Posted at 4 AM PT. The Griddle never sleeps.

Actually the reloads pages around that time so I can set things on "auto-pilot."

2 Bob may sleep, but never the Griddle.

That penultimate start should be Villanova, not Vandy, though a back-to-back like that for Vandy would top Georgia's SEC tournament effort.

Thanks, stupid private schools starting with the letter V.

5 It was funny to me because I remember as a kid mixing up Vandy and Villanova frequently; I think Villanova still played D-I football back then (early 70s). I've never brought Valparaiso into the V confusion mix, however.

Time to get things started today. I've taken the afternoon off work to see the soon to be NCAA champion, Tennessee, and instead my local CBS has decided to switch me to Gonzaga-Davidson. NCAA.com, here I come.

6
It's good to know that someone is on guard.

And that there is one hardcore Butler fan.

If we look hard enough we may find another Butler fan here before the day is over. I'm no a hardcore one though. I reserve my hardcoreness for Texas Tech. I'm just a leagcy Butler fan, as my dad went there in the 60's.

I'll be happy to stand guard here and comment as necessary, but if it gets to dinner time and I am still alone, I will need relief for dinner.

I believe there were five "Bulldogs" that made the tournament: Georgia, Butler, Gonzaga, Mississippi State, and Drake.

Yet only one Hilltoppers.

10 I would rate the Bulldogs in this order.

Butler
Gonzaga
Drake
Mississippi State
Georgia

If I had to rate the Hilltoppers in with the Bulldogs, I would place them between Drake and Mississippi State.

So you must be wondering why I would pick the Hilltoppers over the Bulldogs in today's game of I rate them lower. The answer, "why not?".

Firefox doesn't seem to reload any of the NCAA tournament scoreboards.

It's time to go to IE.

13 I've been using IE for the video, because no matter how many times I load the plug-in they say I need for Firefox to work, it doesn't work. Normally I would mess with it until it is fixed, just to prove that I could beat the system, but in this case, I am too busy tracking four games at once to make that happen.

That was a lot to say in two sentences. I would bet I've misplaced some commas.

The people chatting today reflects the West Coast bias of this blog.

15 Hey, I am trying to do a few things this morning.

One thing about yesterday, never believe anything that an outsider says about Arizona, I should have followed by instincts and never penciled them in. As for USC, probably the worse thing for them in retrospect was Beasley getting in foul trouble, it made other K-State guys step up and they were able to pull out and get a nice lead.

I want Drake and Davidson to win this morning.

Is there such thing as a Midwest bias or do you have to be on a coast to get one of those.

Great news, the scenario generator says that if i win these first four games, I will be alone in 1st place. The odds of that happening are not high though.

13 It works for me. I've haven't use IE in eons, except to fill out my timecard. (IE is still the company standard browser and I'm not betting a paycheck delay that the timecard program will work under other browsers).

My west coast bias has St. Mary's as my upset choice this morning. I picked them because I actually saw them play this season (dominating a not very good Loyola Marymount team) and I don't believe Miami is all that good.

19 I also have St. Mary's. That's a product of my I Hate Florida Schools bias.

20
We agree on something!

21 Three things! You want to see Ethier in left field and you've picked Butler.

My workplace now blocks all streaming video ...

Sigh ...

No March Madness ... no Spring Training games ...

Sigh ...

Tennessee / American is still surprisingly close.

Drake trails by 9 at the half; that pick worried me from the start.

23 I know your pain. Even the bracket analyzer doesn't work here!

24

1st half FG pct: W. Ky. 60%, Drake 37%
1st half FTs: W. Ky. 13-16, Drake 0-0

That would explain a lot ...

23 ,25 Follow my lead and leave work to watch these games. You've got to get your priorities straight.

A Tennessee lose will kill my brackets. They are now tied a 40 with 11 mins to go.

28
I had Tennessee beating USC in the Final 4, then losing to UCLA in the final. So I'm rooting against America(n).

I will be going to the closest place to work at lunch with a TV to watch some games for an hour.

Unfortunately, this means I have to go to Carl's Jr.

29

Homeland Security has been tracking your bracket, and knows your IP address ...

I have Tennessee beating Kansas in the Final 4, then losing to UCLA in the final. I had K-State beating SC.

30
Your Carl's Jr. has a TV?

30 Why do you guys call Hardee's Carl's Jr.?

30- Are you in downtown LA? If so, go to Casey's Irish Pub. They have the games there. It's at Grand and 6th.

I have Tennessee winning the whole thing. If they lose, I will need American to run the table for me to stay in this thing.

34
We have a healthy respect for the late Carl Karcher!

Tennessee has scored the last 8 points .... looks like they woke up.

The Carl's Jr. across from the library not only has TVs, but it also serves beer.

During the World Cup, it gets packed.

Drake in serious trouble .... down 13 with 13 to go ...

29. If you already had a final four team lose in the first round, you're dead anyway, you may as well just cheer for lots of upsets.

I was working my tail off to try to get my work done by 2 and go out to a bar for a late lunch to watch Georgetown, but this blizzard we are having in downtown Chicago seems to suggest otherwise.

Looks like people are going to be saying,

"I HATE THE DRAKE!"

Drake is not doing much with the #5 seed they stole from Butler.

W. Ky is 12-22 from 3-point range .... ergo Drake is down by 16 now ...

41
If you already had a final four team lose in the first round, you're dead anyway

It's never over! I just have to continue to believe that I will get every other pick right (except for Drake in the Sweet 16 of course!)

Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no!

