Final Four Update

So as we know, Bonkers clinched the brackets title when Ohio State beat Georgetown earlier today. Now here is a look at the points race.

Mike C. -- 139
John -- 116
Pat -- 81

Mike didn't score any points today because UCLA lost so he will be at the mercy of what happens Monday night between Florida (John) and Ohio State (Pat). John scored 32 points with Florida's 10-point win over UCLA and Pat scored 16 with Ohio State's seven-point win over Georgetown.

So here's the scenarios:
Mike will win if: Ohio State beats Florida by seven or fewer points.
John will win if: Florida beats Ohio State by any margin.
Pat will win if: Ohio State beats Florida by eight or more points.

That's as simple as can be I think. Good luck to all those still alive. I hope you enjoyed our coverage this year. I've certainly enjoyed bringing it to you. And in case you haven't visited in a while, check out all the "One Shining Moment" videos that are posted. Always good to bring a tear to your eye.

Oh, and finally, in the interest of consistency, here are video highlights:

Ohio State-Georgetown
Florida-UCLA

Final Four Thoughts

I'm at work right now but I'm going to leave some random thoughts from now until the night is over. At the moment, 4:31 p.m., Ohio State leads Georgetown, 42-38:

• 4:33 p.m. -- Maybe I'm crazy, but I look and G'town and Ohio State and I think UCLA could beat either of these teams. Is the UCLA-Florida game the "real" national title game?
• 4:48 p.m. -- But boy does Georgetown have some imposing players.
• 4:53 p.m. -- Sometimes Greg Oden looks like he'll be the best center ever and other times he looks like a confused 19-year-old (never mind that physically he looks 35). Also, does anyone else notice that Oden never seems to be happy?
• 5:02 p.m. -- Looks like Ohio State is about to wrap it up. Up 63-57 with 20 seconds left.
• 5:03 p.m. -- And you know what this means right? Mister Michael Bonkers has officially clinched the bracket title. Congrats Bonkers!
• 5:08 p.m. -- Ohio State 67, Georgetown 60
• 5:09 p.m. -- The good news is that I'm still alive to win my office pool.
• 5:10 p.m. -- Just to refresh your memories, the only Conger could have been caught is if Georgetown and UCLA won and then UCLA beat Georgetown in the final. That would have produced a tie between Bonkers and Jim B. But obviously now that's over.
• 5:17 p.m. -- When the UCLA game starts in about a half an hour, I may be so inclined to post. Especially if they are getting hammered.
• 5:58 p.m. -- Afflalo two fouls. Mbah a Moute two fouls. Mobbed-up refs.
• 6:06 p.m. -- 11:52 left in the first half, UCLA 6, Florida 5... Ben Howland basketball baby.
• 6:32 p.m. -- Florida is just too good. Every shot UCLA takes seems to be contested. The Bruins started well, but three fouls on your best player doesn't help. Also, UCLA isn't playing very well on offense, but Florida probably has a lot to do with that.
• 6:43 p.m. -- Well it's 29-23 and it could be a lot worse. UCLA has only one turnover, Florida 10.
• 6:46 p.m. -- Oh, it's halftime by the way...
• 7:18 p.m. -- I'm closing up shop for now. Bruins are done. Down 16 with 13:49 to go.

1987 One Shining Moment

The 1987 version (old school) when Indiana won the title. Remember we watched this in the parking lot at the Forum before a Kings game? Anyone?

1991 One Shining Moment

The 1991 version when Duke won the title.

1992 One Shining Moment

The 1992 version when Duke won the title.

1993 One Shining Moment

The 1993 version when North Carolina won the title. Another vocal version and rolling the credits concurrently was a bad idea.

1994 One Shining Moment

The 1994 version when Arkansas won the title.

1995 One Shining Moment

Couldn't find this one, but I'll keep looking.
(UPDATED 4-7) -- Found it and here it is. This is the version when UCLA won the title in 1995.

1996 One Shining Moment

This is the 1996 version when Kentucky won the title (and UCLA lost to Princeton in the first round).

1997 One Shining Moment

This the 1997 version when Arizona won the title.

1998 One Shining Moment

This is the 1998 version when Kentucky won the title.

1999 One Shining Moment

This is the 1999 version when Connecticut won the title (another different vocal version. Is this the same as the more recent ones?).

2000 One Shining Moment

This is the version from 2000 when Michigan State won the title.

2001 One Shining Moment

This is the 2001 version when Duke won the title.

2002 One Shining Moment

This is the 2002 version when Maryland won the title (slightly different vocal version from the more recent ones).

2003 One Shining Moment

This is the 2003 version when Syracuse won the title.

2004 One Shining Moment

This is the 2004 version when Connecticut won the title.

2005 One Shining Moment

This is the 2005 version when North Carolina won the title.

Official 2006 One Shining Moment

OK, this here's another one for Johnny. This is the official One Shining Moment after last season's tournament. Enjoy.

UCLA's One Shining Moment 2006

This one goes out to John. I know it's from last year, but here's a taste for later in the week. And this one isn't an official video. It's one that was made by a fan and set to music. Too bad this didn't end in a title. I will post more soon.

March Madness Division II Style

If you didn't see the Division II NCAA men's championship game on Saturday morning take a look at the video below that shows Barton College winning. It was one of the most amazing, improbable finishes I've ever seen. Me, being the sicko that I am, saw this live and jumped out of my chair. To help explain the scenario, Barton's opponent, Winona State, was undefeated going into this game and was on a 58-game winning streak, seeking its second consecutive title.

One other thing: At the 1:04 mark of the video you see a Winona State player throwing a blue shirt to the ground. That shirt was the jersey of a Barton College player, who in his jubilation tossed it to the sky and it landed flush on the Winona player's head. You couldn't have scripted it better.

March Madness Elite Eight Highlights

Here are the highlights from the Elite Eight:
Florida-Oregon
Kansas-UCLA
North Carolina-Georgetown
Ohio State-Memphis
BONUS COVERAGE
Shipp Beats The Buzzer
Bryce Taylor Dunk
Elite Eight Game Changing Performance

March Madness Elite Eight Update

We have reached the Final Four and things are becoming clearer through all the haze of the first two weekends of March Madness. It has been an exciting time, but as things shake out we have a better understanding of who's going to win, or at least who has the best shot. Let's start with the bracket standings, which you can also access at CBSsportsline.com

Mike C. -- 49

Mike T. -- 48

Pat -- 47
Jim B. -- 46

John -- 46
*Frank -- 45

*Russ -- 45
*Jim J. -- 41

* eliminated from contention

Let's start with the good news for Mister Bonkers: two more players (actually more than two) were officially eliminated from contention as Frank and Russ bowed out, although we can't let this opportunity pass to point out that Russ was the only player to correctly predict the Final Four teams. The other good news for Mike C. is that two other players -- Jim B. and John -- can only tie him for top honors (actually only Jim B. can). Still, there are loads of possibilities (not really) despite there being only three games left in the tournament. So let's take a look at the players still alive and who they have picked in the Final Four:

Mike C. -- Florida-Kansas, North Carolina-Ohio State to Florida-Ohio State to Ohio State.

Mike T. -- Florida-UCLA, Texas-Ohio State to Florida-Ohio State to Ohio State.

Pat --Florida-Kansas, North Carolina-Ohio State to Florida-North Carolina to North Carolina.

Jim B. -- Florida-UCLA, Georgetown-Texas A&M to UCLA-Georgetown to UCLA.

John -- Florida-UCLA, North Carolina-Ohio State to Florida-Ohio State to Florida.

OK, so now that I see it all here on paper (or in cyberspace if you please), the following conclusions can be made: 1) Mike C. has clinched at least a tie for the bracket title. 2) the only player who can tie Mike C. is Jim B. So I suppose partial congratulations are in order for Bonkers. I have edited my opening paragraph to reflect this new-found information with my edits in parenthesis.

On to the points....

Here are the standings after the Elite Eight and heading into the Final Four, listed with total points first, Elite Eight total in the first parenthesis, Sweet 16 total in the second parenthesis, second-round total in the third parenthesis and first-round total in fourth parenthesis:

Mike C. -- 139 points (32)+(24)+(30)+(53)

*Jim B. -- 96 points (0)+(8)+(16)+(72)

Russ --88 points (32)+(8)+(10)+(38)

John -- 84 points (16)+(8)+(28)+(32)
*Mike T. -- 82 points (0)+(12)+(22)+(48)
Pat -- 65 points (24)+(4)+(18)+(19)

*Frank -- 51 points (0)+(4)+(10)+(37)

*Jim J. -- 33 points (0)+(0)+(10)+(23)

*Three more players were eliminated from the points chase. Jim B., who had been the leader for most of the tournament, lost his final team, North Carolina, as the Tar Heels had a dramatic collapse in regulation and went completely cold in overtime in a loss to Georgetown. Mike T. also bowed out when Oregon didn't have enough to hang with Florida. Frank also lost his final team when Kansas was knocked out by UCLA in a thrilling West Regional final on Saturday. And, as mentioned before, Jim J. was already knocked out. I'm sure he just loves us pointing it out again.

So here are the real standings:

Mike C. -- 139 points

Russ -- 88 points

John -- 84 points

Pat -- 65 points

With only a difference of 74 points between Mike C. and Pat, there are all kinds of possibilities (i mean it this time) for any of the four players to win it all. Although Mike C. and Russ have the top two point totals, they also have the second-seeded teams in both Final Four games. In the Final Four, it will be Florida (John) taking on UCLA (Mike C.) and Georgetown (Russ) battling Ohio State (Pat). It's too close to determine what might happen but it will be a tight race till the end. Well, that's all for now. Please check back during the week for other videos I'm sure you all will enjoy that I'm planning to feature on the site.

March Madness Sweet 16 Day 2 Highlights

Here are the highlights from Day 2 of the Sweet 16:
Florida-Butler
Oregon-UNLV
North Carolina-USC
Georgetown-Vanderbilt
BONUS COVERAGE
Sweet 16 Game-Changing Performance
Georgetown Guy Travels And Wins Game

COMING SOON
A special surprise!

March Madness Sweet 16 Day 2 Update

OK, sorry this has taken so long. I see there are "many" of you clamoring for the update, but contrary to popular belief, I do have a life outside work and the blog. Anyway, I'm not here to make excuses, so on to the update. The field has been reduced to the final eight and surprisingly the surprises don't seem to be happening. Let's start with the bracket standings, which you can also access at CBSsportsline.com

Mike C. -- 47
Mike T. -- 45
Pat -- 45

Jim B. -- 43
John -- 43

Frank -- 42
Russ -- 41

Jim J. -- 39

For the first time in several days, some of the field has closed the gap on Mister Bonkers, but he was lucky that it was the person immediately behind him, Mike T. Every region except one has produced a No. 1 vs. No. 2 regional final matchup, and shockingly Mister Bonkers is in the lead because of this. The one region that didn't, the Midwest, produced a No. 1 vs. No. 3 and predicatably this is where Mister Bonkers slipped Friday having predicted Wisconsin to reach this point. Instead, Oregon made it and Pat, who was in third, moved into a second-place tie with Mike T., two back of Bonkers. Jim B., Frank and Russ also got this pick correct and picked up a point on the leader. I hadn't mentioned this before, but Jim J. has been eliminated from the brackets since his best score possible is 43 and there are several players who have already surpassed that. Basically, the brackets look like they're coming down to a race between Bonkers, Mike T. and Pat.

