Here we are, a day before the action begins in the annual NCAA tournament "big dance".  Time to throw my hat into the ring with all the other "experts" who think they know their college hoops.

I am not cocky enough to say "if you want to make mucho dinero (lots of money) off the NCAA tournament, then trust these picks", or "don't be a fool...take these picks to school".  or "if your usual picks stank, then take these picks to the bank".  I do however, usually do pretty well in my postseason brackets, finishing in the money in perhaps every other year of my office pool.  I know my college hoops, so you might benefit from continued reading. 

Here are my NCAA tournament picks, as I fill out my bracket while writing my blog.....

Lets start with the South region.  Why?  Because that is the first region on my sheet.  And because I am a huge Molly Hatchet fan.

As much as I would love to pick Mississippi Valley State, I just can't.  Kentucky rolls.  UConn beats Iowa state largely because I have the Huskies in a fantasy college hoops league and they need to pay me back for the disappointing year.  VCU will beat Wichita State and I will be shocked if the shockers somehow win.  You want an upset, this is it.  New Mexico State looked great in winning the WAC championship and I think it continues.  Another upset special as they beat Indiana.  Colorado looked great in upsetting their way to the Pac ten title, but it all ends against talented UNLV.  Baylor, Notre Dame and Duke round out the first round winner.

In the next round, Kentucky beats UConn with too much talent.  Virgiania Commonwealth is anything but common with a win over New Mexico State in the battle of the first round upset teams.  Baylor beats UNLV and Duke gets by a tough Notre Dame team in a close game. 

In the sweet sixteen, Kentucky ends the Cinderella dreams of VCU.  In one of the best matchups of the whole sweet 16, I see Baylor slipping past Duke in a classic game that could go either way. 

You can't pick a team that is led by freshmen and sophomores to win the national title.  That is why I think it is at this point that the collar gets a bit tight for the Kentucky Wildcats.  We saw the same thing about this point a couple years ago with that team led by John Wall.  I think you see it again.  The Wildcats loss to Vandy in the SEC title game has them questioning themselves.  Now they are going against a very tough Baylor squad here.  I think the more experienced Bears beat the Wildcats and move on to the final four in a huge upset. 

Onto the West where top seeded Michigan state has no problem with LIU Brooklyn, who tell everyone who will listen, "Yo, dey a bunch o' cheetahs, you know what I'm sayin'".  Memphis beats the St Louis Billikens, which is sad to me because I love saying "Billikens".  New Mexico rolls past Long Beach state, and Louisville handles Davidson.  Murray State, who is already snubbed by a 6 seed despite going 30-1, race past Colorado State.  Marquette beats BYU, Florida nips Virginia in a close game and Missouri routs Norfolk state.

In the sweet 16, look for Michigan state to beat Memphis in a tight one, New Mexico upsets Louisville, Murray state shocks Marquette and Missouri runs past Florida. 

In the final eight, I am going with a huge upset as Steve Alfords boys of New Mexico upsets Izzo's Spartans while Missouri ends the cinderella run of Murray state.  Then I see the Tigers ending New Mexico's season to go on to the final four.

In the midwest bracket, I think North Carolina rolls by Vermont.  Creighton finds a way to slip past 'bama.  Temple beats Cal in a very close game.  Michigan gets confused and thinks they are playing the Buckeyes, as they rout Ohio.  San Diego St hits too many three's for NC state to keep up with them.  Georgetown survives a scare but beats Belmont,  Purdue upsets St. Mary's and Kansas routs Detroit.

In the next round of this region, I don't see any upsets.  North Carolina beats the Blue Jays of Creighton, Michigan has no problem with Temple, Georgetown has too much D for San Diege state and Kansas routs Purdue.

In the sweet sixteen, North Carolina routs Michigan, and Kansas finds a way to get past Georgetown.  Then I see the Tar Heels having too much offense for Kansas to keep up with and North Carolina moves on to the final four.

Leaving the east region for last, I think Syracuse rolls by UNC-Ashville.  I like Southern Miss to beat Kansas state in a slight upset.  Harvard wins the pre game battle of who can take pie to the most digits, but loses the game to Vanderbilt.  Montana of the Big Sky conference has a very favorable matchup with Wisconsin and takes advantage of it with a huge upset.  Cincinnati finds a way to get past a very pesky Texas team.  Florida state escapes with a hard fought win over the Bonnies of St Bonaventure.  Gonzaga should beat West Virginia and Ohio state routs Loyola of Maryland.

In the second round, even without Fab Melo, Syracuse should roll over Southern Miss.  Vanderbilt has no problem with Montana.  Florida state nips Cincinnati in a low scoring game in the forties, and Ohio state routs Gonzaga by double digits.

In the sweet sixteen, Vanderbilt is on a roll and it continues as they upset Syracuse and end the Orange season.  Vandy can hit the three and they neutralize the SU zone, while outrebounding the Cuse as well.  Ohio state has too much offense for Florida state and finds a way to move on thanks to a big game by Jared Sullinger.  The Commodores then run up against a buzzsaw as Ohio state rolls on to the final four with a hard fought win over Vandy.

In the final four, I see Missouri having too much offense for Baylor in a very high scoring game, as the Tigers move on to the championship game 88-83,  Im the other game, I see North Carolina slipping past Ohio State in a much lower scoring game by a score of 65-58, 

In the title game, it is like men versus boys as North Carolina uses its height advantage and defense to slow down Missouri and win the chamionship surprisingly easy by a score of 78-64.