45. You're done, in fact, I expect Bill James to write an article in Slate about how your bracket is already finished.

gotta love Animal House

Tennessee will survive. I was worried for a while, but not quite as worried as I was about the pizza rolls I almost burned in the oven.

Wasn't that a Los Lobos song .... "Will the Vols survive?"

(yeah, probably goes better with NC State)

don't look now .... Drake has it down to 10 .... 5:40 left

"Don't Look Now" is the title of another song.

But that's by CCR.

43 For those who didn't follow the seeding, can you explain?

Drake down by 8, St. Mary's by 9.

Davidson 77/ Gonzaga 74. Zags with the ball, 50 seconds left

I would like a Davidson win because I didn't pick Gonzaga in any bracket. I actually have Davidson upsetting Georgetown in some places.

53. Indiana Jon believes that for some reason, even though Drake had better computer numbers, beat Butler head-to-head at Butler, and won a better conference than Butler, Butler deserved a higher seed than Drake. This is despite the fact that noone in the world who objectively follows basketball agreed with him.

57 Except every poll the entire year.

If Davidson wins and Drake and St. Mary's come back to win I will officially be the comeback kid today.

Indiana Jon(es) believes Temple was doomed?

56 I've also picked Davidson to upset Georgetown(now 79-74) 23.4 left. Davidson with the ball

Stupid Pomeroy system, tricking me into picking Gonzaga and Drake.

St. Mary's is toast.

OK, I'm calling this one. Drake will not be coming back.

Gotta love the Drake.

Still 11 people with 16 of 17 correct.

I was excited about Drake because I read something about how they use a European-style offense that can throw off other teams. Then I watched part of the 1st half and wasn't that impressed. It's so much different choosing games when you've actually seen the team play.

But only 3 people with 17 of 18 correct.

Including our defending champion!

after getting both Tennessee and Davidson, I've moved from 87th to 79th. The comeback begins!

(of course, I've got St. Mary's and Drake, so the beginning of the comeback is also likely the end of the comeback)

Horse Toilet leads alone!

If I have to lose, I guess it wouldn't be so bad to lose to somebody called Horse Toilet.

Horse Toilet's nom de internet is Duckworth.

Horse Toilet has Drake over Western Kentucky.

speaking of horses, my brackets usually like to come from off the pace ...

The West Coast Conference could have all three of its representatives dispatched in a matter of about four hours.

the color guy just echoed Bob's "gotta love the Drake."

Emmenecker hasn't made a field goal attempt all day. But he's 11 of 12 from the line.

W.KY. has 13 turnovers in 2nd half ...

Free basketball in Tampa!

How much of a missed layup at the buzzer was it?

No matter who wins this game, Horse Toilet will still lead alone for the next couple hours.

58. Polls are for idiots who decide before the year who they like and watch 5 games the rest of the year, basing any movement on what others are doing. They have as much credibility as a guage of basketball ability as ranking teams by uniform color.

80 - It was pretty contested. He kinda hoisted it up there.

82 Seeding has about the same credibility. Otherwise all four number ones would be in the final four each year.

Timmermann's Law of Overtimes is in place now for Drake.

Drake has attempted 40 (!) 3-pointers in this game?

So much for that law.

43 3-pointers!

Not a smart play.

84. Not mathematically they wouldn't. Basketball Prospectus ran the story the other day, that even though the #1 seeds have the best individual chances to make the final four, the chance of all of them making it are less than the chance of a 16 seed beating a 1 seed.

Drake is my favorite team in the tourney and now everyone gets to see why they play as fun of a brand of basketball as anyone in the country. Come on bulldogs!

HOLY CRAP

@%$@!!!!

90 Mathematically, Butler has a much better chance than Drake. I don't need Basketball Prospectus to tell me that.

94 now they do, to be sure. 3 at the buzzer for WKU, from like, 28 feet or so.

Hee hee hee.

OK, so I was right in 64 , I just didn't see it coming that way.

My prophecy about the exciting games coming when I had to work is coming true!

97 Nice early call.

what happend

what happend

94. What does that have to do with all #1 seeds not making the final 4 in a year?

Drake's 43 3-point attempts tied the tournament record. St. Joe's had 43 in an OT game against Boston College in 1997.

101 5 seconds left, down by one, WKU needs to go the full length of the court. into the front court, pass to an open shooter 28 feet from the basket, shot up, buzzer sounds, shot in, WKU wins.

Holly Crap

Scott Long, I blame you.

South Alabama needs to let Butler win. I am screwed if they get knocked out now.

107 I picked South Alabama, so you're pretty safe.

Remind me why I signed up for three different pools/brackets this year? This is fun right?

So much suckitude across a wide spectrum. I guess if my final 8 teams continue to survive in most of my pools I could still have a shot.

Maybe I should've just had my cat fill out my bracket, or my g/f.

In last place is DT's Philosopher King.

109

.... to come up with cool names for your picks?

"The Fly is open, let's go Peay"

(just trying to recall the last time Peay had a good team, cause this isn't one of them)

Bulldogs are 0-3 in the NCAA tournament so far.

Wildcats are 2-2. But the two losers are the ones that usually win.

Hilltoppers are undefeated.

Austin Peay has been in 5 previous tournaments and has a 2-6 record.

I like the Retrievers. Makes me want to throw them a stick or something.

Btw, I was just looking at a live box score for a game on CBS Sportsline and advertised all over it is a new online basketball TV site called Flo.

The effect all that advertising had on me was just to make me have to go to the bathroom.

116/117 - Looking at the box score for the Austin Peay game and the ads for Flo definitely made me need to the use the bathroom.

Huskies, Bulldogs, Retrievers ... the dogs of b-ball ....