On to the points....

Here are the standings after the second day of the Sweet 16, listed with total points first, two-day Sweet 16 points in the first parenthesis, second-round total in second parenthesis and first-round point total in third parenthesis:

Mike C. -- 107 points (24)+(30)+(53)
Jim B. -- 96 points (8)+(16)+(72)

Mike T. -- 82 points (12)+(22)+(48)

John -- 68 points (8)+(28)+(32)

Russ -- 56 points (8)+(10)+(38)

Frank -- 51 points (4)+(10)+(37)
Pat -- 41 points (4)+(18)+(19)

*Jim J. -- 33 points (0)+(10)+(23)

*With Butler's loss to Florida, I'm sorry to report that Jim J. has become the first official casualty of the tournament (and to think he hasn't even paid yet; Jim I suggest you handle your bidness or else you may lose your L.A. privileges, signed Marcellus Wallace)

Four different players scored points on the second day of the Sweet 16. The leader still remains Mister Bonkers, but his only team playing Friday, UNLV, lost to Oregon, which belongs to Mike T., who scored 12 points with the Ducks. Elsewhere, Jim B. scored 8 points with North Carolina, which came back from a huge deficit to knock USC out, winning by 10 points. John also scored 8 points when Florida beat Butler although it looked for a time as if the Gators might not have enough to pull it out. In the closest game of the night, Russ' Georgetown eked out a one-point win over Jim B.'s Vanderbilt, winning on a last-second shot on a play where the Georgetown guy traveled but the mobbed-up refs didn't call it. Ridiculous! I'm not bitter though even though the 24 points Vandy would have scored for me would have been enough to take over first place again. No, I'm not bitter. OK, OK, rant over.

ELITE EIGHT MATCHUPS:

Saturday

No. 2 Memphis (Mike C.) vs. No. 1 Ohio State (Pat)

No. 2 UCLA (Mike C.) vs. No. 1 Kansas (Frank)

Notes: So obviously this is a big day for Mike in that he can either take full control of the points or bow out with a whimper. For Pat and Frank, these are their final teams, so this is make or break for them as well.

Sunday

No. 3 Oregon (Mike T.) vs. No. 1 Florida (John)

No. 2 Georgetown (Russ) vs. No. 1 North Carolina (Jim B.)

Notes: Four different players have chances so it's clear that whoever wins will still have a chance at the points title regardless of how far back they think they might be. I don't think our points race has ever been this wide open heading into the Elite Eight. Should be some great games.

Next update will come after Sunday's games since it's a waste to do it after only two games.

March Madness Sweet 16 Day 2 Preview

The first day of the Sweet 16 is over so now it's time to take a look at Friday's matchups as we head toward the full schedule of the Elite Eight.

Here are Friday's matchups:

AT ST. LOUIS

No. 5 Butler (Jim J.) vs. No. 1 Florida (John): It's a make-or-break night for Jim J. since Butler is his final team remaining. A victory would give Jim at least 20 points and keep him in the running for the points. A loss and it's bye-bye Mr. New York. Working to Jim's advantage is that Florida has been playing very passively lately. The Gators don't seem as inspired though that is understandable since it's so tough to repeat as a champion. Florida is one of two teams in action for John.

No. 7 UNLV (Mike C.) vs. No. 3 Oregon (Mike T.): The battle of the Mikes will have an effect on everyone since another victory by C would put him further into the driver's seat than he already is. UNLV could score a minimum of 28 points and give Conger three teams in the Elite Eight. On the other hand, an Oregon win would keep Mike T. in the battle since it would be a score of at least 12 points. Now, we're supposed to be objective here, but just to keep it interesting for everyone, you all better root for the Ducks in this one.

AT EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J.

No. 5 USC (John) vs. No. 1 North Carolina (Jim B.): The Trojans have been one of the most impressive teams in the tournament and certainly could challenge the Tar Heels in this interesting matchup. This will be John's second team in action. Jim B. is hoping the trend continues from Thursday where the Nos. 1 and 2 seeds all advanced to the Elite Eight. Carolina certainly has more talent and depth than USC, but the Trojans have been playing defense as well as anyone. NC center Tyler Hansbrough will be a load for the USC big men, and that figures to be the difference. Hansbrough already has a 33-point game in the tournament.

No. 6 Vanderbilt (Jim B.) vs. No. 2 Georgetown (Russ): Remember what I said about Jim B. wanting that trend of Nos. 1 and 2 to continue? Well scratch that for this game. He'll be OK with it if this No. 6 makes it through since it would mean a minimum of 24 points. Russ is clinging to his last team after Texas A&M went down to Memphis on Thursday. Georgetown was playing as well as anyone in the latter part of the regular season but has come back to earth a bit in the tournament. Vanderbilt (and UNLV too) is as close to a Cinderella as there is and they have a player that is a difference-maker in Derrick Byars.

March Madness Sweet 16 Day 1 Highlights

Here are the highlights from Day 1 of the Sweet 16:
Kansas-Southern Illinois
UCLA-Pittsburgh
Ohio State-Tennessee
Memphis-TexasA&M
BONUS COVERAGE
Collison Crossover
Shot-Clock Violation?
Resetting the Clock
Memphis Athleticism

March Madness Sweet 16 Day 1 Update

The first four games of the Sweet 16 are in the books. The field has dwindled to 12 heading into Friday's four games but the first four didn't provide any surprises based on seedings as the West and South regional finals will have 1 vs. 2 matchups this weekend. But let's first start with the bracket standings, which you can also access at CBSsportsline.com

Mike C. -- 44

Mike T. -- 42

Pat -- 41

John -- 40
Jim B. -- 39
Frank --38

Russ -- 37
Jim J. -- 36

It was another big night for Mister Bonkers, who was a perfect four for four in the games, maintaining his two-point lead over Mike T. and a three-point edge over Pat. Meanwhile, John slipped a point while Jim B., Frank, Russ and Jim J. did likewise when Texas A&M lost in the last seconds to Memphis.

On to the points....

Here are the standings after the first day of the Sweet 16, listed with total points first, Thursday's total in the first parenthesis, second-round total in second parenthesis and first-round point total in third parenthesis:

Mike C. -- 107 points (24)+(30)+(53)

Jim B. -- 88 points (0)+(16)+(72)
Mike T. -- 70 points (0)+(22)+(48)
John -- 60 points (0)+(28)+(32)
Frank -- 51 points (4)+(10)+(37)

Russ -- 48 points (0)+(10)+(38)
Pat -- 41 points (4)+(18)+(19)
Jim J. -- 33 points (0)+(10)+(23)

As the rounds go deeper, it makes sense that not everyone will score on a given night. On Thursday, only three players scored but the bad news for everyone is the Mister Bonkers won the night with 24 points, seeing Memphis and UCLA advance to give him two teams in the Elite Eight. UCLA's nine-point victory gave Mike C. the only double bonus of the night although he had to endure a Pittsburgh player nearly make a half-court shot at the buzzer that would have erased the bonus. The victories also mean that Bonkers has taken over the lead in the points after Jim B. had held it for the first week of the tournament. Mike's victories knocked out Pittsburgh (Frank) and Texas A&M (Russ), but Frank remained alive with Kansas edging Southern Illinois (Pat). On the other hand, Pat stayed alive as Ohio State withstood a huge effort by Tennessee to hold on for a one-point win and also keep Pat with a team left. Tennessee losing was a big loss for Mike T., since the fifth-seeded Volunteers could have scored at least 20 points had they won.

Roy Williams Isn't Very Nice

Remember a few years back when Roy Williams coached at Kansas? Well, his team had just lost to Syracuse and speculation was running rampant about Williams soon taking the job at North Carolina, his alma mater and where he had coached as an assistant under Dean Smith. Now I'm not saying it was the greatest timing by Bonnie Bernstein, but did Williams have to go expletive on her and get all righteous? One of those great live TV moments. I hope USC kicks the tar out of the 'Heels on Friday night.

A few days later, Williams took the job at North Carolina.

Movie Director Goes Crazy

OK, let's break from form for a bit with the video below. This shows director David O. Russell going nuts on the set of the movie "I Heart Huckabees" in a scene involving Lily Tomlin. She starts to complain about something and then he just loses it. The language is EXTREMELY not safe for work, so you should either view this in private or with headphones on. I know some of you enjoy these behind-the-scenes moments in Hollywood, so that's what makes this fascinating to me and motivated me to post it. Just wanted to break up the monotony of March Madness.

March Madness: Sweet 16 Brackets

Going into the first day of the Sweet 16, Mister Bonkers has a two-point cushion in the bracket standings. Mike T. is two behind, John and Pat are three behind, Jim B. is four behind, Frank is five behind, Russ is six behind and Jim J. is seven behind. Let's take a look at the scenarios and how they might play out.

First off, Mister Bonkers has Kansas and UCLA winning the West games, and Ohio State and Memphis winning the South games. Once again, he's really gone out on a limb by picking the top two seeded teams in both regions.

Anyway, what we're here to analyze is how can others pick up points on Mister Bonkers? Here are everyone else's picks for those games and what they need to happen, if anything, to close the gap:

Mike T., John, Pat: Picks--Kansas, UCLA in the West; Ohio State, Memphis in the South. No way for Mike T., John or Pat to pick up points on this night.

Jim B., Frank, Russ, Jim J.: They have the same as the players above but have picked Texas A&M to beat Memphis, providing a way to pick up a potential point and make the standings a little cozier.

This is good news for Mike C. since none of the three players immediately behind him can gain ground on him. And if Texas A&M loses, that could all but eliminate the players in the bottom four -- if some of them haven't been eliminated already (I'm too lazy to figure that out right now).

March Madness: Sweet 16 Preview

We are about 24 hours away from the beginning of the Sweet 16 and I thought's we'd take a look at the matchups heading into another exciting weekend of basketball.

Here are Thursday's matchups:

AT SAN JOSE

No. 4 Southern Illinois (Pat) vs. No. 1 Kansas (Frank): Pat's Salukis are playing some of the best defensive basketball of the tournament, but stopping Frank's Jayhawks will be a major chore. Kansas is as balanced a team as there is in America so stopping one guy doesn't seem to have much an effect. It will take Southern Illinois' best effort of the season, but the Salukis have proved that their seeding was no fluke.

