There’s no time to waste, let’s get to the top five stories you should have been paying attention to this week.

Shhhhhh, the commercials are on!  Well, it’s Super Bowl weekend and the hype has been surprisingly tempered leading up to this great match-up.  I don’t know if it’s because I’m blessed with the NFL Network now and am thereby spared of Berman, % Co., but it has been pure bliss.  As for the game, it certainly has the chance to continue the recent trend of spectacular Super Bowls.  I heard Mike Greenberg say on the radio that Manning lives to win this game and you don’t often see quarterbacks like him lose in this game.  I really don’t know what he’s talking about, but it sounded cool enough for me to pick the Saints.  I look forward to seeing Peyton vs. the blitz again this week and seeing how many times Gregg Williams can draw something up to put Manning on his back.  I also think Brees, who has not been his defense-sculpting self lately, will bounce back and take MVP honors. Book it! No, don’t….but enjoy the game. 

March Sadness?  The rumors were flying this week that the NCAA was seriously considering–maybe even decided already–to expand the NCAA basketball tournament to 96 teams.  As Drew Magary of KSK/Deadspin said, “You know what this tourney needs? Every NIT team!”  Could you imagine this? After the play-in game, there are a total of zero games I am disinterested in watching, but if it went to 96 I just couldn’t get real riled up about Air Force and Oregon State playing for the right to go against Georgetown.  Madness!  Does anyone outside of the mediocre Big East teams like this?  I mean, even if you’re a mid-major you’d prefer some actual respect in the current system than this.  Please fix football’s postseason before you try your level best to ruin basketball’s. 

Who scored 52 points?!!  I looked at the TV last weekend and saw the following on ESPN’s bottom line: “POR Miller: 52 pts.”  Then I did one of those double takes where you go back to what you’re doing only to realize seconds later that something is horribly wrong.  “Does someone named Miller other than Andre Miller play for the Blazers?”  Was it Mike Miller? Reggie? Oliver?!! All seemed like better options despite knowing the truth.  Andre had scored 52 in his previous five games combined and even that included a 28 point outting that was 15 points over his season average.  Honestly, it’s one of the most impressive games I’ve heard of in a while.  Only one three, only seven free throws.  The guy made 21 two point shots.  Tip of the cap to you, sir. 

Hockey talk.  Trades are going down in the NHL prior to the Olympic break.  Some big names that most of you have never heard of changed teams this past week.  Most of the dealing involved the Eastern Conference though, so no worries for the Blackhawks.  The only meaningful impact on the Western Conference was that Calgary lost two of its best players in Olli Jokinen and Dion Phaneuf.  Sweet names.  Jokinen headed to the Rangers and Phaneuf to the Maple Leafs.  The Leafs also picked up goaltender Jean-Sebastian Giguere from Anaheim; not a bad week.  Finally, the big one: Ilya Kovalchuk was sent to New Jersey in exchange for a package of young players–including Patrice Cormier–and a first round pick next year.  Kovalchuk is the gem of the trading market and one of the best players in the league and if the Devils weren’t already among the favorites (currently 2nd in the Eastern Conference) they certainly are now.  If you learned or cared about nothing else in this paragraph, know that hockey players generally have awesome names.

OCNN Covers the Super Bowl.  Chad OchoCinco has been all over the place since his Bengals exited the playoffs.  Most recently he has launched his news team, OCNN, which has been covering the events in Miami from the Pro Bowl to Super Bowl Media Day.  This came after Ocho took a bus full of fans on a trip down to Miami that made stops along the way to do some charity work. Here’s some work from Chad and his “news team” below:

It only took us 11 years, but the Big Ten has finally broken through in the Big Ten-ACC Challenge.  Finally a reprieve from articles and posts about how the Big Ten is so overrated after 6-to-5 losses in the Challenge, despite consistently impressive post-season performances.  Let the ubridled hype commence! 

Alright maybe not, but it still feels good.  I said on Tuesday that the Big Ten would be in good shape if it could enter the final day tied at three games apiece.  I didn’t think that would include a win from Northwestern Tuesday and certainly didn’t think Wisconsin would knock off Duke last night.  It was classic Wisconsin basketball last night with big white guys banking in eight-footers and superb defense winning the night. 

