First slate of games in the books

The morning/afternoon session of NCAA tournament games has come to an end, and was a good sign that this years tournament will be a dandy.

Butler and LSU went down to the wire, and Memphis survived a scare from fifteenth seeded Cal-State Northridge.

UCONN and North Carolina took care of business in their first round games, not being contested at all by their sixteenth seeded opponents. North Carolina's Ty Lawson missed the game due to his toe injury, but the Tar Heel's didn't need him at all.

In other games, Texas A&M beat BYU 79-66; Purdue escaped Northern Iowa 61-56, and Maryland pulled off the first upset of the tournament, beating California 84-71.

Four burning questions

With the NCAA tournament tipping off in a little less than two days, there are still some questions that need to be answered.

Which Louisville team will show up come tournament time? The Cardinals come in as over No. 1 seed after winning both the Big East regular season and conference tournament championship. But is that the same team that we will see when they take the court this weekend? Or will we see the team that lost to Western Kentucky by 14, Minnesota by six, and UNLV? They better bring their A game, or a Sweet 16 upset by Wake Forest is likely for the Cards.

Did Memphis deserve a No. 1 seed? You can argue that a team who wins 25 straight games and dominates their conference tournament deserves a No. 1 seed. That argument would be much more valid if they weren't in Conferene USA. This conference is one of the worst in the country in terms of teams competing for spots in the tournament. There was only one team, Memphis! Also, Memphis played only three ranked opponents this year, and lost two of those games! They lost to an unranked Xavier team at the beginning of the season, and also to then No. 19 Georgetown, and we all saw what happened to the Hoyas in Big East play. The Tigers also lost to Syracuse...AT HOME! The only quality win this team had was against Gonzaga. They are a solid two seed, and I do have them advancing to the Final Four, but a No. 1 seed, based solely on their "body of work," would have been unjust.

Who are the upset favorites in this year's tournament? In the East region, I like tenth-seeded USC to knock off seventh-seeded Boston College. The Trojans are coming off a Pac-10 tournament title, and are playing their best ball of the year. Also in the 10-7 matchups, I like No. 10 Maryland to upset No. 7 California, No. 10 Minnesota to beat Texas, and No. 10 Michigan to beat No. 7 Clemson.

Also, you have to like Western Kentucky's chances of upsetting fifth seeded Illinois. Don't be surprised if the Hilltoppers find themselves in the Sweet 16 for a second straight year.

Another 12-5 upset possibility is Wisconsin over Florida State. Florida State has one of the best guards in the tournament, but if he's having an off night, Wisconsin could light the Seminoles up from beyond the arc and steal a spot in the second round.

What is the marquee matchup in the first round? The VCU vs. UCLA game will be one to watch for tournament fans. VCU's Eric Maynor is arguably this year's version on Stephen Curry, and one of the top scorers in the country. Duke was upset by Maynor and his VCU Rams in 2007, and another upset like that is very likely against UCLA.

Bracketology special

March Madness is here, and it's time for me to break down each of the regions and give my predictions for this year's NCAA Tournament.

We'll start with the Midwest region. This bracket is loaded with talent, especially with the overall No. 1 seed Louisville in it. However, Louisville isn't the only team in this region that is going to be making some noise. I like West Virginia to make a run to the Sweet 16, upsetting the defending national champion Kansas Jayhawks in the 2nd round. The Mountaineers have been playing the nation's heavyweights for the second half of the season, and are coming off a solid conference tournament with a convincing win over a much more physical Pittsburgh team.

The shocker in this region for me is going to be Wake Forest upsetting the top seeded Louisville Cardinals in the Sweet 16. Louisville has been subject to some shakey losses this seasons, despite being the overall top seed. I think Wake Forest matches up well with this Louisville team, and I think Jeff Teague will take over in this game and propel the Deamon Deacons to an Elite Eight matchup with Michigan State.

In that game, I like the Spartans, led by Big Ten Player of the Year Kalin Lucas, to move on to the Final Four in Detroit.

In the West region, Big East powerhouse UCONN comes in as the No. 1 seed. However, Memphis has something to prove, after being denied a No. 1 seed. For me, not too many surprises will come out of this bracket. However, I like Maryland over California in the first round as my big upset in this bracket. Purdue will ride their Big Ten tournament championship to the Sweet 16 before being knocked off by a much bigger and more physical UCONN team. Purdue just simply can't match up with the Huskies down low, and ultimately don't have the guard play to stop UCONN on the perimeter.