No. 3 Pittsburgh (Frank) vs. No 2. UCLA (Mike C.): This could shape up to be a huge night for Frank or his worst nightmare. If you've been following this tournament, then you know this matchup features two coaches -- Pittsburgh's Jamie Dixon and UCLA's Ben Howland -- who are extremely close on and off the court. Dixon and Howland coached together at UC Santa Barbara, Northern Arizona and Pittsburgh before Howland left for UCLA. Howland strongly urged Pitt to hire Dixon when he left. The game itself figures to feature similar styles, with defense and physical play the order of the day. The key could be whether UCLA is able to keep 7-foot Pitt center Aaron Gray from becoming a factor and if Arron Afflalo can shake his shooting slump.

AT SAN ANTONIO

No. 4 Tennessee (Mike T.) vs. No. 1 Ohio State (Pat): Earlier this season, Ohio State beat Tennessee by two points so figure on this one to be close again. Tennessee is playing with a ton of confidence after overwheming Long Beach State and outlasting Virginia. Ohio State may have received its wake-up call when it took a last-second three-pointer against Xavier to force overtime where the Buckeyes eventually won. It seems every team has a game such as this on their way to a title and that could be a good sign for Ohio State. But the Buckeyes are a young team and sometimes it's difficult to predict how players will respond under the pressure. Pat has Southern Illinois as well so if he can pick up a victory here, it could be a big night. Mike T. will see the first of his two teams in action with Oregon playing tomorrow.

No. 3 Texas A&M (Russ) vs. No. 2 Memphis (Mike C.): Playing in San Antonio could prove to be an advantage for Texas A&M, which is also one of the nation's best defensive teams. This matchup could be similar to the Southern Illinois-Kansas affair since Memphis also is a well-balanced team that enjoys pushing the tempo. A&M guard Acie Law IV is one of the best players in the tournament, having come up big on numerous occasions in clutch moments. Memphis arguably is one of the most talented teams left in the field, but the Tigers have had a hard time closing the deal at times. A victory tonight could be a turning point.

NOTES: Jim B., Jim J. and John do not have any teams playing Thursday.... Frank and Pat have both of their teams playing Thursday and Mike C. has two of his three. Mike still has UNLV playing Friday.... Frank has the potential of losing both of his teams, splitting or guaranteeing a Final Four participant. If Kansas and Pittsburgh each win, they would meet in the West Regional final.... Jim B. also has the same scenario as Frank as North Carolina could play Vanderbilt in the East Regional final.... Amazingly, Mike C., who picked his teams willy-nilly, I think, has one each in three of the four regionals. Could be the kiss of death or domination of an unholy kind.

2007 March Madness Day 4 Highlights

Here are the highlights from Day 4:
Florida-Purdue
Oregon-Winthrop
Wisconsin-UNLV
Kansas-Kentucky
Southern Illinois-Virginia Tech
Texas-USC
Virginia-Tennessee
Memphis-Nevada
BONUS COVERAGE
Agony of Defeat
Freshman Being a Freshman/Senior Being a Senior
Nice Rainbow Shot

2007 March Madness Update

OK, here's the skinny on the fourth day of the tournament. With teams continuing to dwindle, again not everyone scored on this day. Things have sorted out to the final 16 though. Let's start with the bracket standings, which you can also access at CBSsportsline.com

Mike C. -- 40
Mike T. -- 38

John -- 37

Pat -- 37

Jim B. -- 36

Frank --35
Russ -- 34

Jim J. -- 33

Mister Bonkers' lead has shrunk to two as Mike T. makes a move today by getting six of eight correct while Bonkers got five of eight. Pat also picked up ground on Bonkers by getting six correct, as did Russ, although Russ is six behind Bonkers and Pat only three behind. John, Jim B., and Jim J. kept pace with Bonkers by getting five correct Sunday but Frank had the roughest day by getting only four right, giving back his advantage from a day earlier when he was the only one to gain ground on the leader.

On to the points....

Here are the fourth-day standings, listed with total points first, Sunday's total in first parenthesis, Saturday's total in second parenthesis and first-round point total in third parenthesis:

Jim B. -- 88 points (0)+(16)+(72)

Mike C. -- 83 points (26)+(4)+(53)

Mike T. -- 70 points (22)+(0)+(48)

John -- 60 points (28)+(0)+(32)

Russ -- 48 points (0)+(10)+(38)

Frank -- 47 points (4)+(6)+(37)

Pat -- 37 points (16)+(2)+(19)

Jim J. -- 33 points (0)+(10)+(23)

Three players went scoreless Sunday, including leader Jim B., who lost two teams -- Winthrop and Virginia. Also scoreless were Russ and Jim J., who suffered the biggest loss when Wisconsin was upset by UNLV, a big win for Conger. The biggest mover of the day was John, who scored 32 points, including a big 30 from USC's 19-point win over Texas, triggering a triple bonus. Although Conger didn't move up in the standings, he cut the deficit to Jim B. to a mere five points heading into the Sweet 16 and making this one of the tighest points races in history. UNLV scored 14 points for Conger and Memphis added 12 more. Pat stayed in the hunt with Southern Illinois scoring 16 points and Mike T. remained solidly in third place when Oregon scored 12 points for him and Tennessee scored 10. Frank scored four points with Kansas. Here is a breakdown of the remaining teams for everyone:

John: Florida, USC

Jim B.: North Carolina, Vanderbilt

Pat: Ohio State, Southern Illinois

Frank: Kansas, Pittsburgh

Mike C.: UCLA, Memphis, UNLV

Jim J.: Butler

Mike T.: Oregon, Tennessee

Russ: Georgetown, Texas A&M

So as you can see, it's still really close. And even Jim J. isn't out of it because if Butler can pull the upset of Florida, Jim would score big points with Butler being a 5 seed. But more on that later in the week as we size up matchups heading into the Thursday games.

2007 March Madness Day 4

So who says Sunday is a day of rest? Not when your religion is college basketball ... and it's March. And although I'm not getting up at the crack of dawn to do this, here is another installment of what is going in the tournament today:

• 2:04 p.m. -- No, I didn't just wake. I'm just signing on is all.
• 2:05 p.m. -- So what's happened today? Well, we had our highest seeded team to date lose as UNLV took out No. 2 Wisconsin. Actually this wasn't as much of a shock as you might think as Wisconsin struggled against Texas A&M Corpus Christi and wasn't as dominant as top-rated team has been during the season.
• 2:07 p.m. -- Oregon scored another blow for the Pac-10 by beating upstart Winthrop rather easily. That puts two Pac-10 teams in the Sweet 16 with USC hoping to become the third later today. The USC-Texas game starts in about 10 minutes.
• 2:08 p.m. -- Florida again looked mortal and had to struggle to beat Purdue. Even the announcers were saying that the Gators didn't look interested or intense when they arrived at the arena this morning. Such is life as a defending champion. It takes a lot more than talent to stay focused and hungry enough to win it back to back. There's a reason it hasn't happened in college basketball since the 1970s and UCLA.
• 2:11 p.m. -- Traditional underachiever, Tennessee, went against the grain and actually reached the Sweet 16 by beating Virginia earlier, 77-74.
• 2:12 p.m. -- Southern Illinois, a mid-major but seeded No. 4, proved its seeding was no fluke by reaching the Sweet 16. Well, actuallu SIU is seconds away, but they lead Virginia Tech by 16 points with under a minute to play.
• 2:14 p.m. -- So we're going to have the last three games of the day going soon. Right now, Memphis is beating Nevada early, Kansas and Kentucky are about to tip-off and USC is about to see if it can take out Kevin Durant and Texas. That should be a very interesting matchup. We'll check in with you later....
• 4:01 p.m. -- OK, we're back and plenty has happened. USC is kicking the tar out of Texas. Do we believe in Pac-10 and West Coast basketball now? Remeber UNLV ousted Wisconsin earlier.
• 4:04 p.m. -- Meanwhile, Memphis is putting away Nevada and Kansas is doing likewise to Kentucky, so no upsets here.
• 4:05 p.m. -- Looks like the only real upset will be Wisconsin.
• 4:14 p.m. -- Trojans still up 17 with about four minutes left.
• 4:23 p.m. -- Texas has cut it to 14 but I can't see them coming back. There's only 2:50 left.
• 4:29 p.m. -- Now it's a 13-point game, Texas calls its last timeout after making a three and there's 1:44 left. Just give it up Longhorns!
• 4:39 p.m. -- USC wins by 19 and has been arguably the most impressive team in the first two rounds. I mean, what other team rolled the way the Trojans did? Even Florida and Ohio State struggled in their second-round games. North Carolina won by 14 but didn't pull away until late. I think USC can beat North Carolina in the next round.
• 4:47 p.m. -- Oh and by the way, Kansas rolled over Kentucky by 22.
• 4:48 p.m. -- So it's not even 5 p.m. and the day's games are over. So that means we have reduced the field of 64 to 16 in a matter of about 80 hours. I just love the first four days of the tournament. It's some of the best stuff around in sports.
• 4:49 p.m. -- So that's it for now. We will do some number crunching and get back to you in the next post. Bye for now, hope you have enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

2007 March Madness Day 3 Highlights

Here are the highlights from Day 3:
Maryland-Butler
Pittsburgh-Virginia Commonwealth
UCLA-Indiana
North Carolina-Michigan State
Washington State-Vanderbilt
Georgetown-Boston College
Ohio State-Xavier
Texas A&M-Louisville
BONUS COVERAGE
Ohio State's three-pointer to send it into OT
Lorenzo Mata in first round
Game-Changing performances from round one

2007 March Madness Day 3 Update

OK, here's the skinny on the third day of the tournament. With teams dwindling, not everyone scored on this day, but things are beginning to sort out. Let's start with the bracket standings, which you can also access at CBSsportsline.com

Mike C. -- 35

John -- 32

Mike T. -- 32

Jim B. -- 31

Frank --31

Pat -- 31

Russ -- 28

Jim J. -- 28

Mister Bonkers maintained his three-point lead in the standings and John, Mike T., Jim B., Pat and Jim J. all kept pace. The only player to gain ground Saturday was Uncle Frank, who picked seven of the eight game correctly. Russ was the only player to lose ground, picking five of eight correctly.

On to the points....