Wisconsin beating Duke was awesome, but Illinois had the game of the night.  The Illini used a 28-4 run in the second half to score their biggest comeback in school history.  Illinois managed to gel as a team in the second half, something that was visibly missing early in the year.  Behind Tisdale, Davis, McCamey, and freshman Brandon Paul, the Illini erased a 23-point deficit in the second half and when Tisdale had the go-ahead bucket with 41 seconds to go, they just had to hold off Clemson for the huge win.  Oddly, Illinois avenged a win from last year’s Challenge where Clemson was the team escaping with an identical 76-74 score. 

About a month remains until the Big Ten season starts and the Illini will have a couple more chances to build a resume before the battle begins in conference play.  That battle is sure to be fierce, but until then we can all bask in the glory of a sweet victory.

For ten straight years the ACC has beaten the Big Ten in an event that is only called a “challenge” for the sake of promotion.  Could this be the year though? 

The Big Ten certainly has the firepower to play with the ACC this sesaon.  Last year the all-conference first team featured all sophomores and they’re all back for their junior campaigns.  The ACC is also without an uber-elite team like North Carolina was last year.  Duke is very good obviously, but UNC beat the Big Ten’s best team by 30 or so last year.

As main events go, the ACC-BT Challenge has a great one in a rematch of that drubbing from last year, which is also a rematch of a second drubbing between the two teams in the National Championship.  North Carolina and Michigan State will play tonight at 8PM CT on ESPN and the Spartans may actually be favored this time around.  Well maybe not since it’s at UNC, but they have a chance and I’m calling a W.

More good news for the Big Ten: Penn State started the event off with a win last night at Virginia.  With ten games remaining, let’s see if there is a chance at a split. 

Tonight doesn’t look very promising, as some of the Big Ten’s worst teams are in action.  MSU has a good chance to win and I like Purdue’s chances at home against Wake Forest.  Northwestern takes on NC State, which I don’t see going well with Coble out, then you have two truly awful teams in Indiana and Iowa taking on Maryland and Va Tech.  The Big Ten should be overjoyed if it can go into the final day with a 3-3 tie. 

Wednesday shall be the day of redemption!  Illinois travels to Clemson in a rematch of a great game from last year.  The Illini are coming off losses to Utah and Bradley, but should have a chance to take down the Tigers.  Minnesota goes to Miami in a game the Gophers should bring home for the Big Ten. 

Even if one MSU, Purdue, or Minnesota drops a game I have down as a win, the Big Ten can take two of the final three games and engage in much rejoicing over its first Challenge win.  Michigan hosts Boston College and while the Wolverines are coming of two losses of their own, you have to like Michigan in this match-up.  UofM has the third best record among Big Ten teams in the Challenge and the home court advantage will help them get the win.  Duke is playing very well and will almost certainly beat Wisconsin. 

So this thing could all come down to Florida State at Ohio State for the entirety of the marbles.  Florida State is coming off an impressive showing at the Old Spice Classic this past weekend, but the Buckeyes are the favorites here. 

There you have it.  6-5 Big Ten.  Tune back in tomorrow when I’ll predict the Bears to win the Super Bowl.

For three weeks every year the NCAA Tournament dominates the sports world.  This year the final game had to share the spotlight with baseball’s opening day, but for the most part it was all we cared about.  Taking a look back at some of the games, here are some tournament thoughts.

