I'll be cheering NC State today, they've been underrated the whole season and will probably surprise some people in the NCAA tourney. I'm actually kind of relieved that Maryland lost, now they have time to recoup and get ready for a run to the NCAA finals. This is actually good for MD cause now they will most likely get the #1 seed in the South, instead of the East. That means that they get to play whoever comes out of the West (which I believe is gonna be the toughest bracket), instead of having to face Duke or Kansas in the Final Four.
If you look at history, the national champion has rarely won their own conference tournament. Sometimes its too much to go through a conference tourney, and then go through the NCAA bracket. Which would you rather win? Maryland is my early pick to win it all, not necessarily because they are the best team, but because I think they will have the path of least resistence to get to the finals.
--Ben