Here are the third-day standings, listed with total points first, Saturday total in first parenthesis and first-round point total in second parenthesis:

Jim B. -- 88 points (16)+(72)

Mike C. -- 57 points (4)+(53)

Mike T. -- 48 points (0)+(48)

Russ -- 48 points (10)+(38)

Frank -- 43 points (6)+(37)

Jim J. -- 33 points (10)+(23)

John -- 28 points (0)+(28)

Pat -- 21 points (2)+(19)

For the third day in row, Jim B. took high honors with total points at 16, scoring four with North Carolina's win and 12 with sixth-seeded Vanderbilt's win. One of Jim's longshots was eliminated though as 11th-seeded Virginia Commonwealth went down in overtime to Pittsburgh (Frank's team). Russ and Jim J. each scored 10 points. Russ did it with two teams as third-seeded Texas A&M advanced and second-seeded Georgetown did as well. Jim J. got all his points from a victory by fifth-seeded Butler. Mike C. scored his four points when UCLA pulled out a win over Indiana, and Pat scored his two points when top-seeded Ohio State managed to come back from a big deficit, force the game into overtime on a late three-pointer and pull away in the extra period. A real brow-wiper if there ever was one. Mike T. and John were shut out Saturday but they both have multiple teams playing Sunday. Because most of the games were close Saturday, the point totals were some of the lowest for a second-round day in a long, long time. In fact, the only game to trigger the double-bonus was North Carolina's 14-point win over Michigan State.

2007 March Madness Day 3

It's 4:33 p.m. and this is the first time I've had a chance to sign on all day, so we've g0t a lot of catching up to do. In the meantime, there are some great games going on that seem as they'll go down to the wire. Washington State and Vanderbilt are close with 3 minutes left and BC and Georgetown are having one of their classic battles back when BC still was in the Big East.

• 4:40 p.m. -- Washington State and Vandy tied at 60-60 with 37.7 seconds left. Vandy has the ball. Come on Pac-10!!!
• 4:41 p.m. -- Great block by Ivory Clark to keep it tied! WSU now has the ball with 24.1 seconds left.
• 4:44 p.m. -- WSU goes for a three (a three!!!) and missed. Vandy gets the ball with 0.5 left on the clock or else we're going to OT. Why would you shoot a three in a tie game? Doesn't make any sense. Go the basket and you take an easier shot and you might even get fouled. Unbelieveable.
• 4:46 p.m. -- Meanwhile, Georgetown has survived by taking care of Boston College, 62-55.
• 4:48 p.m. -- Virginia Commonwealth, them of the Duke upset, had closed to within eight of Pitt but now trails 11 with about 5 minutes left.
• 4:50 p.m. -- Whoa! VCU within five with 4:35 to go. WSU down two in OT.
• 4:54 p.m. -- Derrick Low just hit a three for WSU to tie it up! Vandy has the ball with about 8 seconds left. They have called timeout.
• 4:56 p.m. -- Vandy throws away the inbounds pass and WSU races down court but Taylor Rochestie's drive to the basket and off-balance shot gets blocked. Vandy ball with 2.5 seconds.
• 4:58 p.m. -- VCU within three of Pitt!!!
• 4:59 p.m. -- Vandy can't get shot off but refs are discussing who the ball went out of bounds off.
• 5:00 p.m. -- Vandy misses a three after the mobbed-up refs reset the clock to 0.4. Play should have never happened. Nonetheless, we are headed to another OT.
• 5:01 p.m. -- VCU hits a three! and has tied Pitt, 67-67! 1:40 to go.
• 5:03 p.m. -- VCU has the ball with a chance to take the lead with 1:20 left.
• 5:04 p.m. -- VCU takes the lead, but Pitt comes back to tie it, 69-69.
• 5:05 p.m. -- VCU misses a three. Pitt comes down and gets fouled. Guy at the line, misses the first..... next one.... he misses AGAIN!!! WOW!!! This is amazing. Rebound gets tied up and clock runs out. Another OT game.
• 5:09 p.m. -- Meanwhile, WSU looks like its getting tired. Down by four with 50 seconds left.
• 5:10 p.m. -- WSU hits a three from the corner to pull to within two, 76-74. .... Vandy misses a free throw ... and misses another....
• 5:12 p.m. -- But WSU comes down and misses a shot, doesn't get back on defense and Vandy throws a deep pass to clinch it. It's over, 78-74 Vandy in double OT. Too bad for the Pac-10.
• 5:13 p.m. -- VCU is down 72-71 with 3:30 left in OT.
• 5:15 p.m. -- Pitt has just hit back to back threes for a 78-71 lead with 2:12 left. Looks like VCU's Cinderella days are done.
• 5:23 p.m. -- Pitt misses two free throws ... again! and VCU has climbed to within one!
• 5:24 p.m. -- Pitt finally makes a free throw to pull ahead by three and VCU misses a three and gets called for a loose-ball foul on the rebound. Timeout with 6.6 seconds left and Pitt going to the line.
• 5:26 p.m. -- Pitt makes both free throws. VCU comes down and misses a three and it's over! Pitt wins 84-79 in OT. Now that Jamie Dixon-Ben Howland remains a possibility. UCLA has to win though.
• 5:27 p.m. -- OK, I'm going to take a few minutes to catch my breath after that last set of games. Be back soon.
• 6:21 p.m. -- I've just realized that there's no way I can live blog during a UCLA game. Especially when the Bruins are playing like absolute garbage. I'll be back later, hopefully not lamenting a loss.
• 7:07 p.m. -- This UCLA-Indiana game has to be setting college basketball back at least 50 years. Hickory could play with these guys. Meanwhile, Michigan State is giving top-seeded North Carolina all it can handle, down 67-61 with about four minutes left.
• 8:05 p.m. -- OK, I can breath again. UCLA beat Indiana, 54-49. One of the ugliest games in a while but it looks good on the bracket. In fact, all the top seeds had it rough today. Ohio State had to go OT to beat Xavier, Georgetown got all it could handle from BC, and even North Carolina couldn't pull away from Michigan State until the very end.
• 8:35 p.m. -- So half the Sweet 16 is set. Butler, Pitt, UCLA, North Carolina, Vanderbilt, Georgetown, Ohio State and Texas A&M are in. Look forward to the game's tomorrow. Now, it's on to working on the update....

2007 March Madness Day 2 Highlights

Here are the highlights from Day 2:
Florida-Jackson State
Arizona-Purdue
Winthrop-Notre Dame
Oregon-Miami (Ohio)
Nevada Las Vegas-Georgia Tech
Wisconsin-Texas A&M Corpus Christi
Kansas-Niagara
Villanova-Kentucky
Virginia Tech-Illinois
Southern Illinois-Holy Cross
USC-Arkansas
Texas-New Mexico State
Virginia-Albany
Tennessee-Long Beach State
Nevada-Creighton
Memphis-North Texas

2007 March Madness Day 2 Update

OK, here's the skinny on the second day of tournament. Again everyone scored at least some points and despite the point totals, no one is out of it just yet. Let's start with the bracket standings, which you can also access at CBSsportsline.com

Mike C. -- 29
John -- 26
Mike T. -- 26
Jim B. -- 25
Pat -- 25
Frank -- 24
Russ -- 23
Jim J. -- 22

Mister Bonkers is trying to pull away from the field early with a 29 for 32 first-round performance. That's gotta be a record for him. And this year, if you didn't notice, Mike didn't overthink it and look where it got him? See, Mike, perhaps this is a sign to apply this technique to other areas. A three-point lead after one round can sometimes be insurmountable. Perhaps after the weekend, we will do some analysis to see how much of an advantage Mister Bonkers really has.

On to the points....

Here are the second-day standings with point totals from both days:
Jim B. -- 72 points (38+34)
Mike C. -- 53 points (24+29)
Mike T. -- 48 points (14+34)
Russ -- 38 points (33+5)
Frank -- 37 points (17+20)
John -- 28 points (9+19)
Jim J. -- 23 points (19+4)
Pat -- 19 points (11+8)

Jim B. and Mike T. tied for high honors with 34 points Friday. Jim B. lost two teams (Arizona and Creighton) but had Winthrop, an 11 seed, win its game for a day-high 22 points. Mike T.'s key win was Nevada even though it only scored him seven points, since the Wolf Pack (or is it Wuff Pack Mike?) knocked out Creighton. Mike T. also had Oregon, Texas and Tennessee advance. Mike C. had three teams advance as Memphis, UNLV and Purdue moved on with Purdue scoring 18 big points. Other big scorers were Frank's Kentucky with 16 and John's USC with 15. Pat (Southern Illinois), Jim J. (Wisconsin) and Russ (Virginia Tech) only had one team advance Friday and none scored in double figures.

Here is a list of what teams everyone has left heading into the second round:
John (3): Florida, USC, Xavier
Jim B. (5): North Carolina, Virginia, Vanderbilt, Winthrop, Virginia Commonwealth
Pat (3): Ohio State, Maryland, Southern Illinois
Frank (4): Kansas, Pittsburgh, Boston College, Kentucky
Mike C. (5): UCLA, Memphis, UNLV, Purdue, Michigan State
Jim J. (3): Wisconsin, Washington State, Butler
Mike T. (5): Oregon, Texas, Tennessee, Indiana, Nevada
Russ (4): Georgetown, Texas A&M, Louisville, Virginia Tech

Everyone except John has at least their top two picks, but John does have Florida. Actually, Jim B, Pat, Frank, Mike T. and Russ have at least their top three. And to top it off, Mike T. has his top five and Russ and Frank have their top four. So everyone still is in the hunt.

2007 March Madness Day 2

It's noon Pacific time and the first games of the day have ended. Nice win for Virginia. The V's are really doing well for me (Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth and Vanderbilt). UNLV just won so that's good for West Coast hoops, and Memphis struggled before pulling away from North Texas. No upsets today yet but Winthrop is giving Notre Dame all it can handle so far.

