First off, props to all of the ITH’ers who have joined the Yahoo! Tournament Pick’ Em group. As of this writing, we’ve got 388 members and we’re the 8th largest group. We tossed around a couple of ideas on how to reward the winner of the contest and decided that we’ll grant the winner a guest post of his or her choice here at Inside the Hall. (We’d like to give away some scratch, but hey, it’s not in the budget. If any potential sponsors are reading and would like to throw some schwag to the winner, let us know.) Unfortunately, if one of us wins, you’ll be stuck with more Kevin Stallings bashing. We will have the final edit before your post goes live, but it’ll be your chance to speak out and have your voice heard. For those of you who haven’t entered, there’s still time to get in on the contest. Just make sure to have your picks in before the first game tips off on Thursday.

Site news: Registration now required to post comments. Click here for details.

I’m still waiting on some clarification on how IU dropped to a No. 8 seed (reality check: it’ll never happen), but in the meantime, here’s the best of the best from the Web this morning:

• Seeding committee does IU no favors (Indianapolis Star)
• Arkansas scouting report (Indianapolis Star)
• State’s entries have no cakewalk in this tournament (Indianapolis Star)
• A No. 8 seed? That seems like a bit of a stretch to me (Hoosiers Insider)
• Hated on: Indiana Hoosiers (The Dagger @ Y! Sports)
• Selection Sunday surprises Hoosiers (Indiana Daily Student)
• Press conference quotes (IU Hoosiers)
• Super-sized and ready for the Big Dance (ESPN.com)
• Regional outlook: East (Louisville Courier-Journal)
• East regional breakdown (Fox Sports)
• Committee doesn’t do IU any favors (Hoosier Nation)
• Hoosiers slide into showdown against Arkansas (Ft. Wayne Journal Gazette)
• Gordon matches high standards (Ft. Wayne Journal Gazette)
• D.J. perserveres like ‘a pro’ (Ft. Wayne Journal Gazette)
• Harrowing task awaits Arkansas (Benton County Daily Record)
• Indiana carries baggage into tourney (Salt Lake Tribune)
• Dakich known in triangle (News Observer)
• East region outlook (Kansas City Star)
• No. 8 Indiana vs. No. 9 Arkansas (Sporting News)
• Selection Sunday instant analysis (Storming the Floor)

Reminder: Don’t forget to join the Inside the Hall NCAA Tournament Pick ‘Em Challenge by clicking here.

Indiana and Arkansas will tip-off 30 mins following North Carolina vs. Coppin State/Mount St. Mary’s on Friday night, according to the NCAA. The Tar Heels are scheduled to play at 7:10 PM EST.

For an updated NCAA Tournament bracket with game times included, click here. (Adobe Reader required to view.)

Indiana received a No. 8 seed and will face Arkansas in the East region Friday in Raleigh, North Carolina. If IU wins their first game, they’d play North Carolina in the second round.

More coverage here shortly, but post your initial reaction in the comments…