This is the place to discuss all Saturday's men's action. Keep in mind the women's game starts at 8 PM EST/5 PM PST!
First, the reason most people are watching this tourney: The brackets, listed with caveats.
1. Sup (who I suspect is Rishi, based on this), 28 of 32 (caveat: had Wake Forest going to the Final 4)
T-2. Ducky23 & UCONNBEARFAN!!!, 27 of 32 (caveat: Ducky23 had FSU going to the Final 4, UCONNBEARFAN had FSU in the Elite 8 and West Virginia in the Final 4.)
Five way tie for 4th: Pyunny's Pirates & HolmoePhobe (Wake Forest in the Sweet 16), dballisloose (Wake Forest and West Virginia in the Sweet 16), picks (Wake Forest and FSU in the Sweet 16) and The Hot Tamale (Wake Forest in the Final 4).
18 way tie for 9th: I'm just mentioning this because it includes me. Other notable CGB personalities: CALumbus Bear, BearBallCarrier, Montezuma's Revenge, Chowder, Ohio Bear, OskiWeeWee, sharkbit12, sactownxsi, Mister Pie, and Fire Starkey. Another four of them had Wake Forest in the Final Four.
Wow. Lot of Demon Deacon love. You'd have thought Timmy D and CP3 were stil playing there. Or maybe their mascot doesn't haunt you in the night.
via cache.gawker.com
Don't expect the top 3 to stay up there by the end of next week. Almost everyone is still very much alive, and I expect Remorseful Bruin Babe to make a comeback at any time and own us all. This weekend is when the fireworks should start shooting off and brackets begin dying.
Onto the games (all times PST) and my picks.
#6 UCLA-#3 Villanova, 10:05 AM, East Regional in Philly
#10 Maryland-#2 Memphis, 12:20 PM, West Regional in Kansas City, winner faces Marquette-Missouri winner
#9 Texas A&M-#1 UConn, 12:35 PM, West Regional in Philly
#5 Purdue-#4 Washington, 2:40 PM, West Regional in Portland, winner faces A&M-UConn winner
#8 LSU-#1 North Carolina, 2:45 PM, South Regional in Greensboro
#10 Michigan-#2 Oklahoma, 2:50 PM, South Regional in Kansas City, winner faces Syracuse-ASU winner
#12 W. Kentucky-#4 Gonzaga, 5:10 PM, South Regional in Greensboro, winner faces LSU-UNC winner
#7 Texas-#2 Duke, 5:15 PM, East Regional in Greensboro, winner faces UCLA-Villanova winner
As for the picks: 1-1 yesterday, 3-5 against the spread. My Pac-10 bet of over 6.5 wins can be clinched tomorrow if UCLA and UW win; if both of them go down it's dead in the water, because ASU and USC are going to have uphill climbs and Cleveland State looks like the best 13th seed EVER.
UCLA +2 vs Villanova. This line is a joke. Villanova didn't play their greatest game against American but still took over down the stretch. UCLA just looked crappy,blowing layup after layup. It bears mentioning this is still a home game for the Wildcats. Of course I have the Bruins +2.
Maryland +9 vs Memphis. Meh. Memphis struggled, but with around seven minutes left they turned the gears up and pulled through. Not really interested in this line.
A&M +10 vs UConn. A little low, but people are undervaluing UConn a little compared to the sexier Pitt/Louisville picks. Not ready to betting against a one seed though. Yet.
Purude +1 vs UW. No.
Michigan +6.5 vs Oklahoma. This line sends up red flags, red flares, Red Bull, Red Scare. Michigan +6.5.
LSU +11 vs UNC. Okay, now I'm ready to go against a one seed. LSU +11.
W. Kentucky +11 vs Gonzaga. Whoa, none of the other 1/2 seeds could draw a line bigger than this. Gonzaga -11.
Texas +7.5 vs Duke. Oh look, one team with a coach I despise versus another team coached by Rick Barnes. I hope they go 24 overtimes and the winner gets blasted into oblivion next week.