In the regional final, I like the fast and athletic Memphis Tigers to knock off Hasheem Thabeet and UCONN. This will set up an interesting semifinal game with Michigan State.

We move to the East region, where my pick to win it all, the Pittsburgh Panthers, are the No. 1 seed. Two of the first round's most intriguing games come out of this region. Oklahoma State and Tennessee play in the 8-9 game, which always proves to be a battle. These two teams are fairly similar to each other. They both shoot around 45% from the floor, and average about the same number of points and rebounds per game. However, guard play is the deciding factor in this tournament, and I think Byron Eaton will be too much for Tennessee to handle, and the Cowboys will move on in this one.

The other intriguing matchup in this region is the 11-6 matchup between VCU and UCLA. Eric Maynor leads VCU, and is one the nations top scorers at 22.4 points per game. He will go up against one of the Pac-10's best players in Darren Collison. This game will be a battle, but I predict the Bruins to move on in this one.

Look for the Panthers of Pittsburgh to defeat Duke in the regional final to advance to the Final Four.

The South region provides some very interesting matchups as well. North Carolina comes in as the top seed, and Blake Griffin and the Oklahoma Sooners come in as the two seed.

The games to watch in this region will be LSU vs. Butler, Western Kentucky vs. Illinois, and Michigan vs. Clemson.

I like Butler to knock off LSU before losing to North Carolina, a much bigger and physical team.

I think the Western Kentucky vs. Illinois matchup will be one of the most intriguing of the tournament. You can argue that I'm biased toward Western Kentucky, but just about every year there is a 12-5 upset. The Hilltoppers did it last year, as a 12 seed, and I believe it will happen again.

Illinois will be without defensive specialist Chester Frazier, so that works in the Hilltoppers' favor. Also backing me up on this upset is ESPN's Digger Phelps and Jay Bilas, who both predicted Western Kentucky to beat the Illini. I also have them finding their way to the Sweet 16 for the second straight year after knocking off Gonzaga.

Michigan will knock off Clemson in the always tough 10-7 matchup.

I also see Syracuse making a run to the Elite Eight before being knocked off by North Carolina.

So now my Final Four is set, with Michigan St. taking on Memphis, and Pittsburgh up against North Carolina.

I think Tom Izzo will rally his troops to get past Memphis, and will meet Pittsburgh in the title game.

DeJuan Blair, Levance Fields and Pittsburgh's size and physicality will be too much for the Spartans, and the Pittsburgh Panthers will be cutting down the nets come April 6 at Ford Field in Detroit.

Mid-majors make the tournament special

Today, as I was watching ESPN's 1st and 10, Doug Gottlieb and Skip Bayless debated on whether or not the NCAA tournament selection committee should change the selection process.

Bayless argued that the best 65 teams, regardless of conference, should be put in the tournament field. He said that mid-majors are an embarrassment to college basketball.

Wow, an embarrassment? Tell me how a miraculous upset and a game winning buzzer-beater over a much higher ranked team can be an embarrassment.

Gottlieb's argument was fundamentally different from Bayless'. He said that the tournament's magic is made from these mid-major schools.
I have to agree with Gottlieb.

As a student and avid sports fan at Western Kentucky, a mid-major school, it was very offensive to me when Bayless said that mid-majors were an embarrassment. Maybe he hasn't watched some of the most special moments in NCAA tournament history, most of which have been made by mid-major programs.

Does anyone remember George Mason's magical run to the Final Four? What about Steve Nash's Santa Clara, who pulled off the unfathomable 15 seed over the 2 seed victory? On the same lines, No. 15 seeded Hampton pulled off a first round shocker over No. 2 seeded Iowa St. Also, one of the most signature moments of last year's tournament was Western Kentucky's Ty Rogers' buzzer beater to knock off 5th seeded Drake in the first round, propelling the Hilltoppers to the Sweet 16.

It's moments like this that make March Madness the greatest sporting event in the world. Mid-majors are a must-have in the NCAA tournament. I understand that there will we be "better" teams in much bigger conferences, but there is no way that the NCAA tournament would be nearly as special of an event if mid-major programs were left out of the picture.

The NCAA tournament is easily my favorite sporting event to watch, mainly because of the upsets every year by mid-major schools.

If you take these teams out, the tournament would simply not be the same.

