What a weekend folks. The conference tournaments in men’s basketball gave us just a taste of what is to come over the next three weeks with the NCAA tournament. Once the games were all said and done, the bracket was finally revealed to the world. The madness starts on Thursday, which gives us plenty of time to break it all down in all of the craziest way we can think of. I’ll be doing my full breakdown of the bracket on Wednesday on the first episode of the Shooting the Moon Podcast. For now though, let’s get into the biggest stories from the weekend in sports.

NCAA Tournament Bracket is Set

We’ll start with just a few of my thoughts on the bracket for this year. While I thought the committee got a lot of this field correct, there were several spots where I just don’t understand the thinking:

(1) I honestly believe that UNC and Duke could have easily been interchangeable as one and two seeds, but I have yet to see a legitimate reason why UNC is a one seed and Duke is a two. The Blue Devils won two out of three in this season series, and had more wins against top-flight competition. I could be nitpicking, but wouldn’t everyone want to see a potential Villanova-UNC rematch in the Elite Eight?

(2) Wichita State getting saddled with a ten seed is quite possibly one of the worst individual seedings that I’ve seen in years. Yes, the Shockers don’t have the marquee wins that other teams do, but this is one of the most underrated teams in the country. Every season there is always a team or two that get put on the wrong line, but not like this. Wichita is a potential top-20 team based on certain advanced metrics, but clearly they were penalized by the down season from the rest of the Missouri Valley Conference.

(3) Normally we spend the Monday after Selection Sunday talking about the teams whose bubbles burst. This year though, there is really only two that have gained any sort of traction. Illinois State became the mid-major team that experts were pounding the table to see make the dance. Lets be honest, if Wichita State got a ten seed (champions of the MVC) then Illinois State had no chance. Syracuse was the major conference team that most thought would sneak into the tournament. Despite a late surge in the regular season, the Orange could not overcome a horrific loss to St. John’s early in the year and a terrible road record. The committee made a statement here keeping both teams out, which is that the regular season actually does matter if you want to be invited to the dance. (By the way, the city of Greensboro and the NIT won the Internet yesterday at the expense of Syracuse).

Michigan Wins the Big Ten Championship and the Hearts of America

There was no better story that played out over the weekend than the Michigan Wolverines winning the Big Ten championship. As impressive as the story of any eight seed upsetting it’s way through a tournament that is just scratching the surface in the case of Michigan.

Michigan’s team flight to Washington D.C. almost ended in tragedy when the plane skidding off the runway due to extreme winds. Everyone made it off the plane without any major injuries, but this almost forced the Wolverines to miss its first game. Luckily, they were able to get into D.C. in time for a noon tip off on Thursday, but had to play the game in practice jerseys because their uniforms were stuck on the original flight.

The Wolverines plowed through the Big Ten’s elite teams en route to its second conference tournament championship in three years. It’s the type of run that really makes you stop and think about picking against Michigan in your bracket for the NCAA tournament. Picking up impressive wins against Purdue, Minnesota, and Wisconsin certainly leaves a great impression heading into the big dance.

New England Won the NFL Offseason, Now Has the Inside Track to Repeat

In an update from my biggest story to watch from Friday’s “No Huddle,” the Patriots were able to complete two massive moves. The first was the signing of Stephon Gillmore from Buffalo. That move is going to be important for this defense becoming even better next season, but pales in comparison to the trade they completed on Friday night.

New England was able to complete the trade for Brandin Cooks, and didn’t have to give up Malcolm Butler to do so. It only cost a first and third round pick to get one of the most explosive receivers in the league. Here’s why this trade is so big for the Patriots. There are only three players that have at least 70 catches, 1,000 yards and eight touchdowns in each of the last two seasons. Antonio Brown, Odell Beckham Jr., and Cooks.

There is constantly talk of how long a championship window is open in the NFL. With these two moves, the Patriots have kept that window open for the foreseeable future regardless of how long Brady continues his career. If and when the Pats make the transition to Jimmy Garoppolo (barring a trade), he will be ready to step right in and pick up where the G.O.A.T. (Brady) left off.

That’s it for me today. I’ll be back tomorrow with a preview of the First Four in the NCAA tournament. Also remember Wednesday will be the debut of the Shooting the Moon Podcast with a full breakdown of the NCAA tournament. Follow me on Twitter @thereal_jmooney and go like the Shooting the Moon page on Facebook.