I'm gonna root for San Diego because its my favorite vacation spot.

There is a player named Desean Jackson playing for San Diego. He is very small and very quick. It is very confusing.

121 Maybe the Broncos will draft him instead by mistake.

This day is turning out to be Indiana Jon's Day o' Vindication.

Totally off-topic, but given that 3 games are at halftime .... what is the difference between "Optioned to Triple-A" and "Reassigned to Minor League camp"?

The latter group wasn't on the 40-man roster.

122 "By mistake" just about sums up Denver's drafting style.

However, I still take special pleasure in Denver's 49 wins over the last 5 years, while the entire Bay Area has accounted for 43. I'm sure you can work that in, should some sort of trash talking match occur up there.

123 Throw in K State over USC last night and it's been a very satisfying tournament, so far.

126
Niner fans do not talk much trash now. They pretty much ignore they exist.

UConn took a step back when they went to these gosh-awful uniforms ..... the "Husky" ones were sweet ...

The atmosphere at this game makes a funeral seem like a party.

Does anyone outside of Connecticut like UConn?

128 True, the guy with the office next to mine is a Niners fan, and he just shakes his head and complains about Alex Smith. and the Niners have 5 more wins over the last 5 years than the Other Guys in the Bay Area.

This UConn/ Sa√n Diego game needs more Gus Johnson. These guys seem almost depressed that UConn is losing.

It's unfortunate Butler will have to face Tennessee in the next round. They would beat most of the 4th seeds.

Butler beating Tennessee and Louisville is pretty much my only chance to win this.

134 Great, so we have two Butler fans on this site now?

Anybody pick San Diego?

Watching S. Alabama play, I'm even more convinced there are at least 5 NIT teams that should have been in S. Ala.'s spot.

If trainwreck were a true Butler fan, he would know the name of their gym without looking it up.

I dub it the second most famous home court for a midmajor behind The Palestra.

If my calculations are right, only two entries picked Sand Diego. Now to find them.

I believe I am one of them

140 indeed I am.

137 Let me remind you that South Alabama beat Western Kentucky, who beat Drake, twice. They also played in a conference that was very equal to Western Kentucky's.

South Alabama won the Sun Belt regular season title, losing to W Kentucky, which beat Drake, Indiana Jon's mortal enemy.

141 Which entry are you?

Curry has the sweetest shot I've seen this year.

The Davidson and WK games are why I still love the tournament.

As long as Pitt is alive I'm alive.

144 Ghost of Fennis Dembo. You have to go way near the bottom to find it. Because I do things like pick San Diego (although, it's looking good so far).

143

sorry .... my Johnnies haven't sniffed the NCAAs in a few years ..... so I'm a bit sensitive ...

I just think Butler is good. Plus, I figured a lot of people would have similar Elite 8's and Final Fours.

Fox's Locks is the other to pick Sand Diego.

138. Doesn't every fan of Hoosiers know the name of that arena, although, I don't remember exactly how to spell it. Does it end in "el" or "le"?

I've also chosen Siena over Vanderbilt. I am very bad at this.

150 le

The last time I went to an NCAA tournament game, St John's won. That was just 22 years ago.

Perhaps it's time to bring back Mike Jarvis!

150. I miss being able to hate St. John's, when are they getting rid of Norm Roberts?

Named after Tony Hinkle, former Butler coach who invented the orange ball.

153
And Ron Artest.

156 and Felipe Lopez! The greatest player in the history of players!

It is true. He was on the cover of SI.

I picked the wrong WCC underdog.

Does UConn struggle against Catholic schools? I suppose that's not a good thing if you play in the Big East.

Isn't St John's third alltime among major colleges in wins. I think UNC and Kentucky have more.

157

sigh ..... my alma mater (hanging my head in shame)

My cousin's dad used to be the USD Athletic Director.

The last St. Johns player I remember is Omar Cook. And I remember him because he made one of the worst decisions in history of the draft.

163 so, your uncle?

162. Hey, don't give up on your alma mater altogether now. If Georgetown can recover from the Esherick era, St. John's can get over the Fraschilla, Jarvis & Roberts' eras.

164 yep, to become a Nugget.

I remember that Lopez class had 2 other freshman- Zendon Hamilton and... maybe Artest? I don't recall. But that was supposed a killer team.

165
She is my cousin through marriage.

It bugs me that CBS uses the abbreviation SD instead of USD.

Almost everybody out here calls the school USD. San Diego usually implies SDSU.

164

they knew how to get in trouble off the court ....

and yes, Cook coming out after one year, with no semblance of a jump shot ...

Just in case anyone did not know. Jones of USD is the grandson of the infamous Jim Jones.

The announcers seem to view this games as a tragedy.

172. They must live in Connecticut.

*game

171 as in Jonestown? weird. I was just watching a special on that, where they interviewed his son.

175
Yeah, that Jim Jones. His grandson is a pretty solid prospect from the Bay Area.

Horse Toilet clings to a 1-point lead after 22 games.

I love this Scenario Generator. I need wins from Oregon (my west coast bias) and Arkansas.

Indiana Jon has Indiana losing.

Indiana Jon is not an Indiana (University) fan now.

He's loyal more to IUPUI.

Actually I went to IUPUI for a while, although not the main campus. I used to be a loyal IU fan (the school is only 20 miles away), until the Knight era ended. That's all I've got to say about that.

I had no idea IUPUI existed until I met a cousin that goes there last year.

Then again, I always thought Indiana Jon had the cut of an IPFW man.

I always preferred the Evansville Aces myself, I guess I'm just partial to teams who have sleeves on their jerseys.