Three more tickets to be punched tonight

With nine teams already solitifying a spot in the tournament field, three more teams will be added to that list.

The Sun Belt, The Summit League, and the Horizon League will all crown their champions tonight.

Here is a breakdown of each matchup

Sun Belt: Western Kentucky vs. South Alabama

These two teams met twice this year, with the Hilltoppers winning both games. However, WKU only won these games by a combined 11 points.

The top seeded Hilltoppers are looking to defend their title as Sun Belt Conference tournament champions, and punch their ticket to the Big Dance, hoping to pull off another cinderella run like last season.

To do so, they will have to stop South Alabama's Dominic Tilford and Brandon Davis. Tilford is averaging 16.5 points per game this season, and is an 83% free-throw shooter. Davis comes in averaging 12.5 points per game, and is a 59% shooter from the field. He also averages 7.5 rebounds a game.

The Hilltoppers will look to Sun Belt Conference MVP Orlando Mendez-Valdez. The senior guard is averaging 14.1 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 3.8 assists per game this season. The Hilltoppers have three more players averaging in double figures, guards A.J. Slaughter and Sergio Kerusch, and forward Steffphon Pettigrew.

Kerusch is also averaging a double-double in the conference tournament.

The problem for WKU will be their lack of depth on the bench.

This should prove to be another classic battle between these two teams, and the winner could pull off some major upsets in the Big Dance.

My pick: Western Kentucky 73, South Alabama 66

Summit League: North Dakota St. vs. Oakland

This game could be another dandy, as we will see a new champion crowned, after defending champion Oral Roberts was ousted in the first round by South Dakota St.

These two teams split their matchups this season, both winning on their home floors

Neither of these were challenged in their first two games of the conference tournament.

North Dakota St. has three players averaging in double figures. Ben Woodside is averaging 23 points per game to go along with 6.4 assists. He is complemented by Brett Winkelman and Mike Nelson, who are averaging 19 points per game and 12 points per game respectively. Winkelman is also the teams leading rebounder at 7.3 boards per game.

Oakland also has three players averaging is double figures.

Erik Hangas is averaging 18.8 a game; Keith Benson is averaging 14.1 points a game and Jonathan Jones is averaging 13.5 a game.

North Dakota St. shoots the three ball slightly better than Oakland, averaging 41% compared to Oakland's 37%.

My pick: North Dakota St. 65, Oakland 59

Horizon League: Butler vs. Cleveland St.

Butler looks to defend their title as Horizon League champions in this rematch from last years conference tournament title game, a game that Butler won 70-55 at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

These two teams met only once this season, on the last game of the regular season schedule. Butler won the game 58-56 at Hinkle Fieldhouse.

Tonight's game is also at Hinkle Fieldhouse, meaning it is essentially another home game for the Bulldogs, and sets up the same scenario of last years championship game.

Butler is led by young talent. Two of their three top scorers are freshmen, and the other is a sophomore. Matt Howard leads the team in scoring at 14.6 per game. Gordon Hayward and Shelvin Mack are averaging 13.4 and 11.5 a game respectively.

Cleveland St. is a little more experienced than Butler, in that two of their top scorers are seniors.
J'Nathan Bullock leads the team at 15.4 points per game. Norris Cole and Cedric Jackson put up 13.2 and 10.3 a game respectively.

The story tonight will be Butler getting the ball down to Gordon Hayward and getting points in the paint. The Bulldogs are a better shooting team overall, so look for a wide offense to help create open three's.

My pick: Butler 77, Cleveland St. 66

It's the most wonderful time of the year

I know I haven't been on here in a while, but there is a reason for that.

As a college student, my studies took up the bulk of my time the last month or so before spring break.

But nothing can stop the excitement of March, the best month of the year.

March Madness is arguably the most exciting time of the year for sports fans. Business owners have complained about declined production from workers due to their minds being preoccupied on the latest outcome, constantly checking their bracket predictions.

For me, there is no way I'm leaving my seat in front of the TV during the first four days of the tournament, which cover the first two rounds. I eat, sleep, and breathe college basketball during these four days.

I'm not kidding when I say it's like Christmas for me. Each game is like a new gift for me to open. Unless, of course, I get the game wrong on my bracket. Then that gift I was so excited about turns out to be a lump of coal.

But anyways, this is the time of the year when magic happens; dreams are made; and historic stories are written.

March is truly the most wonderful time of the year.