, the top four seeds are supposed to play in favorable conditions.

Which makes all the more galling ...

Pittsburgh vs. Bob Bowlsby: Seeded third, the Panthers had to play sixth-seeded Wisconsin in Marquette, essentially a home seed for the underdog. That should never happen, as Pittsburgh fans and chroniclers reminded us all last week.

Then Pittsburgh goes out and beats Wisconsin anyway, an outcome that had to have Bowlsby, the selection committee chairman, sighing with relief.

Not that Bowlsby or anyone on the selection committee actually has a rooting interest in the games. That would imply Duke has a case when it assumes it's ...

Duke vs. The World: Friday, shooting guard J.J. Redick came out and said what coach Mike Krzyzewski had implied a few days earlier, that the Blue Devils had been given the toughest bracket -- as usual.

Redick listed No. 2 Mississippi State, No. 6 North Carolina, No. 8 Seton Hall, No. 9 Arizona and No. 10 Louisville as teams whose seedings were intentionally deflated to make Duke's bracket as difficult as possible.

So, the selection committee's hatred of Duke is such that committee members would penalize other schools as well?

From the foul line, Redick is 94 percent accurate. In these comments, he chucked an air ball.

Now, if Billy Packer had said it ...