There used to be several IUPUI campuses. Now they have names such as IPFW and IUPUC.

183 Former Hoosier Dane Fife coaches there. I went to IUPUI at Columbus, which is now IUPUC.

LOL

Did he really just say "They aren't Carmen San Diego?"

USD 58, UConn 54, 50 seconds left. And one absolutely horrible "Carmen San Diego" joke by Verne Lundquist

187 he's not that eloquent. He said, "this ain't..."

184 Another former Hoosier, Marty Simmons, coaches there. Knight disciples are everywhere around here.

I believe it is Tim Brando, not Verne. If it was Verne, it would have been even funnier.

Yes, it's Tim Brando and Mike Gminski. They also do the FSN ACC games.

Tim Brando cannot keep score.

Now he says they are tied.

Or he's trying to will the scoreboard into a UConn win.

If you're a top 4 seed, you get an extra point to start the game.

ah. I get confused when they start switching games. And also when I completely guess at who is broadcasting the games.

195 Just saying but the West seeds 2-3-4 have all been severely challenged in their first round games.

198
Would have really loved to hear the angry UNC and Kansas fans if they all lost.

The guy could have just held on to the ball for a longer period of time. There's no 5 count in the backcourt.

198 The west has the worst 2-3-4 seeds, and they did have the worst 5 seed.

Desean Jackson is not Tyus Edney.

Free basketball in Tampa!

79 ,203 You've already said that.

come one SD

And with this game going to overtime, I'm heading home.

sorry Bob, come one USD

UCONN looks like they could care less today.

204
It's a theme!

Timmermann's Rule of Overtimes in College: First team to lead by four wins!

Drake lead by four today.

The rare twice posted, twice misspelled word.

San Diego had so many chances to put away UConn... missed free-throws and a missed layup.

Timmermann's Law!

wow, how'd I manage that. nice

Timmermann's Law in effect. And UConn is looking to break it.

All we were missing in this one is Daniel Zappala making the early call for us.

Timmermann's Law needs some revamping.

The problem with hoping that USD can pull this out is that, deep down, they aren't very good.

I officially call this game for UConn.

It does not work in Tampa.

Maybe it should have stayed Timmermann's Theory for a while.

Jones believes in the Law!

218 Thats better, but are you sure?

NICE SHOT WHATEVER YOUR NAME IS!

That wasn't a foul.

um, travel?

224 I think the defender forced the ref to blow the whistle when he fell.

Another missed free throw. Lovely.

217 - True but UCONN does not deserve to win this game IMO.

223 Think he'll make the last shot?

Shouldn't they put a little more time back on clock?

Here we go: Sydney or the bush!

sweet

DESEAN JACKSON!

They won't let Timmermann's Law die!

A law is a law. It doesn't matter the circumstances.

in't is De'Jon Jackson and not Desean Jackson

Matt Kemp just doubled in two.

That kind of negates the advantage I gained over the Drake lovers earlier.

ok, not able to watch the game, but from espn scoreboard it looks like De-Jon scored in only a sec, what really happend

Horse Toilet took a huge hit!

Western Kentucky gets to wear white jerseys Sunday.

2/10 overall, but he made the biggest shot of the game.

dang, my typing is not so good today

so did Los Longhorns.

239 inbound pass to the top of the key. Jackson drives to the right, pulls up at the elbow and nails a jumper.

UCLA may not face a challenge until the Elite 8.

I think Texas A&M is a bigger challenge than Duke would be.

finally. One of my upsets has come to pass. And now steak has been added to grill. Good times.

237 Oh, stumbled on the wrong blog.

241 Did they bring their white jerseys?

245 thanks HV. that's pretty amazing

247 Hopefully, this Acie Law less version will mean Russell and Darren will have good games from the start.

Poop on the pools, that was damned exciting! Go Toreros.

I liked how someone on the CBS Sports live game "glog" asked what a Torero was. Then it took awhile for the moderator to answer. That's despite the fact that it shows a bullfighter clearly on the Torero emblem right there on the page.

Anyway, love to see a West coast team beat an overrated Big East team.

sounds like like a replay of the Duke game yesterday, but with the correct outcome this time.

251
DeAndre Jordan is someone to be worried about.

{254] Someone at UCLA is now searching frantically for tapes of Western Kentucky and San Diego games.

I wonder if UCLA will book a redeye flight to Tampa for one of the assistants to go watch the game in person?

Three great games today. Thanks for going to work today Bob.

Nice pick HK

Well, UCLA has perhaps the best video tape library of any school. Howland has talked about it a couple of times. I am sure they got tapes and will get more.

Horse Toilet goes from the top to the bottom in record time.

Should UCLA beat A&M, they'll face either #12 Western Kentucky or #13 San Diego in the Sweet 16.

I like it!

259 According to another site, the last time a 12/13 seed met was in 2001, Gonzaga faced Indiana State.

Man, I had to sit through some boring meetings today, including the lunch hour. Did I ever miss some excitement. I took a beating (4-4) but the USD upset makes me happy anyway. I hope most order is restored tonight.

I hope Davidson beats Georgetown. That will help off-set me picking USC to beat them.

247 - I did say UCLA "may" not face a challenge. A&M could be a tough game.

This is one of those good news, bad news things. One of my primary computers at work just stopped working, while I was typing an important document. I tried everything, and started to panic because it looked like my disk had died. I finally just retyped my changes to the document into my laptop, which I had just synchronized a few minutes earlier, so I was able to copy down anything I had changed from what was shown on the screen. I then rebooted and discovered the problem -- I had unplugged the switch sitting under my desk so it lost its network connection.