• 12:08 p.m. -- So another of those so-called upset specials fails to come through. Albany wasn't even in the game with Virginia, losing by 27 points to a team most were saying was "over-seeded" at No. 4. Strange since Virginia shared the ACC title with North Carolina this season.
• 12:11 p.m. -- Long Beach State is down 13 midway through the first half. This was another team some predicted would pull the upset. Aaron Nixon of Long Beach is really good though. He just nailed a deeeeeep three.
• 12:17 p.m. -- Winthrop up four at the half on Notre Dame!
• 12:21 p.m. -- Texas A&M Corpus Christi, a No. 15 seed, is up 10-0 on No. 2 Wisconsin with 16:50 left in the first half. Yeah, yeah, I know it's early but finally an underdog has arrived.
• 12:24 p.m. -- Didn't know that Texas A&M Corpus Christi's nickname was the Islanders. Seems odd to me but definitely distinct.
• 12:30 p.m. -- Wisconsin finally scores! At the 15:23 mark. Guy gets fouled on a three-point play and misses the free throw. TAMCC still up 10-2.
• 12:33 p.m. -- It's now 15-2 TAMCC. Wow! It's strange because just the other night was watching HBO's Real Sports and they did a story about Wisconsin and coach Bo Ryan and how his program was about integrity and preparing kids for the future. It was very uplifting and nice to see in an age of greed and scandal everywhere you turn. It made me really wish that Wisconsin did well and I gained an appreciation for their senior star Alando Tucker. Tough to see them losing so badly.
• 12:36 p.m. -- Long Beach down 57-45 at halftime. 57 points in one half of college basketball. Geez the 49ers are bad on defense.
• 12:39 p.m. -- Winthrop up 42-28 early in the second half. Wow! For some reason, whenever I see Winthrop, I want to say Winthorp. You know, like the Dan Akroyd character in Trading Places. "Oh Winthorp!"
• 12:42 p.m. -- "The Eagles are flying high!" is how the announcer just described Winthrop. 48-32!
• 12:43 p.m. -- Meanwhile in Chicago, Wisconsin has a total of 4 points and there is 9:19 left in the first half. Man oh man.
• 12:44 p.m. -- And just for the sake of documentation, the Creighton-Nevada game is going on with Nevada leading 23-18 with 7:42 left in the first half.
• 12:45 p.m. -- "The Eagles are cookin' here in Spokane," is how the Winthrop-N.D. announcer just teased going into commercial.
• 12:46 p.m. -- Billy Packer just said he's never seen a 15 seed as deep as this Corpus Christi team. High praise. It's 23-7 with 7:48 left in the first half. This is amazing!
• 12:49 p.m. -- Winthrop's up 20 with 13:15 left!
• 12:52 p.m. -- Wisconsin has started 3 of 22 from the field so far. Yikes!
• 12:55 p.m. -- Wisconsin is 0 for 7 on three-pointers.
• 12:56 p.m. -- Boy you can really see the confidence growing with TAMCC. They are waving the crowd to whoop it up and the looks on their faces are intense.
• 12:58 p.m. -- Creighton, a 10 seed, has taken the lead on Nevada, 28-25 late in the first half.
• 1:01 p.m. -- Wisconsin has reached double figures! On a free throw. There's 3:54 left in the first half.
• 1:02 p.m. -- Uh oh! Wisconsin on a 4-0 run! It's 25-13 and TAMCC hasn't scored in almost five minutes.
• 1:04 p.m. -- Notre Dame is within 12 of Winthrop, 54-42. ND on an 8-0 run with about 8:30 left.
• 1:05 p.m. -- Make that a 10-0 run!
• 1:08 p.m. -- Alando Tucker is 1 for 8 from the field so far. Half is winding down and TAMCC holds a 27-17 lead.
• 1:09 p.m. --After a Wisconsin steal, Tucker gets out ahead of the pack and dunks with seconds left and now the Badgers trail only 27-19 going into the lockerroom.
• 1:11 p.m. -- Notre Dame's run reaches 13-0 and it's Winthrop 54-47 with 7:05 left.
• 1:12 p.m. -- Winthrop makes a free throw to temporarily stop the bleeding but they are are 2 for 8 from the line today.
• 1:13 p.m. -- Nothing has changed in the Long Beach game. 49ers haven't been in the game all day and are down 78-56 with 13:22 left.
• 1:16 p.m. -- Notre Dame within one, 57-56 with five minutes left. It bears repeating: "Oh Winthorp!"
• 1:22 p.m. -- Winthrop just blew a wide-open layup and Notre Dame came down and hit a three to pull within one again, 62-61, 2:47 to go.
• 1:23 p.m. -- Notre Dame gets a jump hook, and one, to finally take the lead, 63-62 with 2:21 left.
• 1:24 p.m. -- Layup gives Winthrop the lead and after an ND miss, Winthrop hits a huge three for a 67-63 lead with 1:23 to go.
• 1:25 p.m. -- ND guy makes 1 of 2 free throws. 67-64 Winthrop with 1:10 left.
• 1:26 p.m. -- Winthrop just dunks in transition! They lead 70-64 with 30 seconds left.
• 1:27 p.m. -- ND's Jackson misses a three and Winthrop gets rebound and a foul. They lead 71-64 with 28 seconds left.
• 1:30 p.m. -- "Don't call them Cinderella" the announcer says as Winthrop closes out a 74-64 upset of Notre Dame. Man, Duke loses, Notre Dame loses. Does it get any better? This is the first time Winthrop has won in the NCAA tournament. Very sweet especially after a last-second loss to Tennessee last year.
• 1:32 p.m. -- Tennessee just reached the century mark.
• 1:40 p.m. -- This Creighton-Nevada game is turning into a good one. Creighton leads 47-45 with 12:28 left.
• 1:41 p.m. -- I haven't forgotten about the Wisconsin game. TAMCC leads 37-26 with about 15 minutes left.
• 1:44 p.m. -- Tennessee just scored its 112th point to produce a season high. There's still three minutes left. The school record is 121 so they have a shot.
• 1:45 p.m. -- Wisconsin within six. The closest they've been since they got off the bus as the immortal Chick Hearn used to say.
• 1:48 p.m. -- Tennessee looked as if it was going to run out the clock and then some scrub threw up a 30-footer and banked it in to put the Vols at 121, trying the school record. Kinda bush league although Long Beach didn't seem too put off by it. Final score, Tennessee 121, Long Beach State 86. Poor showing for West Coast basketball.
• 1:54 p.m. -- Wisconsin within four with 11 minutes left.
• 1:57 p.m. -- Wisconsin has tied it 47-47 with 10:17 left. Perhaps this is where it all starts to go downhill for TAMCC and reality sets in.
• 1:58 p.m. -- Meanwhile, Creighton has pulled ahead of Nevada, 57-52, with 6:06 left.
• 2:00 p.m. -- Wisconsin leads for the first time, 49-47, with 9:30 to play.
• 2:05 p.m. -- Creighton-Nevava all tied 59-59 with two minutes left.
• 2:11 p.m. -- Nevada misses two shots in a row but gets the rebound each time. There's 36 seconds left and it's still tied 59-59.
• 2:13 p.m. -- Beautiful trap by Creighton and forces a Nevada turnover!
• 2:14 p.m. -- Funk for Creighton tries to drive but is tied up and then forced into an awkward shot that doesn't hit the rim. Nevada gets the loose ball and calls timeout with 1.4 seconds.
• 2:16 p.m. -- A three-quarter court shot goes awry and we have our first overtime game of the tournament.
• 2:25 p.m. -- Oregon game is going. Ducks are up 17-9 early.
• 2:28 p.m. -- Nevada is pulling away from Creighton. It's 70-66 with about 1:10 left in overtime.
• 2:29 p.m. -- Meanwhile, Wisconsin has pushed its lead to 11 points with about two minutes left so that scare seems to be over.
• 2:32 p.m. -- A three by Creighton cuts the Nevada lead to 72-69 with 31 seconds left.
• 2:34 p.m. -- Nevada is about to put away Creighton. It's 76-71 with 11 seconds left.
• 2:35 p.m. -- Final score, Nevada 77, Creighton 71.
• 2:36 p.m. -- Meanwhile, Wisconsin survives a major scare, 76-63, over Texas A&M Corpus Christi. Score was closer than indicated.
• 2:37 p.m. -- OK, Marge needs the computer (and I have to get ready for work anyway), so we'll check in with you later. Bye for now.....
• 4:02 p.m. -- I'm back. Just watched Oregon almost piss one away. It's so amazing how a team can look so dominant, as Oregon did against USC in the championship of the Pac-10 tournament, and then look average as the Ducks did today. The only scored 58 points. One thing that's interesting as the as good as Oregon can be, they don't have any players with previous NCAA tournament experience.
• 4:05 p.m. -- Since I'm at work now, I doubt I'll be able to post as often as I was earlier when I was at home. But I'll try.
• 4:41 p.m. -- Four games going right now, including Arizona-Purdue and top-seeded Kansas and Niagara. 12th-seeded Illinois has a six-point lead on Virginia Tech at the moment.
• 5:00 p.m. -- Kansas has reached 50 points and the first half is winding down. Illinois leads Virginia Tech by eight at the half.
• 5:35 p.m. -- Arizona's looking more and more like an overrated team. This has got to burn Lute Olson to the gills. Everyone talked about how great this team would be this season and they have absolutely no chemistry.
• 5:43 p.m. -- The luck may be running out for the Virginia teams. Virginia Tech, a 5 seed, is down by 10 to 12-seeded Illinois. After Virginia Commonwealth and Virginia won, I figured the Hokies would be a lock. Or maybe it's the law of averages catching up (or the "lore" of averages as the drummer in the bathtub in Spinal Tap says).
• 6:01 p.m. -- Some guy for Purdue just fell to the ground, got on his knees and took a shot before getting up ... and made it!!! How is that not traveling in college? In the NBA they would've let him walk on his knees a couple of steps and still not called anything.
• 6:08 p.m. -- Kansas becomes the second team of the day to break 100 points. What was it that Niagara was saying about feeling disrespected about having to participate in the play-in game?
• 6:21 p.m. -- Whoa, Virginia Tech just beat Illinois 54-52 and kept the luck for Virginia teams going. If I heard correctly, VaTech outscored Illinois 12-0 to close out the game. That's a gag job if I've ever heard one. Freakin' Big Ten!
• 6:39 p.m. -- Illinois didn't score in the last 4:28 of the game.
• 6:40 p.m. -- Looks as if Texas has held off New Mexico State. And Arizona has bowed out. Bet Lute wishes he could forget this one.
• 7:15 p.m. -- Sorry, Blogger was down for a while. Well, now the last four games of the first round are all underway, including USC, but nothing exciting to report just yet.
• 7:33 p.m. -- Damn this Blogger. Being very temperamental right now. There almost was a moment a minute ago when all four games being played had tie scores. Three were and USC was beating Arkansas, 16-14. Kinda cool to see that across the top of the screen.
• 7:36 p.m. -- Defending champion Florida only up 23-21 on Jackson State with 7:30 left in the first half. Does everyone else who's not a Florida fan hate Joakim Noah as much as I do?
• 8:07 p.m. -- USC up 11 at halftime. Looking pretty decently. I like to see the Trojans do well in the tournament, despite what many of you might think. So a 4-2 record for the Pac-10 in the first round wouldn't be so bad since the top four teams from the conference would have advanced.
• 8:24 p.m. -- Looks as if Tubby Smith is going to save his job at Kentucky. In a Wildcats vs. Wildcats battle, Kentucky is beating Villanova, 49-39, with about 8 minutes left. There, I just jinxed him.
• 8:26 p.m. -- Arkansas scores four quick points to start the second half to make it 38-31.
• 8:27 p.m. -- Holy Cross, from Mel's beloved Patriot League, is hanging tough with Southern Illinois. HC trails 38-34 with 11:28 left.
• 8:34 p.m. -- Florida up by 21 with 13 minutes left so the Gators finally woke up. I still hate Noah. Freakin pretty boy a-hole. Kiss my ass and put your hair in a bun you sweet thing.
• 8:54 p.m. -- Not much drama in these night games. The closest is Kentucky-Villanova game with KU up by six with a minute and a half left. Florida is about to become the third team to top 100 today.
• 8:57 -- Florida just hit 100 on a Taurean Green free throw. There's still 2:30 left.
• 9:10 p.m. -- Florida scored 71 points in the second half tonight. And I thought the 57 Tennessee scored against Long Beach in the first half earlier was a lot.
• 9:19 p.m. -- USC is up 17 with 40 seconds left. This will only the third time since 1983 that a 12 seed has not defeated a 5 seed in the first round.
• 9:20 p.m. -- The first round is in the books! Another great two days of Madness.