• The Big Ten did, well, okay.  Ohio State and Illinois were upset in the first round and Minnesota lost to Texas, but Michigan and Wisconsin pulled first round upsets of ACC teams, Purdue made the Sweet 16 and Michigan State rolled all the way to the final game, beating two 1-seeds from the Big East. 
• In retrospect, the exclusion of teams like St. Mary’s and Creighton does not sit well with me.  Sure, Arizona and Maryland both won games, but those mid-majors, along with San Diego State, deserved a shot.  That combined with the lack of upsets really made this tournament a step below some others in recent memory. 
• Who were the Cinderellas this year?  As much as it sucks for Illinois, Western Kentucky took on the role again, beating the Illini in the first round, then taking Gonzaga to the brink behind the shooting of Mendez-Valdez.  Cleveland State, Siena, and Dayton all won first round games, but I’d say Siena was the closest to Cinderella status after their close game with Louisville in the second round. 
• Pitt was pretty bad again this year.  Every year I think it will be the one where they turn it around and play well in the tournament, but it never happens.  Oh, and Memphis: HA!  Maybe if they played anyone with a pulse after January they would be a little better prepared in the tournament. 
• North Carolina was absolutely amazing in the tournament.  Their closest game was a 12-point win against Oklahoma that wasn’t really that close.  Their biggest scare came against LSU in the second round when they were down by three with 12 minutes to go and tied with just over 8 minutes left, then Ty Lawson decided enough was enough scoring 21 of his 23 points in that second half.  Every one of their starters was a key factor or the go-to-guy at some point in the tourney.  I heard Dean Smith say that the single elimination tournament isn’t the best way to decide a champion, but in this case the best team definitely won it. 

One good thing about the end of the college basketball season is that it isn’t one of those sports that leaves you with nothing interesting to watch when it’s over.  We have the playoffs coming up for the NHL and NBA, with MLB season just getting started, so even Pirates fans have something to cheer for at least for a couple of weeks.

• Who is Dempster giving an hj to?  Who cares, this GIF is hilarious. [Luol's Dong]
• The Bulls split their 2 games this week, and it was not pretty. [Pippen Ain't Easy]
• That “billionaire” who wanted a piece of D-Wade was really just some viral marketing campaign from Converse.  Still funny though. [NESW]
• Reed Johnson’s blog is up and running and it’s pretty funny so far.  He’s in love with the Cubbies pitching prospect Patton.  Also he rips on Fontenot for shopping at Gap Kids. [Reed Between The Lines]
• White Sox opener is postponed due to snow.  Snow?  It’s April! [Sun-Times]
• The “Give a Shit” timeline starring Jay Cutler trade rumors.  Hilarious for most, but with special meaning for us Bears fan. [Sports Hernia]
• Gaudin is released and the Shark is sent back to Iowa.  And the Cubs roster is set. [Wrigleyville23]
• Bronco’s Owner: “It is important that you know that at all times we represented ourselves to Jay with honesty and integrity.” Right. [ESPN]
• Michigan State vs North Carolina in the championship game?  That can’t be right, because all the east coast media talked about all year was how great the Big East was…and don’t forget those 3 number 1 seeds. [Deadspin]

Last week I said that the general dullness of the first two round of the NCAA Tournament wasn’t such a bad thing.  I thought that since so many good teams won, the second weekend would be that much better than most years.  I was absolutely wrong.

The last four days were no better than the first four of the tournament.  There were 12 games over the weekend and only three of them were what I would call good games.  Two of them involved Pitt, a team that underachieved the entire two weeks and the thid was a back and forth affair between Kansas and Michigan State on Friday night.

Michigan State came off their great game on Friday night to take part in one of the worst games I watched the in entire tournament on Sunday.  Not to take anything away from the Spartans who played great defense, but it was just difficult to watch.  This was almost entirely Louisville’s fault.  What a pathetic display of basketball they showed every time they had the ball.  Two passes around the perimeter and a contested three was apparently what they decided to go with on offense.  Gross.

The most hyped match-ups turned out to be some of the worst games as Syracuse got blown out by Oklahoma, who was run off the court by North Carolina, and  Duke was killed by Villanova in the other highly anticipated game.  Hey, at least with all these good teams, the Final Four should be great, right?  Nah, I think I’ll bad-mouth it and hope for the opposite effect again.

This is what I get for taking joy and celebrating the opposite of what March is all about.  Next year I’ll be back to being mad that the San Diego States, Creightons, and St. Marys of the world didn’t get in the tournament.  I’ll be looking for a Dayton t-shirt to wear for their game against Kansas, and this whiny complaining post will come a week earlier.

Once again, if the early games turn out to be disappointing there is still plenty of hope for a great game at night.  First, Michigan State and Kansas will meet in a great coaching match-up among other things, then North Carolina and Gonzaga will finish off the Sweet 16 games.