So the good news is I didn't lose anything. The bad news is I wasted a half hour because I'm stupid.

264
I had links inserted for 24 of the 32 teams today when my browser crashed and I usually hit save about every five minutes.

The one time I don't ...

Wow, Hansbrough can do a dribble through his legs. So impressive.

265 Now see, that's totally different, since that wasn't your fault.

267
But a computer science professor told me to always be backing up stuff and always expect things to fail.

268 That's true. The data loss is your fault, not the browser crash. Shame on you.

Watching Oregon is not the same without D4P.

269
That's right. I need to email you my GEDCOM file.

You can go on the hunt for more Timmermanns, Hitchocks, Zuzenaks, and Hilmeses.

270
He always expected them to lose.

272
Exactly.

271 Any time!

Oooh! I can sub for D4P! I have a Eugene connection and completely expect the Ducks to lose today. Only problem is I'm going to dinner and won't be back for a while.

I don't think I picked the Ducks in any of my 16 brackets.

274
And they're Hitchcocks. I left out a letter, but I think you would have figured that out.

You can try to track down my grandmother in the 1920 Census and find out what her job was.

277 Sunday is my day to do that stuff, so if you send it before then ...

278
I'll send it when I get home.

Go Ducks

Actually, my best bracket, the one I should have entered into the Griddle contest, the one where I would be in first place -- I picked Oregon in that bracket.

well off to my daughters softball practice, thank god for dvr

281
So you could win an Oregon STATE t-shirt!

Siena is on a roll. Could we have two #13 wins in one day?

284
Dodger Thoughts Jon didn't pick Siena.

He could cement his last place status. And what does he get instead? A new baby!

284 that would be sweet. I picked them both.

I think I picked Siena, at least I wanted to, I'll have to check to see if I followed through.

286
If you nail two 13's you should get your own sidebar.

and a Western Kentucky Hilltoppers t-shirt.

288

Didn't the TV Munsters live at 1313 Mockingbird Lane?

(number geek)

288
Or go to jail.

291 hahahaha. jokes! I get jokes!

I am not having much success at all with the games going on now.

292
I am happy I won't have to see Jason Elam in a Broncos uniform anymore.

Me either, reminds me of the first four games today.

I picked St. Joe's to beat Oklahoma .... not my best pick for an upset.

296
The Atlantic 10 is the conference of heartbreak.

294 I am (obviously) not, but Denver offered him a pretty solid deal, so I'm not terribly upset over the loss. Actually, I put him going to Atlanta a couple of weeks ago (he grew up in the area, it's indoors so it should help his percentage, and they have a punter who can kickoff). And Bowlen's really tightened the purse strings, so $9 million for a kicker isn't really in the budget.

And, as one of my friends put it, maybe now Shanahan will knock off the "3rd and Elam" calls he favors as soon as Denver gets anywhere near the 20.

Shame on you guys for all that St. John's talk and no mention of the great Erick Barkley.

My only lower seed picks tonight are 9s, so the only game that's getting me right now is Vandy/Siena. I don't think I've rooted for the Commodores before but it might be easy now: sail on to the second round Vandy!

Vanderbilt may make a game of this yet.

299
Aww yes, I forgot about him.

St. Joe's has made a mild run as well.

And Oregon's lead is down to 5.

Yes they have. That lead was 18 last time I looked.

Just to finish out the current status, Mt St Mary's is not making a run.

You can always expect Oregon to blow a lead. They aren't the greatest defenders.

307 Must be a game as ugly as an Oregon uniform, both teams shooting 38% or so. Miss St. is 0-12 on threes, OU 8-24.

308

The Ducks black unis are even worse ...

C'mon Ducks! Don't quack up on me.

294 Don't blame you. It makes me sad, though. I'll miss him, although I can understand them not wanting to pay him the huge contract given they have to keep a 2nd kicker on the roster just for kickoffs, since he couldn't do those worth a darn anymore. And he didn't quite have the distance leg he used to, but still, he was the most money kicker they ever had. I wonder if Rich Karlis is free these days...

now this is the Oregon team I'm used to seeing.

310 Bowlen would save even more money, because he'd only have to buy Karlis one shoe.

310
Never got how some kickers could nail these long field goals, but can't kickoff.

Today has not been a good day for me. Except for the Butler-Drake thing. I'm about to lose 3 more.

314 Me either. I'm behind in two of the current games.

Miss St is the only team that is helping me right now.

Vandy was making a move until their coach got T-ed up.

After watching Vanderbilt, I have no idea why I picked them for the sweet 16. I also have no idea how they got a 4th seed.

Live by the three, die by the three. Oregon, I'm talking to you!

318 I picked against them specifically because they really struggle on the road. And I think Siena was good in some sort of efficiency rating (but I might be making that up. I think I had 2 reasons).

318 I hate picking that 4/13, 5/12 Sweet 16 slot. Who can ever feel comfortable with those?

312 Things must be really tight there - they even laid off their blogger! (Andrew Mason. Seriously.)

I give up, my bracket is a mess. Dang it, Siena. And Oregon's losing too. The Pac-10 is not having a good tourney.

I picked Siena in two of the 5 pools I'm in (2 are combined with my dad). Which will hardly help me at all. But I didn't pick Vandy to go any further than the 2nd in the others, because I know they usually choke.

Presently a 5-way tie for first.

Actually make that 6.

And the Oscar goes to... that Mississippi State player for Best Supporting Flop.

Ah well, the Ducks don't deserve this one.

I'm outta here.

With Vandy's loss I'm now down 2 in the sweet 16. The Commodores shot 40%, 19% on 3s, gym is a brick house, I guess.

