Can I play with madness?

(Yes, Iron Maiden. What the hell are you going to do about it?)

The NCAAs tip off today and I will be enjoying it in style. At a job I hate, watching on a 13" TV on my desk because the people in charge refuse to turn the big, new flatscreen monitors off of CNN or Fox News because "something could happen."

There's also a small, but real chance that I could end up having to go to the NIT game in Crisler instead of enjoying tonight's NCAA games from my couch. Such is life.

Assuming Ohio State wins tomorrow, I'm almost certainly going to be in Dayton on Sunday, so that's all good.

On with the picks...

Champ: Connecticut
Runner up: UCLA
Final Four: Texas, Villanova
Elite 8: LSU, Kansas, UNC, Florida
Sweet 16: Duke, Iowa, Memphis, Indiana, Illinois, Wichita State, Nevada, Ohio State
Second round: UNC-W, Texas A&M, SIU, Cal, Arkansas, Pitt, Gonzaga, Marquette, Kentucky, Washington, Tennessee, Arizona, Wisconin-Milwaukee, Oklahoma, Georgetown.

Nothing too wild. Syracuse is the #5 making an early exit, #2 Tennessee loses to #7 Wichita State, Oklahoma loses to UW-M, WVU loses to SIU, and two #1 seeds (Duke and Memphis) drop out in the Sweet 16. I spent a lot of time waffling on Kansas/UCLA. Indiana in the sweet 16 is probably the dumbest thing on there. They could very well drop their pants and crap all over the floor in the first round.

OSU could easily lose to Georgetown... that wouldn't surprise me at all. Frankly, I think they match up better with Florida than they do with the Hoyas. I'm hedging my emotional bets with a Sweet 16 pick. They could easily get to the Final Four if they get out of the second round.