(3) Kansas vs. (2) Michigan State, 9:37 ET-

This is one of those times that it isn’t hard to break down how the teams match up, because they have played once already this year.  Michigan State won that game by 13 points, which sounds closer than the game actually was.  In fairness to Kansas, the Jayhawks were a different team back then and won 13 of 14 right after that contest.

For Kansas, it all starts with their sparkplug point guard Sherron Collins, averaging about 19 points per game while adding five assists per.  The kid has been on the stage before and can really fill it up from anywhere when he’s on.  Kansas can also hurt you from the inside with Cole Aldrich.  The former super-sub is now putting up about 15 and 10 per game while altering shots inside on a regular basis.

Michigan State has a great point guard of their own in Kalin Lucas.  The Big Ten POY sets the tone for the offense and it hasn’t taken him long to earn Izzo’s trust to run things.  Lucas can really do it all, and he has a good cast around him.  Raymar Morgan may end up being the difference in this game, one way or another.  Morgan is the second leading scorer behind Lucas, and is a phenomonal player…sometimes.  If Morgan is at his best, Kansas doesn’t stand much of a chance; if he isn’t, it will take a lot from guys like Chris Allen and Durrell Summers on the wings and Delvon Roe and Draymond Green on the block.  Senior Goran Suton gives some experience, and with Roe and Green he is part of a barrage of bodies Izzo will throw at Aldrich.

The Jayhawks have been playing great and Michigan State has show that it is prone to letdown games, but I think the Spartans match up very well with Kansas.  To beat MSU, you really have to come with a balanced attack, and I don’t see anyone other than Collins and Aldrich getting it done.  MSU wins by six.

(4) Gonzaga vs. (1) North Carolina, 9:57 ET-

Gonzaga gave us one of the best games of the tournament last round and we can only hope this match-up proves to be as good.  For all the Lawson toe coverage before last weekend’s games, I have heard nothing this week.  I assume that’s good news for UNC, but I guess we’ll see.

Gonzaga has only lost one game in 2009 and it was to Memphis.  If the Zags plan on keeping that whole thing going, they’ll need some help from one Austin Daye.  The 6-11 sophomore has disappeared in the tournament as much as a giant like that possibly can.  No big deal, it’s not like he has a good frontcourt to go against or anything.  Of course, Josh Heytvelt will be there too, but the advantage even where the Bulldogs are excellent still goes to UNC with Hansbrough and Thompson.  On the perimeter, one of my favorite players in the tournament, Jeremy Pargo, is lurking always ready to thunder down a dunk.  Matt Bouldin has also emerged as a star and will need to keep it up to run with the Heels.

For North Carolina, their chances are very good if Ty Lawson is a go.  When he decided to turn it on against LSU, the game was over and everyone knew it.  Even without Lawson, North Carolina sports a roster of stars like Hansbrough, Ellington, and Danny Green.  Look for Ed Davis off the bench too, the kid can play.  The Tar Heels stumbled a bit in their last game against LSU though, and if they do it again, Gonzaga can really put a scare into them.

Whatever.  North Carolina will methodically beat down Gonzaga and set up a sweet game in the Elite 8 against either Syracuse or Oklahoma.

The early games tonight feature what could be the best game of all the third rounders.  The games last night, especially the highly touted ones, were generally disappointing, so let’s hope that these teams make up for it tonight.

(12) Arizona vs. (1) Louisville, 7:07 ET-

It’s hard to believe Arizona has made it to this point when I thought for sure they’d be on their way to Madison Square Garden for the end of the NIT by now.  All you people who want to say the committee got it right because Zona made it this far need to settle down though.  Not too tough to beat Utah and a 13-seed to get to the Sweet 16.  I know the Wildcats have three future NBA players, but they’ll need every bit of that talent to beat Louisville.  The pressure will literally be on Wise to bring the ball up against the Cardinals’ defense.

You have to like Louisville in this game with their pressure and their athleticism against the Wildcats.  They also have a distinct coaching advantage with Rick Pitino roaming the sidelines.  I think Terrance Williams and Earl Clark will simply be too much for Arizona.  The Wildcats don’t play the type of defense to get past Louisville.  So far they have been able to beat teams with mainly their talent, and that will not work this round.  Not much previewing needed here, as the Cards will win by double digits.