It will drop to a 3-way tie.

322 I know. To be honest, I really hated Mason. His blog might as well have just copied press releases. But that's to be expected, and I guess the site is top 10 in the NFL for hits (whatever that means. Probably just that we have top ten fans).

No big contracts, OC, DC, and GM leave and are replaced in house. And Bowlen has been leading the bitching about getting out of th CBA because it's economically unsustainable.

And he raise prices across the board. After a 7-9 season.

Will Ernie Kent be roaming the sidelines for the Ducks next year?

Vandy was in the 16 last year; shoulda known they couldn't repeat. Bah. And Oregon is all but officially done. Bah.

Yesterday I was 15-1, today 6-6. At least many of my losses were fun to watch.

Well, todays upsets made up for yesterday's lack of 'em.

334
And also I was off work yesterday and had to work today. Tomorrow will likely have upsets because I have to work, but Sunday won't because I'm off.

335

for the sake of my bracket-picking, you could have let me know of your work schedule ahead of time :-)

wow. Yahoo! is really quick to update. Up to 68th!

The people tied for first all have UNC winning it all.

So much for the Pac-10 being the best conference...

338 and that is exactly how I plan to catch them.

338 They won't be anymore after UCLA romps UNC for the title.

How do you get a technical foul so early?

First-place "Mike Meyer Sound" has a bracket that is entirely chalk except for the Texas A&M win in the first round.

The other two leaders had UConn losing in the finals.

The Big East has started out 5-1 with Louisville and Villanova still to play. The ACC is 3-0 with Clemson still to play (against Villanova).

342
Dakich channeled his college coach.

5-1 for the Big XII.

2-3 for the SEC with Arkansas still to finish, wins from Mississippi State and Tennessee.

Pac-10 was 3-3, right? Top 3 seeds win, bottom 3 seeds lose.

I do not see what White did to earn a foul call. Let's quit the ticky-tack stuff in the NCAA tournament.

348 Yeah.

348
Yes, the winners were seeded 1, 3, and 4. The losers were seeded 6, 9, and 10.

But Arizona State soldiers on in the NIT with two wins. Cal plays at Ohio State on Monday.

ugghhhhhhhh!

I keep getting Indiana and Arkansas confused on the screen. I have their colors reversed. I couldn't figure out why Indiana would have a guy with such weird hair on the team until I realized that the guy with the bad hair was on Arkansas.

Arkansas/ Indiana is confusing me, because they both wear red and white. I keep thinking that Arkansas is Indiana.

also, I strongly dislike Hill from Arkansas. Get a haircut, hippie.

woah. That was creepy.

355
I concur.

331 yes, he has a good relationship with the new AD and a new contract with a new arena being built.

353 Why wouldn't Indiana have a guy with weird hair? They have no standards anymore.

357
Does the madmac stand for "Mac Court"?

I think it's because Indiana's big fat center reminds me of Oliver Miller. At least, that's what I'm going with.

does the 6'4" 285 lb. guy for Indiana play for their football team too?

360

I was thinking more of a less athletic Charles Barkley

Memphis is trailing!

359 nah, last name is mcguire plus I prefer macs and sometimes I get mad. esp when my ducks suck

Not anymore.

363 Miss. St. trailed most of the game and yes I'm bitter

362 What exactly is the difference between "a less athletic Charles Barkley" and Oliver Miller? Oh, effort. Answered my own question.

364
OK.

I was still surprised at how highly seeded Oregon and the unnameds were. The unnameds played a lot of good teams. And they lost almost all those games except for one to A&M and they beat Washington State twice. They had three wins over Oregon State, which helps a lot of teams.

As for Oregon, they barely missed the play-in round in the Pac-10 tournament.

Oliver Miller made Barkley look svelte.

366 With Oregon out, we could use more Butler fans.

370
If Butler wins its next game though, you're eliminated.

(At least I think you would be.)

370

.... and Xavier fans ....

If Texas Arlington beats Memphis they will become my second favorite college program.

366 It was supposed to be fleetingly funny since UT-Arlington had an early 6-3 lead, but your acidic bitterness has overwhelmed my frothy little joke. ;)

371 There are more important things than a Japanese Baseball Card book. Not many, but they are out out there.

370 I'm on the Xavier bandwagon. (Membership expires at the regional finals. Some restrictions apply. Not valid in the USVI.)

373 Next to San Diego?

Did Verne Lundquist say "Tommy John Disease?"

My affection for USD only lasted for a game.

378 yes.

378
Better than Lou Gehrig's Surgery.

381

"today ..... I consider myself ... the luckiest 3-point shooter .... on the face of the earth"

If I'm seeing this right, there are no clean brackets in all of Yahoo. Guess that money is safe for another year.

One of the first place brackets missed only on one 8/9 game, UNLV vs. Kent State. That is pretty impressive.

The craziest was the one fan that predicted the Final Four two years ago. And I do not believe he went to George Mason.

384 Didn't he say he got them mixed up with George Washington? (and GW was pretty good that year)

383 I hope he loses two. He picked Indiana.

385
I vaguely remember a report like that.

Don't understand the hair problem. My favorite pro player was Bill Walton when he became Jeremiah Johnson even if he is embarrassed by it now.
Why does everyone want everyone to look the same? These are kids with hair not balding 40 year olds.

Hint to Arkansas: focus your defense on D.J. White.

388 You must have loved Mark Eaton.

390 Probably likes Jackie Moon too.

388 I don't like it because he's wearing a headband, and he's using it to deliberately keep his bangs in his eyes. That's fine if you're playing in an emo band, but if you wear a head band, it should be out of your eyes.

note- I have longish hair, and I wear a ripped off shirt sleeve on my head when I play sports, so maybe I'm just biased because of that.

