And the Seven Seed goes to...

My hands are shaking, y'all. This has been a DAY.

So much happening on this particular Sunday: Men's Selection Show, Women's Selection Show...and the Oscars. We can't space these out a bit? My head is spinning.

Quickly, the fellas: it suuucks that we lost that St. Louis venue for the first two rounds. Greenville vs. St. Louis...a 40 percent difference in Illini fans in attendance? And a possible match-up with North Carolina in South Carolina? Bummer...but hey, it feels pretty good to be disappointed with a three seed, right? We've come a long way from the mid-2010's.

As far as the other two, let's combine them. I attended the Selection Show for the ladies at SFC and then dashed home to catch what was left of the Oscars. I'm watching them as I type, so here we go.

As an aside...I love movies. I'm actually teaching a Film Appreciation class in one of our local home school co-ops this year and it's been a blast talking great films with some bright high schoolers. And I saw eight out of the ten films up for Best Picture so I'm feeling more prepared for the Oscars than most years. Movie buffs, I wanna see you in the comments!

(Demi Moore is handing out the award for Best Cinematography. Ohhh, I had a crush on her back in the day...)

Okay, WOMEN'S BASKETBALL, that's why you're here...we got a seven seed and we're heading to Nashville! You know this already, but let's put this in context:

• Third trip in four years under Shauna Green.
• Best seed since 2000 (six seed that year)
• Best seed and location we could ask for

There was a real concern that we'd find ourselves in that 8/9 game with one of those crazy good one seeds waiting for us with a crazy loud home crowd which was crazy far from C-U. Instead, we hope to get two seed Vandy in Nashville. PERFECT.

But I didn't know that when I rolled up into the southeast lot at 6:45 PM. I wasn't even sure I was going to go since the weather was looking dicey today. We even made one of our sons postpone his spring break trip by a day because he was heading south and it was looking no bueno in that direction. But 6:30 rolled around and all was looking good, so I made the quick trip to SFC.

I'm going to estimate there were about 50-60 fans there not counting those affiliated with the team. We were all thrilled to get back in SFC one more time after that last game vs. Minnesota (a loss).

(Sentimental Value just won for Best International Film. Still waiting for that one to come to one of my streaming services...I've heard it's fabulous.)

The vibe was on point before the show started. This was not a bubble team, so everyone in the building knew we were getting in. (Can you imagine inviting fans for one of these things and you DON'T get in the tourney? I can't even fathom that.)

Shauna made an entrance and the fans gave her a rousing ovation. I'm grateful for her leadership, have I made that clear this year?

(Best Director goes to Paul Thomas Anderson. PTA fans, make yourselves known! Give Punch Drunk Love another watch if it's been awhile.)

I always feel like someone like Josh Whitman should stand up a few minutes before the show starts and say a few words, but it's way more relaxed than that at these things. They just turn the broadcast on a couple minutes before the hour and we're off.

THANK GOD we were announced quickly because things got weird almost immediately after. The place erupted when we we saw that the beloved got that seven seed in Nashville. The anticipation right before that placard was flipped over on the broadcast...we were on edge, y'all. And then it happened. (If you look carefully in that picture at the top, you can spot my elation.)

(Michael B. Jordan wins Best Actor over Timothee Chalamet...you think Timmy wishes he could take those opera/ballet comments back? Whoops.)

And just when the excitement subsided...everyone's phone started ringing with that emergency squeal (you know the sound): TORNADO WARNING. Now about 75 people had to be shuttled down to the bowels of the State Farm Center. And you know what...it was pretty cool. No one was really ready to leave, so why not make an event of it? Party in the basement!

Now there ain't no tornado getting into the basement of SFC, so the relocation didn't really dampen anyone's spirits. Fans were trying to figure out travel plans, the players walked through the crowd to boisterous applause, and Shauna gave a rousing speech that might wind up being bulletin board material for Colorado.

(One Battle After Another gets Best Picture...well deserved. Big night for PTA.)

We all chilled down there for about 20 minutes and then we got the all-clear to head home. I...was disappointed. I wasn't excited to miss the first hour of the Oscars, but I loved hanging out with this crew. I mean, 50 people, young and old, who wanted to spend their Sunday evening to celebrate this team? THESE ARE MY PEOPLE. I should have announced that we were all gonna head to Tumble Inn or something...I bet I would have had some takers.

Gents got a three seed.
Ladies got a seven seed.
That smug Chalamet didn't win Best Actor.

I gotta say it was a good day.

Tourney Preview

Okay, first round matchup against Colorado. What do I know about Colorado women's basketball? Not a thing. Let's see what we can find...

Colorado Buffaloes

• Record: 22-11 overall, 11-7 in Big 12 (6th)
• Best win: #14 TCU (at COL, 80-79)
• Coached by JR Payne in her 10th season at Colorado (186-127)
• Torvik #36
• Strength: Team defense (#24 Torvik)
• Weakness: 3-pt shooting (27.6 percent, #302 in the nation)
• Player to watch: Desiree Wooten (5'8" Jr. Guard, 13.3 pts, 3.0 reb, 2.6 ast)

Although we're three seeds higher than the Buffs, this looks like a toss-up. Torvik favors us by a point a half...but we should absolutely expect this one to go down to the wire.

After we win this one, we should get a chance at Vandy.

#6 Vanderbilt Commodores

• Record: 27-4 overall, 13-3 in SEC (2nd)
• Best win: #4 Texas (at Vandy, 86-70)
• Coached by Shea Ralph in her 5th season at Vanderbilt (100-63)
• Torvik #10
• Strengths: Team offense (#5 Torvik)
• Weakness: Defensive Rebounding (teams get back 34.4 percent of their misses, 287th in the nation)
• Player to watch: Mikayla Blakes (5'8" Soph. Guard, 27.0 pts, 3.8 reb, 4.4 ast)

(First off, when the heck did Vanderbilt get good at sports??)

Shea Ralph has spearheaded a remarkable turnaround at Vandy. She was just named national coach of the year by ESPN and The Sporting News, and this year is by far her best team. I'm sure she picked up a couple things when she was an assistant coach for Geno Auriemma for over a decade.

Well, taking down this team in Nashville on that wacky court where they haven't lost this year...this will be a challenge. The Commodores have played a tough schedule and mostly rolled through it. They put up a lot of points...and did you see that Mikayla Blakes puts up TWENTY-SEVEN a game? My goodness, she's a handful.

What a great opportunity this would be for this Illini team. High-level house money game with a trip to the Sweet Sixteen on the line.

IT'S MARCH, BABY.