(3) Syracuse vs. (2) Oklahoma, 7:27 ET-

Easily the game I am the most excited for in the Sweet 16.  We have the nation’s best player in Blake Griffin, trying to deal with the 2-3 zone of the Orange.  Can Syracuse shut Griffin down?  Well, it’s not all about the 2-3 vs. Blake in this game.

Syracuse has five players that average over 10 points per game.  That means that they have a good chance of being in any game they play.  While Eric Devendorf may have been the face of the program for a while (tough break for the program), Johnny Flynn is unmistakably the best player on the team.  The way he carried the Orange through that six overtime game against UConn was as unbelievable as it was unforgettable.  But back to the 2-3 against Griffin.  It could be instructive to look at how they’ve handled some other bigs on the schedule.  Cole Aldrich went for 15 points and 16 rebounds in a win for Syracuse; Luke Harangody had 25 and 16 in a blowout win for Cuse; DeJuan Blair had 20 and 12 in a loss against Pitt.  Thabeet is a different can of worms than these guys, but it looks like there is some room for the big guys to get their numbers.

It probably won’t be much different for Griffin tonight, so the key will be how the supporting cast performs for the Sooners.  In that case, hello Willie Warren, Tyler Griffin, Tony Crocker, and Austin Johnson.  These guys are the key.  Warren and Johnson need to find ways to penetrate into the zone and find the open man, especially if that’s Blake Griffin.  The principles are the same every time you play a zone: beat it down the floor, get in the gaps, and rebound.  The Sooners underachieved against Michigan on the offensive boards after Clemson dominated the Wolverines.  They’ll have to come with more energy if they want to get past Syracuse.

I think this game lives up to the hype and comes down to the wire.  In the end, it will come down to whether the Oklahoma guards can hit open shots, because with Warren penetrating and Griffin drawing attention they will be open.  If it comes down to trading possessions at the end, the advantage goes to Syracuse because of Johnny Flynn at the point.  Still, I like Griffin to carry the Sooners to the close win.  Sorry, no all Big East Final Four.

• Hilarious fake story about Orton being offended by Bears interest in Cutler. [Blog Down]
• Ohio State’s Mullens is making the jump to the NBA.  Don’t worry, white Big Ten centers don’t usually pan out in the big league. [Sun Times]
• Are the Bears interested in Vick?  Nope, just the Trib trying to drum up some fake news during the off-season. [Tribune]
• Shaq complimented Brad Miller.  Seriously. [By The Horns]
• A Cardinals blog actually gave the Cubs a fair preseason review.  Wow. [Wrigleyville23 via Viva El Birdos]
• College basketball happened last night?  UConn beat Purdue, Pitt beat Xavier, and Nova beat Duke.  The biggest upset in my mind though was Memphis losing to Mizzou.  As StevieY19 said to me after the game “how did Illinois beat this team?” [ESPN]
• Yeah the Bulls played last night, and they won again at home.  Rose came off the bench but looked relatively healthy.  The 7 seed ours.  Excellent. [Tribune]

In case you won’t be satisfied with two good games in the evening, there are two more to give you your fix at night.  I really love both of these match-ups.  While I could have never imagined being excited for Memphis and Missouri, the more I look at it, the better it looks.  Then we have Duke and Villanova, who could score a million points.  Let’s get to the previews and bad predictions.

(3) Missouri vs. (2) Memphis, 7:07 ET-

I really didn’t think Mizzou would make it here.  I saw something last week that said you’re better off not watching any games a team plays than you are watching one or two, because you acquire opinions of those teams that are skewed by those couple of games.  This is definitely the case with me and Missouri.  I watched them play once and they lost to Illinois by double digits.

Memphis is also a team I wasn’t high on coming into the dance.  I saw them play once and they looked pretty good against Gonzaga, but come on, Conference USA?  But man, they bludgeoned Maryland in the second round.

Missouri’s pressure is going to cause problems for Memphis and their point guard, Tyreke Evans.  Evans has a 1.1/1 assist to turnover ratio and Missouri forces as many turnovers as just about anyone in the country.  Missouri also has the athleticism to keep up with Memphis and as we saw against Cal State Northridge, a flustered Memphis team is very vulnerable, especially if the threes aren’t falling.  DeMarre Carroll will have to carry the load again for Mizzou to move on.