368 I think part of it is respect from last year, another part is the Pac 10 is very good, another part is they did beat the unnameds twice and Stanford once. The unnameds get a lot of love, maybe too much, from the NCAA

370 ok, Go Butler

374 sorry, you were and I was trying to be as well. as I get older sports losses bother me much less.

392
Yeah, he has the emo/indie-hipster kind of long hair.

I think two Wildcat teams got invited to the NCAA tournament on reputation only.

392 I'm picturing that sleeve with just the shoulder part around your head, looking like a nightcap.

as I get older sports losses bother me much less

ok, I'll it say before someone else does.

It's a good thing since I'm a Raider fan.

393 You were, and 374 is just a sarcastic teasing. No apology necessary.

398 thing about me, people have a hard time reading me in person, then you introduce the internet and I am a very misunnderstood individual. if in doubt I'm joking

I'm too old to understand completely the definition of emo, but I kinda get it.

My 18-year old college freshman daughter recently attended a campus concert and was excited the opening act was Hello Goodbye, though she was surprised they were first as she didn't know the headliner, Wyclef Jean. (And she pronounced it "gene".) How many musical generations apart are we?

I accomplished a lot more at work and home when I just read the posts. commenting has made me completely useless.

396 when you said night cap, I thought of a really long old timey night cap.

That would be way funnier than the truth, which is just a tee shirt sleeve that ends up looking like a potted plant. Only the plant falling over the top is brown. So it looks like a dead potted plant.

don't get me started on emo...

400 (I first became popular musically aware in the early 70s - but even I know who Wyclef Jean is!)

For the record, if anyone mentions the name of a particular Los Angeles Dodger outfielder here, that comment will be deleted.

402 Good, because that is exactly what I meant by nightcap.

404 Whoa, when did he achieve "on notice" status?

400
I am relatively young, but I do not know who Hello Goodbye is. They sound like an indie hipster band, which would explain why I do not know them.

407 they are not. But they very much suck. More along the lines of the new synth pop stuff, only even more sugary.

Excellent work.

Villanova is making a game of it against Clemson.

There's still hope for the Big Five.

This is sad to see such a talented team in Indiana fall apart like this. Especially, since it will be last time we see Gordon and White play in college.

Who puts a big TV outdoors? It's harder to see the screen outdoors and you have to string cable out.

411 why do those guys hate Drexel so much?

While Siena's nickname is the Saints, their logo is a St. Bernard dog. Their original nickname was the Golden Warriors, then they became the Indians, but switched to Saints shortly before they crushed Jon Weisman's spirit in 1987.

412 It's fun for some of us. Perhaps they should have kept Knight. Of course he did all those bad things, like recruit cleanly, graduate players, and make his kids play hard. They couldn't let someone like that stick around.

The hair guy reminds me of Bill Wennington for some reason.

416
But Kelvin Sampson seemed like such a nice young man.

wow, Villanova leads now.

413 my neighbor recently put big screen plasma out in his garage along with a wii. he has a small tv inside.

416 how do you feel about faculty choking students. In junior high I had a teacher grab me by the throat and hold me up against the lockers. of course it was a case of mistaken identity.

404 Repko?

421
You mean you looked like Neal Reed?

and one more

doh!

421 I'm good with it in some cases. Neil Reed is one of those cases.

408 Yeah, exactly. And I guessed I misspelled it, supposed to be one word: Hellogoodbye. Their wikipedia entry describes them as "powerpop", which is a criminal insult to, oh, Badfinger and Todd Rundgren.

I have no objection to 422.

Louisville's win doesn't change the top 3.

See 409 for his objection.

C'mon Clemson, don't be chokers.

this is kind of cool:
http://tinyurl.com/2egoh6
San Diego has a band, but it traveled to Palo Alto, Calif., with the Toreros' women's team. Friday, the band that played No. 13 seed San Diego to a 70-69 overtime win against fourth-seeded Connecticut belonged to Western Kentucky. After the Hilltoppers musicians finished celebrating their team's upset of Drake, they slipped on light blue USD T-shirts and chanted "Ole, Ole, Ole, Ole" with the 30 or so San Diego students who Morales allowed on the team charter plane for the low, low price of $200 each.

In NIT action, Florida routed Creighton 82-54. The Gators will play at Arizona State Tuesday for the right to go to New York.

430 Bob didn't even deign to answer 406. That is a bad sign.

USD has a band? West Coast Conference schools tend not to go in for such things.

427 I hate the new "powerpop" almost as much as I hate the term "post punk," which, as far as I can tell, applies to anything at all, and is a terrible insult to punk.

434
Last year is the answer.

Los Longhorns stands alone atop the leaderboard with two games left.

A Villanova win would really help those of us that were dumb enough to pick Vandy for the Sweet 16. Plus it would give us a second 12-13 matchup this weekend.

Why in the world would having a shot getting wedged between the rim and the backboard be a sign of good defense?

439 well ok then

438 No one has a chance to catch him in the 1st round.

440 I was dumb enough for Vandy, but I picked Clemson. Doh!

I just listened to a Hellogoodbye song. I could only handle 5 seconds. That is complete garbage.

This is why I should not have kids. I would ground my daughter for listening to this.

If Clemson wins, there will be 7 tied for second. If Villanova wins there will be 12. This is all assuming Memphis holds on.

437 Either I hadn't noticed, or I had forgotten. At my age, they're equally likely.

445 When she was younger, she listened to Hanson. Even they are more powerpop than Hellogoodbye.

Most of our parents thought our music was complete garbage too.