2007 March Madness Day 1 Highlights

I see that CBS is posting short highlights for every game. I will try to post these every day if possible. I will post them in the order on the bracket, starting with the top left (Midwest), moving down (West), moving over (East) and moving down again (South). Make sense? Unfortunately, this won't let me embed, so here are the links. Hope you enjoy this:
Butler-Old Dominion
Maryland-Davidson
Duke-VCU
Pittsburgh-Wright State
Indiana-Gonzaga
UCLA-Weber State
North Carolina-Eastern Kentucky
Marquette-Michigan State
Vanderbilt-George Washington
Washington State-Oral Roberts
Boston College-Texas Tech
Georgetown-Belmont
Ohio State-Central Connecticut State
Brigham Young-Xavier
Louisville-Stanford
Texas A&M-Pennsylvania

2007 March Madness Day 1 Update

OK, here's the skinny on the first day as all eight competitors scored at least nine points, which I think might be a first. Anyway, we'll start with the bracket standings, which you can all access at CBSsportsline.com

Mike C. -- 15

John -- 14

Mike T. -- 13

Frank -- 12

Jim B. -- 12

Russ -- 12

Jim J. -- 11

Pat -- 11

So no one is out of it yet, which is good, but after Day 1 it's the surprising Mr. Bonkers in the early lead. Perhaps it's because there was only one true upset so it was easy for Mike to just fill in all the teams with the lowest number. Alas, the one game he missed was No. 11-seeded Virginia Commonwealth knocking off No. 6-seeded Duke. Hmmm. Still, you can't argue with results.

On to the points....

Here are the standings:

Jim. B -- 38 points

Russ -- 33 points

Mike C. -- 24 points

Jim J. -- 19 points

Frank -- 17 points

Mike T. -- 14 points

Pat -- 11 points

John -- 9 points

We'll start with the big winner. Jim B. lost only one team, 16th-seeded Central Connecticut State, and scored a huge 24 points when sixth-seeded Vanderbilt beat George Washington by 33. It was a rare quadruple bonus in the first round for a team other than a No. 1. Jim B. also scored 11 points when 11th-seeded Virginia Commonwealth stunned Duke. It was sweet music on multiple levels. Two other teams earned their owners 18 points, which was the second-highest total of the day. Sixth-seeded Louisville's 20-point win over Stanford was a boon for Russ and ninth-seeded Michigan's State's 12-point win over Marquette did the same for Mike C. Seventh-seeded Boston College scored 14 points for Frank after its 11-point victory, and seventh-seeded Indiana did likewise for Mike T. after a 13-point win over Gonzaga. The other double-digit point scorer of the day came in for Jim J. when fifth-seeded Butler scored 10 points after an 11-point win over Old Dominion. John finished with the lowest total in points and also lost three teams, including Duke and Texas Tech. Pat, who got wins from Ohio State and Maryland, saw four of his teams wiped out, including Marquette, BYU and George Washington (a popular upset choice all week leading up to the tournament). Well that's all for now. Another 16 games will be played Friday so there could be quite a turn on many fronts. Good luck to all tomorrow.

2007 March Madness Day 1

It's about 4:30 p.m. and we are well into the first day of the NCAA tournament. What I plan to do is post here as the night wears on and I will update each time something news comes up.

• 1) For openers, how about the effort from Stanford? Man was that ugly. Made me regret staying awake this morning.



• 2) So as of now, no upsets! What's up with that? Melissa called me a little while ago all excited saying, "Dad, I got seven of the first eight right on my bracket!" I had to inform her that every better-seeded team had won to this point so it wasn't as if she had split the atom or something. Still, she was excited. And Mel, you know I love you and am just giving you a hard time. :-)


• 3) UCLA is 0 for 5 from the field so far... ahhhhhhh!!!


• 4) After listening to Seth Davis blather on about how he was picking Oral Roberts to beat Washington State ("I'm calling it right now!"), it was nice to see the Cougars shove it in his face. Especially after Stanford embarrassed the Pac-10 with its pathetic effort against Louisville. I really like Derrick Low, the Washington State guard. Reminds me of a poor man's Steve Nash.


• 5) Anyone else here happy to see Bob Knight going home after one game? Me too.


• 6) OK, UCLA is playing better now, so I won't have to take my nitroglycerin pill. It's 37-19 at the half.


• 7) Duke started fast but Virginia Commonwealth got to within one at the half. Yes!!!


• 8) I'm writing this from work in case anyone's wondering why I haven't updated in a while. Yeah, who am I kidding?


• 9) Bruins win, Bruins win, Bruins win! 70-42. Nice solid effort, but I could've done without the slow start. At least Afflalo looks like his old self and Collison was a lot more solid today. Mata did a lot of good things and even Roll hit a couple of threes, which I think will be huge if UCLA is to go very far. OK, I can breath again.


• 10) DUKE LOSES, DUKE LOSES, DUKE LOSES! First upset of the tournament. Couldn't have asked for a better finish (and couldn't happen to a nicer Rat!) That Maynor guy is money! And to make things even sweeter, Virginia Commonwealth is one of my teams. Life is good!


• 11) Another upset. Michigan State beats Marquette. A 9 beating an 8. But was it really an upset since Marquette played without its injured stating point guard?


• 12) Xavier just beat BYU in another 9-8 matchup so a mild upset although Xavier was a 1 1/2-point favorite.


• Well, the first day is in the books and it's been great as usual. Now, I will update the standings and go over how everyone did. See my next post in a little while (9:12 p.m. signing off for now)

Kobe BOWs Becoming An Epidemic?

So the news comes today from the Philadelphia Daily News that the NBA is investigating Kobe Bryant's elbow to the neck of 76ers player Kyle Korver. If you don't know who Korver is, do a google image search of him to see how this all ties in. Anyway, here's what the LA Times is reporting in tomorrow's editions:

"Bryant was officially given a Flagrant Foul I by the league Monday, but was neither fined nor suspended for elbowing Kyle Korver in the jaw while dribbling down court in last Friday’s loss to Philadelphia. Bryant has been suspended twice this season for striking opponents in the face after shooting."

So what's going on with Kobe? My brother thinks I'm being too conspiratorial (is that a word?) in my reportage of these alleged Kobe BOW incidents, and that's amazing if any of you know my brother. But still, I ask you, would Kobe have thrown an elbow if Andre Iguodala was guarding him? I'm just posing the question, not making judgments.

So How'd We Do So Far?

Now that we are mere hours away from Selection Sunday, I thought I'd take a preliminary view on how close some of my picks were for the NCAA tournament. I realize there are conference titles still to be decided, and that, of course, we won't know the nature of all the at-large teams until tomorrow, but let's see how this has gone so far, starting with all the conferences we predicted to have one bid:

• America East Conference: Prediction: Vermont. Actual: Albany. Comment: I did say Albany was the only other team that could snag this bid and that it would be tough for Vermont to beat a team three times in one season. So that should count for something. Final score: Albany 60, Vermont 59. (0 for 1)


• Atlantic Sun Conference: Prediction: East Tennessee State. Actual: Belmont. Comment: And I quote from my previous entry: "Belmont seems to be the only with a realistic chance at snagging the bid from ETSU." (0 for 2)


• Big Sky Conference: Prediction: Weber State. Actual: Weber State. Comment: Score one for one of the true TEAMS in the tournament. (1 for 3)


• Big South Conference: Prediction: Winthrop. Actual: Winthrop. Comment: The Eagles actually moved into the top 25 this week. (2 for 4)


• Big West Conference: Prediction: Long Beach State. Actual: Long Beach State. Comment: As much as I would've like to see my alma mater in this spot, I'm glad that a Southland team is back in the tournament instead of Pacific. (3 for 5)


• Colonial Athletic Assn.: Prediction: Old Dominion. Actual: Virginia Commonwealth. Comment: I called VCU the class of the conference but didn't pick them to win the bid. There are rumblings that Old Dominion and even Drexel could get at-large bids. (3 for 6)


• Conference USA: Prediction: Memphis. Actual: Memphis. Comment: The Tigers rolled through the conference tournament and have a nation-leading 22-game winning streak. (4 for 7)


• Horizon League: Prediction: Butler. Actual: Wright State. Comment: Play that broken record: "We wouldn't be surprised if Wright State stepped up and snagged it." Butler will get in as an at-large team. (4 for 8)


• Ivy League: Prediction: Pennsylvania. Actual: Pennsylvania. Comment: OK, so I knew Penn had clinched at the time of writing my prediction. I wouldda picked them anyway. Honest. Full disclosure here. (5 for 9)


• Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference: Prediction: Marist. Actual: Niagara. Comment: Anyone tired of this yet: "Niagara would be the darkhorse team to win the conference tourney." It's like I'm sorta brilliant. (5 for 10)


• Mid-American Conference: Prediction: Akron. Actual: Miami (Ohio). Comment: Did you see the controversial ending to the title game involving Akron and Miami? Miami banks in three-pointer at the buzzer. Officials huddle for 10 minutes and decide to put more time on the clock. Akron throws away inbounds pass. Miami wins. Glad I didn't have money on this. (5 for 11)


• Mid-Eastern Atlantic Conference: Prediction: Delaware State. Actual: Florida A&M. Comment: See above for similarities. Florida A&M scores on a buzzer-beating alley-oop to beat Delaware State. Boy, I'm soooooooo close. (5 for 12)


• Mid-Continent Conference: Prediction: Oral Roberts. Actual: Oral Roberts. Comment: Praise the Lord that something finally goes my way. Had to be a religious school that gets me back on track, huh? (6 for 13)


• Northeast Conference: Prediction: Central Connecticut State. Actual: Central Connecticut State. Comment: Now we're rolling. CCS handled its business and puts me back at .500. (7 for 14)


• Ohio Valley Conference: Prediction: Austin Peay. Actual: Eastern Kentucky. Comment: No excuses here since all teams in this conference had reached double-digits in the loss column and who really knew who would step up. (7 for 15)


• Patriot League: Prediction: Holy Cross. Actual: Holy Cross. Comment: The class of the league was Buckell and HC with each winning on their home court during the season. HC won the tourney title on its home court over Bucknell. (8 for 16)


• Southern Conference: Prediction: Davidson. Actual: Davidson. Comment: Since Dec. 1, the Wildcats have lost only once. (9 for 17)


• Sun Belt Conference: Prediction: South Alabama. Actual: North Texas. Comment: We did say this conference was a crapshoot and then the Jaguars went out and pulled a UCLA, losing its quarterfinal game as a No. 1 seed to a No. 8. (9 for 18)


• Southwestern Athletic Conference: Prediction: Mississippi Valley State. Actual: Jackson State. Comment: At least MVS made it to the finals of the conference tourney, but they lost by 10. (9 for 19)


• Western Athletic Conference: Prediction: Nevada. Actual: New Mexico State. Comment: Since the conference tourney was played at Las Cruces, N.M., I said New Mexico State would be in line to possibly win if Nevada was eliminated. Sure enough. (9 for 20)

So 9 for 20's not bad, but considering that on the 11 I missed I mentioned the actual winning team in five cases, I think my actual record should be like 14 for 20. I'll recap the multiple-bid conferences tomorrow along with the remaining one-bid conference that plays tomorrow as well.