For Memphis, previously mentioned point guard Tyreke Evans will be oh-so important.  The freshman will be pestered all game long and while he has improved, he hasn’t been steady this year.  Senior Antonio Anderson will need to help out and alleviate some of the pressure on Evans.  Plus, Evans needs be free to score, as he averages over 16 per game.  Then again, you never know when a guy like Roburt Sallie is going to break out and score 30 more points than he averages.  Memphis also has the advantage of great players in Robert Dozier and Shawn Taggert in the frontcourt.

Ultimately, I like Memphis in this game because Missouri lost to Illinois, remember? Seriously though, Memphis is too athletic to be bogged down by this pressure of Missouri.  Therefore, Tigers…uhhh, the Memphis ones, 80-70.

(3) Villanova vs. (2) Duke, 9:57 ET-

Oh man, what a great game this looks like! Of course, that means it will likely be the most boring and disappointing of the entire slate, but I can’t help getting my hopes up for this one as the best game tonight.  I feel like these two teams are so similar and am really hoping for a game right down to the wire with the most heartbreaking loss since Old Yeller for the Dukies.

The Blue Devils sport the fantastic trio of Gerald Henderson, Jon Scheyer, and Kyle Singler.  Scheyer has been great in the postseason and Henderson is the best player this team has in my opinion.  The game could come down to Singler, who averages over 16 points per game, but literally disappears in some games.  It doesn’t happen a ton, but if it happens tonight, Duke doesn’t have a chance.  Conversely, if someone like Elliot Williams or Nolan Smith can step up and provide 15 points or so, I really like Duke’s chances. Duke is a different team since Williams replaced Paulus, but I don’t know if they’re better.  Watch for more of those epic travels from Elliot on the wings too.

Villanova has its own weaponry to bring to the table.  We’ll start with the trio of guards in Scottie Reynolds, Corey Fisher, and Corey Stokes.  These kids can fill it up, which makes it even more dangerous that each of them can get to the lane because once one of them penetrates, the others find ways to get open.  With these three, the game is rarely out of reach when they’re down and always in danger of getting out of hand when they’re ahead.  Much like Duke, Nova’s guards and shooters are paired with a great scorer/rebounder in Dante Cunningham.  Duke throws a lot of mediocre centers out there and Cunningham could really take advantage on the inside and be the difference for the Wildcats.

What does it all mean?  Who knows.  My heart says Villanova and my brain says “hell yeah heart, screw Duke,” but I really don’t like them. Duke struggled with Texas, but Villanova struggled with American.  They seem so equal on paper and I don’t know what separates them, except I think Duke has the best player on the floor and that’s Henderson.  I’ll say Gerald makes the difference and Duke wins.  Sorry to the family of the kitten that will die when it happens.  79-78.

• The Hawks beat the Sharks in a shootout last night, 6-5.  That’s good, because if they had blown a 4-1 lead, then lost, I would have lost it.  [Sun-Times]
• Bradley, after this buzzer-beater the other night, advanced to the final of the CollegeInsider.com Tourney last night.  How many of these tournaments are there? [Tribune]
• Cuauhtemoc Blanco is not happy playing for the Chicago Fire.  Well first, he look angry all the time to begin with.  Second, this has to be the fault of the Bulls with those Spanglish jerseys. [FanHouse]
• John Hollinger makes a living breaking down numbers in the NBA.  I like to compare him to a weather man.  Are these NBA stats meaningless?  And where are the stats that tell me how often stars get calls? [The Big Lead]
• Amazing is happening again in the NBA.  Docksquad has some of the new videos from the league’s ad campaign.  [Docksquad]
• Remember the series finale of Seinfeld?  If you didn’t see it, Allen Iverson can tell you all about it.  [Slow Breaker]
• The Senate is going to hold hearings on the BCS.  Only senators from states with more than 15 electoral votes are allowed to participate.  And Notre Dame.  [Sharapova's Thigh]
• Fun with YouTube takes us back to a fun video of some guy with no life reenacting Game 6 of the 1986 World Series.  I also recommend the Mario Paint video.  [Mass Hysteria]
• Oh, and UConn basketball is in trouble.  Yet to be seen if we’re talking Alabama/Florida State “you got caught and you’re punished” trouble, or USC and Ohio State “you got caught, but it’s okay” trouble.  [Yahoo Sports]