445 I am aware of that band because of a 14 year old brother I own. I calmly explained to him that if I was ever forced to listen to that again, I would smack him in his head, and continue to smack him until it came out of the CD player, because that's what it sounded like to me. He is now listening to Avenged Sevenfold, which is okay because his best friend is related to the singer or something.

when he was a toddler, I had him listening to Fishbone and the Beastie Boys. Where did I go wrong?

Again I object to a DirecTV commercial. The woman in the ad assumed that if she bought an HDTV, she would automatically receive pictures that way.

Are people that dense?

450 Yes

449
I could not handle a car ride with Avenged Sevenfold either.

452 best present ever? iPod. For all parties involved.

Clemson, show some gumption. Gumption!

a technical with a 4 point lead? stupid Jay Wright. Very stupid.

450 I object to everything about DirecTV because of Chase Carey.

Gumption is something that you are born with. Kind of like a vestigial tail.

I'm surprised one of these kids isn't named Gumption.

Tim Brando should realize that the four lower seeds have never all won on the same day in the same site because they've only recently had "pod seeding." It used to be that each first round site was guaranteed to have a 1-16 or 2-15 game

Clemson is gonna lose by 1 ..... i can feel it ... :-(

Clemson was apparently not born with gumption. The tail remains unclear.

4 lower seeds winning in one site would be amazing if it happens here. Even though I'm rooting for Clemson.

I think. Frankly, being in 5 different pools I've lost track of who I'm supposed to root for where. So I'm going to stop caring until Monday. At which point I'll probably be out of 5 pools.

Villanova has a priest on their bench, so I feel like they have the upper hand.

459/462 - True, but it's still a pretty neat little trick.

Catholic schools are 3-4 today.

I did terrible today.

462 I am too lazy to figure out the Catholic schools' tournament W-L.

are we having fun yet?

Arkansas and Villanova saved me from a disastrous day.

But Bob isn't!

I find the ads for the laptop privacy screens disturbing since I have to keep track of those exact models as part of my job.

Oh wait, you said "today". What about yesterday?

Villanova is a catholic school?

Catholic schools were 2-0 on Thursday: Xavier and Marquette.

I fee like I watch way too much sports to be this bad at picking winners. Something doesn't jib here.

In case Bob missed it, Tim Brando thought he'd repeat the fact about the 4 lower seeds four more times for good measure.

472
Yes, Villanova is a Catholic school.

The Big East trends Catholic, although not to the same degree as the West Coast Conference, which has 7 of its 8 schools swearing allegiance to the Bishop of Rome.

I'm still working on Pepperdine.

There were no Catholic on Catholic first round matchups, were there?

476 Pepperdine is part of that Church of Christ athletic juggernaut along with Abilene Christian University, Lipscomb University
and, er... uh... I think that's it.

I am uninformed when it comes to Catholic schools. I just hope none make the final four. I think I hope that anyway. Bob, can you look at my bracket and tell me if I hope that?

Indiana Jon is a public school guy when it comes to Final Fours.

Scott Long is the only person to have picked a Catholic school to win the championship, i.e, he picked Georgetown.

The highest seeded Catholic school is Georgetown.

There were 3 Catholic schools that won on Thursday. Surprisingly, I left out Notre Dame.

No one can compete with The Timmermann!

I'm ashamed that more Jewish schools haven't made a good showing in the tourney thus far.

477

What about in the women's tourney, is there any Catholic girl-on-girl action going on?

Cause then ESPN could charge advertisers more for it.

Thanks Bob.

Georgetown is Catholic too? Why don't I know this? I thought Catholic schools were either Notre Dame or had St. in their name. Next thing you will be telling me there are more Mormon schools other than BYU.

Siena vs. Villanova will be the first all RCC matchup of the tournament.

And on Easter Sunday!

478 I guess that would make Pepperdine the Orange Lutheran of the West Coast Conference.

eh, I'm 100% positive that's way too obscure, and not funny.

486 Very good.

487
We're everywhere. We often pop up in unexpected places.

Marist plays DePaul in the first round of the women's tournament.

491 I'll just stick to my IUPU's. I know them better than the catholic schools.

487 Catholic schools names are sometimes obvious (e.g., Holy Cross, St. something - although St. Louis, San Diego, et al. might fool you) and others are well disguised. Examples: Boston College, Creighton, Gonzaga, the aforementioned Villanova.

Marist is Catholic too? Rik Smits doesn't strike me as a catholic guy.

Rik Smits was more likely to be Catholic than Notre Dame star Raghib Ismail.

485

Yeshiva turned down an invitation to play, once they found out their first game would be on Friday night.

496

to say nothing of Jimmy Smits ...

The NIT had Old Dominion in it, right?

One might notice that one of the most famous Hail Mary plays ever to succeed was by Boston College.

The Catholic schools didn't do as well today compared to yesterday because they were weakened from the fasting and abstaining.

485 I'd love the hear their fight songs.

Old Dominion isn't a Catholic school.

501 Terrible excuse. That never hurt Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf during Ramadan. Those Catholics need to suck it up.

The Yeshiva band does some great Klezmer stuff to get the crowd going ...

503

d'oh!

(never mind)

how about Immaculata, a former powerhouse in women's basketball?

Immaculata is pretty much a name out of Catholic school Central Casting.

does anyone remember "the Jewish Jordan?" I want to say Something Goodman. I think he's still playing in Israel. That really has nothing to do with anything, I suppose.

Tamir Goodman.

Ah, found it! Tamir Goodman.

The best Jewish basketball player now is likely Jordan Farmar.