Kobe BOW Video on Jaric

OK, so seconds after I comment that I can't find video of Kobe's arm flailing on Marko Jaric the other night. Here it is:

So what are your opinions about this? Is the guy a dirty player? Is it a BOW situation? Is it just the way Kobe plays and the NBA needs to stop singling him out?

No One Deserves This

We all love hockey violence right? Well, did you see what notorious Chris Simon of the New York Islanders did to Ryan Hollweg of the New York Rangers? It's probably better if you see it on video so here it is:

You could get thrown in jail for a long time if you did that on the street. Luckily, Hollweg wasn't too badly hurt but it could have been disastrous hitting a guy near the face and throat like that with the sharp blade of his stick. Anyone ever heard of Clint Malarchuk? Although that one was an accident. Don't click here if you can't handle the sight of blood (A LOT of blood). In the Simon incident, it was really sick on the one camera angle where you can see Hollweg's neck actually snap back because of the force. Simon was suspended indefinitely today by the NHL and there will be a hearing Saturday to determine his punishment.

Another Kobe BOW? Can It Be?

I didn't see this on tonight's Lakers game at Minnesota, but this note from the Los Angeles Times makes we wonder if our good friend Kobe Bryant is getting into the business of "unnatural motions" with his arm again. Also, would Kobe have done this if Troy Hudson or Kevin Garnett had been guarding him? Just some MORE food for thought. Anyway, here is what the Times wrote:

"A play involving Kobe Bryant late in the fourth quarter Tuesday was reminiscent of the play that earned him a one-game suspension in late January.
After getting his shot blocked by Timberwolves guard Marko Jaric, Bryant flailed his arms and caught Jaric in the face with 58.7 seconds left in regulation. Bryant was called for a foul on the play.
Bryant struck San Antonio guard Manu Ginobili in the face in similar fashion with two-tenths of a second left in the fourth quarter of the Lakers’ 96-94 overtime loss Jan. 28 against the Spurs.
Bryant was not called for a foul on that play, but was suspended for the Lakers’ next game."

Not sure what to say about this one other than I didn't want it to pass without at least mentioning it for discussion. Did any of you see it and was it like the Ginobili play? Here's the previous link to Ginobili.

Double Whammy: Duke BOW!

OK, I know I'm waaaaaaaaaay late to the dance on this one, but I'd be remiss not to document it. If you've read this blog for any period of time (yeah, as if it's been around for eons or something, right) you know how much I "love" Duke basketball. Anyway, did you see the shot that North Carolina center Tyler Hansbrough took from Duke's Gerald Henderson on Sunday? Man, that was vicious. But the most amazing part of the video is not the BOW part of it (although I find it compelling), but how Billy A-Hole Packer actually DEFENDS the Duke player by saying he was going for the ball. I can't believe the guy can sit there and claim that. It's almost as if he rushed to judgment and then, despite there being video evidence to the contrary, had too much pride and EGO to admit he was wrong. Or maybe it's because in his warped mind one of his beloved Blue Devils would never sink to such depths. Yeah right. To me, it's clear that Henderson sees the ball get knocked out of Hansbrough's hands and then still hammers him for hammering's sake. And gee, I wonder if it had been Brandan Wright or Reyshawn Terry or Deon Thompson going up for that shot whether Henderson would have followed through the way he did. Watch the video and decide for yourself:

And if you'd like, here's some of our nation's heavy-hitter sportswriters telling it like it is:

March Madness Preview (All-Inclusive)

Well, this month has really kicked my butt, what with the car accident and other follies and foibles, and as the expression says, the best laid plans... well, that's a whole 'nother story. Anyway, I didn't want Selection Sunday to arrive without a full prediction for the madness that is to ensue soon, so this post will cover all the other conferences I have not previewed and we'll list it in order of how many predicted bids each conference expects to get, going from least to most. Here we go:

But first, to recap, here's what we predicted so far:

• Atlantic Sun Conference (1): East Tennessee State.


• America East Conference (1): Vermont.


• Big South Conference (1): Winthrop.


• Big Sky Conference (1): Weber State.


• Big West Conference (1): Long Beach State.


• Colonial Athletic Assn. (1): Old Dominion.

Now we'll continue with what we think are the other one-bid conferences.

• CONFERENCE USA (1): This is sort of a strange league, in that it seems to be a major conference with a lot of big schools, yet only one will be in the tournament. And that one, is a good one -- Memphis. The Tigers were a step away from the Final Four a season ago but ran into a relentless UCLA team. Although these Tigers don't seem to be as talented as last season's, they have been dominant going 15-0 to date. The next best team is Central Florida, which as lost five conference games. Memphis is led by sophomores Chris Douglas-Roberts (15.3 ppg) and Robert Dozier (10.2 ppg), and senior Jeremy Hunt (14.1 ppg). The Tigers have eight players who average at least 5.2 points. They've won 18 in a row since a Dec. 20 loss at Arizona.


• HORIZON LEAGUE (1): Consider that Butler has victories over Notre Dame, Indiana, Tennessee and Gonzaga ... and that was before December. Yes, the Bulldogs are one of the surprises of the season, but on the other hand, they are 3-3 in their last six heading into the Horizon League tournament, which began. Still, led by A.J. Graves (17.3 ppg), we still think Butler will refocus and earn the lone bid -- although we wouldn't be surprised if Wright State stepped up and snagged it. In that scenario, Butler's season resume is still strong enough to warrant a bid, in which case some major conference average bubble team will be cursing its name.


• IVY LEAGUE (1): OK, I'll be honest. I can't take credit for this, but Pennsylvania will be the league's rep in the tournament. Penn routed Yale, 86-58, Friday night to become the first team to clinch its spot officially (The Ivy League doesn't have a conference tournament and bases its champion on the regular season). The Ivy isn't as strong as in years' past so I don't expect Penn to get past the first round although Mark Zoller (18.2 ppg) and Ibrahim Jaaber (16.0 ppg) are good players.


• METRO ATLANTIC ATHLETIC CONFERENCE (1): Marist, the school that produced the "Dunking Dutchman," 7-foot-4 Ric Smits, looks to be the pick here. The Red Foxes have won eight in a row heading into the conference tournament and even boast victories over Minnesota and a team we predicted to make the field (Old Dominion). The other thing I like about Marist is their senior leadership. Guards Jared Jordan (17.7 ppg) and Will Whittington (17.3) play nearly 38 minutes a game a piece and a strong backcourt is usually what gets you to the tournament. Niagara would be the darkhorse team to win the conference tourney, in which case Marist would be out of luck for an at-large bid.


• MID-AMERICAN CONFERENCE (1): Akron seems to be the pick here despite having one more conference loss than Toledo as well as a three-point road loss to that other Ohio team. The Zips are on top of the East Division standings, the stronger of the two conference divisions. Akron, led by forward Romeo Travis (15.3 ppg) and guards Dru Joyce (10.1 ppg) and Nick Dials (10.1 ppg), has a two-point loss to Nevada on its resume as well as nonconference road victories over Niagara and Oral Roberts, and a 40-point rout of Loyola Marymount.


• MID-EASTERN ATLANTIC CONFERENCE (1): Delaware State, led by former Fairfax High standout Jahsha Bluntt (15.8 ppg), played a brutal nonconference schedule, accounting for most of its 11 losses. Consider this death march: at Pittsburgh, at North Carolina State, at Missouri State, at Wisconsin, at Purdue, at Marquette, at Michigan at Baylor. In all, the Hornets played 12 of their first 15 games away from home and won only four of them of the roadies. Still, they are on a seven-game winning streak heading into the conference tournament and are clearly the class of a league where every team has double-digit losses.


• MID-CONTINENT CONFERENCE (1): I've never been one to support televangelism in this country, but I do have to put my faith in Oral Roberts for once -- the school not the preacher. The Golden Eagles are usually pretty good and this season is no exception where they are the class of the conference and are led by forward Caleb Green (20.2 ppg) and guard Ken Tutt (16.2 ppg). Oral Bob is another of those lower-tier teams that helped itself by playing a tough nonconference scheduled, so don't be fooled by their 10 losses. Some of those defeats are to the likes Kansas, Georgetown, Akron, Arkansas and Brigham Young. OR lost by one to Oakland in its last game but that was on the road. They're still our pick.


• NORTHEAST CONFERENCE (1): Any team that loses to Lehigh (sorry Melissa!) you have to be a bit wary of, but despite this indiscretion, Central Connecticut State still seems to be the choice in this fairly weak conference. The Blue Devils, led by guards Tristan Blackwood (17.3 ppg) and Javier Mojica (16.6 ppg), have gone through the conference schedule largely unscathed, avenging a loss to Robert Morris.


• OHIO VALLEY CONFERENCE (1): Here's yet another conference where every team is in double digits in the loss column, but there is one that stands out above the rest -- Austin Peay. The Governors lost to a pedestrian Illinois team by 45 points early in the season, but they still are the team to beat in this conference. Austin Peay is led by sophomore forward Drake Reed (16.2 ppg).


• PATRIOT LEAGUE (1): Bucknell has been the team of choice the last few years coming out of this group of teams (remember the upset of Kansas?), but Holy Cross might be the one this time around. The teams are clearly the class of the league and they split their two meetings this season, each winning on its home court. Since the Patriot League tournament is being held at Holy Cross, I have to give the edge to the Crusaders, who are led by guards Keith Simmons (17.4 ppg) and Torey Thomas (13.1 ppg).


• SOUTHERN CONFERENCE (1): Davidson has won 24 of its last 25 games and the one team it lost to -- Appalachian State -- already has lost in the conference tournament. The door is open for a tourney bid and the Wildcats, led by guard Stephen Curry (20.7 ppg), figure to mosey on through and slam it shut. Three of Davidson's losses were in November so to say they have been playing well lately would be an understatement.


• SOUTHLAND CONFERENCE (1): Sam Houston State and Texas A&M Corpus Christi are evenly matched teams and play each other Sunday in the regular-season finale to determine the conference champion. I give the advantage to Sam Houston State that day and in the conference tournament next week. The Bearkats came to Pauley Pavilion earlier this season and gave UCLA a game for a time, getting to within 44-40 in the second half. They also run the Princeton offense so discipline and patience are keys for this team, which is led by forward Ryan Bright (14.6 ppg) but features a balanced attack.