Other than the fact that we know Western Kentucky has a sweet mascot, we really don’t know much else.  We also know they won a couple games in the Big Dance last year and bring back a hand-full of those players.  But what are they about this year and how do they stack up against the Illini? In full disclosure I have WKU upsetting the Illini in my bracket right now, let’s see if this preview changes my mind.

The Western Kentucky team looks a lot different this year.  They have a new coach in Ken McDonald, an assistant at Texas last year, and McDonald has changed to a more up-tempo feel for the Hilltoppers.  The key for Illinois will be to get out and stop WKU in transition.  They love to run and get easy buckets, but this is something Illinois has had success in stopping this season, in particular when they played Missouri.

Western Kentucky can score the basketball though.  They average 71.8 points per game, with Illinois giving up only 56.6 per game.  Guards A.J. Slaughter and Orlando Mendez-Valdez got some tournament experience last year, so you know they won’t be rattled by the pressure defense from the Illini.

With Slaughter and Mendez-Valdez in the backcourt and Steffphon Pettigrew (ff or ph make up your mind!) and Sergio Kerusch in the frontcourt, Western Kentucky is a favorite of many to upset the Illini minues Chester Frazier.  Sure, the Illini are worse without their leader, but they’re still great defensively with balanced scoring.

I think the Illini can slow down Western Kentucky on the break, but if they’re having one of their bad offensive nights, 38-33 night for example, they won’t win.  The advantage Illinois must exploit is on the inside.  The Hilltoppers’ biggest player is 6-9 and their best players are in the 1-4 spots.  Mike Tisdale can carry this team to victory, and if he can establish himself inside early, it will open things up for McCamey, Meacham, and others on the outside.

I don’t think my mind has been changed to pick Illinois, but I’m definitely on the fence.  WKU just doesn’t seem like the same team as last year, but they can run.  If Illinois goes through a couple of their signature droughts, the Hilltoppers will make them pay running off of misses.  Illinois has to make a conscious effort to enter the post and crash the boards to win.  I’ll go homer with my 68-64 prediction for the Illini.

The game is tonight at about 8:55 ct.

• The President gives a class on Barack-etology.  This is actually very amusing, the guy knows his stuff.  If you don’t want to watch the whole thing, at least go to the end where he has a message for his winner.  [Awful Announcing]
• The Bulls beat the Thunder last night and Derrick Rose was perfect in the second half.  That’s two wins in two days for the Bulls; Stormin’ Norman has to post on this today.  [Sun-Times]
• Ugh, Blackhaws lose again, 4-3 to Columbus in overtime.  At least they got a point. [Tribune]
• Deadspin’s, rather two Deadspin readers’, take on the Illinois- Western Kentucky match-up tonight.  [Deadspin]
• The Cubs are going to retire the #31 jersey worn by Greg Maddux and Ferguson Jenkins.  The ceremony will be May 3rd. [ESPN]
• Maria Sharapova is getting her own show on MTV?  Wait, they still have shows on MTV?  And Sharapova isn’t really in it?  [Sharapova's Thigh]
• Gus Johnson was hand-cuffed and put in the back of a police car after an altercation at a Memphis diner.  This has to be a mistake; he’s the best announcer left! [Big Lead]
• Chester Frazier is officially out of the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament.  Unfortunately this may mean Illinois will suffer the same fate.  [Tribune]

Here we are in Illinois’ bracket, where the North Carolina Tar Heels are the 1-seed.  Just like Illinois, North Carolina has an injury question at the point guard spot.  Last I heard Ty Lawson was doubtful for the Heels’ first round game. With Lawson, the Heels are the favorite to make the finals from this side of the bracket, but without him they could lose a game to a team like their Florida State loss in the ACC Tournament.  UNC gets Radford in the first round and will win by 20, minimum.  The winner of the LSU-Butler game will get the Tar Heels in the second round.  LSU is very athletic and will give Butler some problems, but this is the classic picking problem where Butler could heat it up from three and steal the win.