• SUN BELT CONFERENCE (1): The conference is a crapshoot but someone has to go to the tournament. Our pick is South Alabama, which has five conference losses but still has the fewest of any team in the league. The Jaguars are tournament regulars and used to be coached by former UCLA assistant Mark Gottfried. Despite the fact that they closed the regular season with three losses (after a 13-game winning streak), we're confident the Jags will turn it on when it matters in the conference tourney.


• SOUTHWESTERN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE (1): The winner of this conference figures to be one of the four No. 16 seeds and might even end up in the play-in game. We're picking Mississippi Valley State, which started the season 3-9, including losses to USC, Kentucky, Louisiana State and Creighton. Three of MVSU's five conference losses were by tw0 points or fewer, and it's other two were on the road by eight and six points. The Delta Devils are led by guard Standford Speech (12.3 ppg), the only player averaging double figures.


• WESTERN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE (1): Although No. 10 Nevada, with NBA-bound Nick Fazekas (20.9 ppg) as its anchor, is the featured team here, there doesn't figure to be anyone who will stop the Wolf Pack in its pursuit of the bid. But this is one of those wacky conferences that will hurt someone on the bubble if Nevada doesn't win the conference tournament since the Wolf Pack will get an at-large bid no matter what. Nevada isn't a one-man show and also gets serious contributions from Marcellus Kemp (17.7 ppg) and Ramon Sessions (13.2 ppg). New Mexico State, the second-place team, definitely has a shot to snag the automatic bid since the conference tournament will be held at Las Cruces, N.M.

TOTAL TEAMS IN SO FAR: 21.

OK, now we're getting down to the nitty gritty. Here are the conferences we expect to have multiple teams enter the fray with our picks in bold:

• ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE (7): As always, the ACC is as tough a conference as their is in the country. But what the conference has in depth, it lacks in a true powerhouse team that stand out above the rest. It looked as if it could be North Carolina for a time, but the Tar Heels have seemed vunerable lately. It's so topsy-turvy that Virginia has the best conference record at 11-5, despite a loss Saturday to last-place Wake Forest. Duke isn't the Duke of always but still tournament-bound. Virginia Tech, coached by former Long Beach State coach Seth Greenberg could be the most intriguing team. The Hokies have won at Duke, at North Carolina, defeated Boston College and a 27-point win over Virginia. On the other hand, VaTech has lost to Western Michigan, Southern Illinois, George Washington and Marshall. So what gives? The Hokies could be a Final Four team or a first-round loser. Maryland is another team that has come on strong of late, led by Darryl Strawberry's son, D.J., and could be considered the darkhorse pick to win the conference tournament. The aforementioned Boston College also figures to earn a bid with Georgia Tech the last of the ACC teams to get in.


• ATLANTIC 10 CONFERENCE (2): The Musketeers of Xavier are our pick to win the conference's automatic bid based on their 13-3 conference record to date and an eight-game winning streak to boot. Xavier has nonconference wins over Villanova, Illinois and Kansas State to its credit and a balanced attack has been led by forward Justin Doellman (13.5 ppg) and guard Stanley Burrell (12.9 ppg). The other team we predict to come out of this conference is Massachusetts has a 12-3 conference record and won at Louisville earlier this season. UMass is led by center Rashaun Freeman (15.8 ppg) but has four players averaging double figures.


• BIG EAST CONFERENCE (8): Eight bids might seem like a lot, but remember that this conference has 16 teams. There are five Big East teams ranked in the top 25 this week and several others that could make their case. At the top of the list is Georgetown, which despite a recent road loss to Syracuse, has been one of the nation's hottest teams. They are Princeton with athleticism led by forward Jeff Green (13.5 ppg) and a load of a center in 7-2, 280-pound Roy Hibbert (12.5 ppg). Another bull of a team is Pittsburgh, which is coached by Ben Howland disciple Jamie Dixon. The Panthers can play with anyone. After that, there is a drop-off but not a significant one as the remaining six teams are all capable of beating one another as well as either of the top two. The next groups begins with Louisville, which has been playing well lately and has a victory over Georgetown to its credit. Notre Dame has had a quietly successful season and has rebounded after a hiccup with losses South Florida and DePaul. Syracuse seemed to be a bubble team but a victory over Georgetown last week figures to vault the Orange into the tourney although it lost to Villanova on Saturday. Marquette is another team similar to Virginia Tech in that the Golden Eagles boast wins over Pittsburgh, Louisville and Duke but also has stumbled against the likes of Providence, DePaul and (are you ready for this?) North Dakota State. Still, their resume is solid enough. Rounding out the Big East eight are Villanova and West Virginia, the latter of which gets in because of their victory over UCLA in February


• BIG TEN CONFERENCE (5): The conference has two teams in the top five, and actually they were Nos. 1 and 2 for a time recently. Ohio State, led by freshman center Greg Oden who looks like he's 40, is really good but doesn't have that knock-your-socks-off quality that past Big Ten teams have had. Same goes for Wisconsin, which has a strong senior leader in Alando Tucker, a national player of the year candidate. But I must say that both of teams have answered the call in most cases, even if it looks ugly at times. At this moment, the final three coming out of this conference figure to be Illinois, Michigan State and Indiana. But this is a league where the conference tournament could figure into helping a team get over the hump and play their way in. As of this writing, Michigan was leading Ohio State at halftime so if the Wolverines win and then do well in the conference tourney, they could easily slip in a the expense of one of the last three.


• BIG 12 CONFERENCE (4): Although we say four teams, it wouldn't surprise me if a fifth snuck in when all is said and done. The class though is Kansas, which is young but as talented as any team in the country. The Jayhawks have a Rush brother who is legit in Brandon (13.7 ppg), but they also have seven other players who average at least 5.7 points. Texas A&M is a scary team as well, playing one of the most smothering styles around. This is not a team you'd want to face and Acie Law IV is one of the the nation's best guards with his smooth left-handed jumper. Rounding out the three teams from the conference ranked in the top 25 is Texas, led by super freshman Kevin Durant (24.9 ppg, 11.5 rpg), who is fast-becoming the favorite for national player of the team. Freshman usually don't lead their teams very far in the tourney, but Carmelo Anthony led Syracuse to a title not too long ago. The fourth team to make it from this conference is a toss-up between three teams, but our pick is Texas Tech, led by the insufferable Bob Knight. As much as Knight's act has gotten old, it's still interesting to have one of his teams in the tournament.


• MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE (3): The myth of the mid-majors is busted in this conference where three teams will make it, led by Southern Illinois, which has crept its way to No. 11 in the national rankings. The Salukis have won 13 in a row and are led by guard Jamaal Tatum (14.7 ppg), who leads four players averaging double figures. Creighton will be the No. 2 team from this conference to make it. The Bluejays are led by guard Nate Funk (17.0 ppg). Another team that deserves to be there is Missouri State, which handed Wisconsin one of its losses earlier this season and is led by guard Blake Ahearn (15.3 ppg).


• MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE (3): Brigham Young vaulted its way to the top of the conference with two victories over Air Forice, which seemed as if it would run away with the conference title early. Both will be in the tournament and both will be tough matchups for any team. BYU opened the season with a loss at UCLA, but has gone 17-3 since Dec. 16. Leading the way is forward Keena Young (17.1 ppg and no relation to the schools' namesake we don't think). Air Force started the season 17-1 with its lone loss to Duke and wins over Stanford, Texas Tech and Wake Forest. The Falcons have gone 6-6 since, including three consecutive losses. Still, they are tournament-tested and have a balanced lineup led by forward Dan Nwaelele (14.5 ppg). The final team coming out of this league will be UNLV, which has impressed albeit not the way the Runnin' Rebel teams of Jerry Tarkanian did (then again, who could?). The Rebels have won 10 of 12 down the stretch and are led by the guard trio of Wendell White (15.0 ppg), Wink Adams (14.4 ppg) and Kevin Kruger (13.0 ppg), son of coach Lon Kruger.


• PACIFIC 10 CONFERENCE (6): Ahhhh, my favorite conference. Finally, the Pac-10 seems to have received national respect, but it's still annoying to listen to these East Coast hacks. But back to the reason why we're here. UCLA, despite its loss to Washington on Saturday in a virtually meaningless game, will still be a No. 1-seeded team when the pairings are announced. The Bruins have no seniors but play about the toughest defense of any team in the country. Sometimes I wonder how the Bruins hang because they seem physically overmatched at times. But I don't think anyone plays with as much poise as the Bruins. In every one of their losses, except for Stanford, the Bruins rallied to make it close at the end and never seemed to lose control of their sensibilities. Washington State played consistently throughout the season and are a very deserving team. USC also will be in the field, although the Trojans haven't played at the same consistent level all season but still figure to be a load for any opponent. Oregon, which is led by senior guard Aaron Brooks, was one of the hottest early in the season, starting 18-1, beating then-No. 1 UCLA and showing it was ready to make a serious run. But the Ducks haven't closed strong, losing six of their last 10 heading into tonight's game against Oregon State. Stanford also deserves to be there based on its in conference wins over UCLA, Oregon, Washington State and USC and out-of-conference wins against Texas Tech and at Virginia. Finally, Arizona, which has one of the nation's strongest schedules, has struggled and underachieved some say, but the Wildcats still deserve a bid having played in the nation's toughest conference.


• SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE (4): At one point, it seemed as if as many as seven teams could make it. But a lot has changed down the stretch, even with the conference's top team, defending national champion Florida. The Gators have lost three of their last four and don't seem to have the same desire as a season ago. Sometimes that hunger leaves you when you win a title. Vanderbilt has been somewhat of a surprise but handed Florida one of its recent losses. Tennessee is another mild surprise, having completed an undefeated home schedule as well as pinning a loss on Florida. Closing it out is Kentucky, a tournament fixture that has had an up-and-down season but played a tremendous schedule. Alabama is a bubble team but we don't think the inconsistent Crimson Tide deserves to be there.


• WEST COAST CONFERENCE (2): Gonzaga has gone from Cinderella to national power over the last five to seven seasons, but this season's edition of the 'Zags doesn't seem to have that savvy and intagible quality that past squads have shown. Don't get me wrong, Gonzaga's still very good but the loss of center Josh "Roll Another Blunt" Heytvelt. Also, Gonzaga has played an extremely ambitious schedule, which usually is a good thing, but the thinking here is that the Bulldogs may have little left in the tank. So for that reason, we're going to go with Santa Clara as the pick the snag the automatic bid but Gonzaga's schedule strength will still be strong enough to land it an at-large bid.

Well that's all. Hope you enjoyed these projections as much as I enjoyed putting them together. It will be interesting to see how close they are to the real thing. But that's what's great about March Madness -- you can never count on anything being certain until it happens. Enjoy the tournament.