Illinois takes on Western Kentucky in the first round, and I don’t like this match-up for the Illini.  Illinois is 9-1 in their last 10 first round games, but the Hilltoppers won a couple games in last year’s tournament and have another tough team.  Illinois has the advantage down low, so Tisdale might have to carry them to the win with Frazier on the bench.  The Hilltoppers like to run and don’t like to play a lot of defense, so if Illinois can stop them in transition, they can win this game for sure. The other match-up in Portland will be Gonzaga and Akron.  The Zags should go ahead and win this one easily playing in their backyard.

In Miami, Arizona State has to feel fortunate with their Temple draw.  I think VCU, Dayton, or Utah State all could have upset the Sun Devils, but they should get by Temple.  Syracuse gets Stephen F. Austin in the first round and will have to avoid an upset similar to their Vermont loss a couple of years back.  They should be fine and have a nice road to the Sweet 16.

The bottom of this bracket is very interesting.  We have Clemson and Michigan in the 7-10 game and both these teams have shown they can beat anyone, and lose to anyone.  John Beilein is a great tournament coach, but if Clemson is on their game, they will be almost impossible to beat; lucky for Michigan, Clemson has not been on its game lately.  Oklahoma looked like a lock for a one seed not long ago.  Then Blake Griffin was injured and they haven’t seemed the same since his return.  The Sooners will play Morgan State in the first round, but will have their hands full regardless of who they meet on Saturday.

Predictions sure to ruin your bracket:

Sweet 16 lock: North Carolina

Upset Pick: Michigan over Clemson

Bold Call: UNC wins by at least ten until the Elite 8

Best Games: Thursday- Clemson vs. Michigan, 7:10 et.

Arizona St. vs. Temple, 2:45 et.

Pittsburgh honestly screws me in my bracket every season.  Every year I think they’re so tough, with at least one guard that can score and they lose to some awful team in the second or third round.  But this is the best Pittsburgh team of them all, right?  Fields, Young, Blair; they’re excellent and they have it all.  If the Panthers can get through their first weekend against East Tennessee State and Oklahoma State or Tennessee, they should make the Elite Eight where I would guess they’d see Villanova or Duke.

Florida State looked good in the ACC Tournament, but I just can’t respect a team that lost to Northwestern by double digits.  Xavier had some questionable losses this year and is a little overrated as a 4-seed, so they should look out for Portland State and their 5’6″ point guard.  Okay, not really, but I say they don’t win two games.  Wisconsin is a curious case in the tournament.  They have some games where you wonder why they’re even in, but the defense is so good it allows the offense to come back.  This year however, the offense just isn’t that good a lot of the time and might not be able to take advantage of that staunch defense.  Still, I wouldn’t want to be Florida State in the first round.

The games in Philadelphia should be interesting.  Virginia Commonwealth won the hearts of America a couple years ago when they beat Duke in the first round, and their star from that game, Eric Maynor, is still around.  So can they beat UCLA this year?  It will be up to Collison to make it not happen, as the Bruins have been very inconsistent this season.  Villanova should be fine against American, and I like them to make it through to the Sweet 16, and beyond if they can heat up from outside.

Texas takes on Minnesota in the 7-10 game and this could be interesting.  Texas has also been inconsistent and Minnesota has showed they can win big games with a victory over Louisville earlier in the year.  Minnesota blocks an insane amount of shots: about 19% of the shots their opponents put up get sent back.  I like Texas here though, with James, Abrams, and Pittman.  Duke has looked good this year, but lack the two things you really want in the tournament: a true point guard and a great big man.  Scheyer has been solid since taking over the point guard duties, but as good as Duke is, the Devils could go down at any time.

Predictions sure to ruin your bracket:

Sweet 16 lock: Umm, Pitt?

Upset Pick: Wisconsin over Florida State

Bold Call: Portland State gives Xavier a game.

Best Games: Thursday- UCLA vs. VCU, 9:50 et.

Friday- Ok State vs. Tennessee, 12:25 et.