The Pac-10 is not good.

But not as bad as the SEC.

Why couldn't Saint Mary's and Davidson sneak into the big dance?  Watching Patty Mills go head to head with Stephen Curry in the NIT last night was way more exciting than anything the Big Ten has to offer outside of John Beilein's schemes.

Speaking of Patty Mills, is it just me or is it really funny seeing his picture and then hearing his voice?  They had him on First Take today but only the audio so they showed his picture.  I just didn't picture his voice sounding like the Crocodile Hunter even though I knew he was Australian.  I don't know why I got such a kick out of that.

My bracket got a little unhealthy on Sunday but it's still intact.  However, I have no idea what the UConn Huskies have been eating but I really don't like my Memphis pick right now and would gladly change my picks to UNC over UConn right now. 

That doesn't mean I'm going to pretend like I'm not a genius if it's Memphis over Pitt though.  I just figure that I've now hedged my bet and can act like a guru either way.

I should have stuck with my gut as to Siena.

Xavier will not cover the spread against Pitt.  They have no business being in the Sweet 16 but then again, they got to play Portland State and a Wisconsin team that I talked myself into being able to score more than 50 points in a regulation game.

This year's tournament seems to be lacking a lot of the talent that was running around last year.  I can't name more than 5 guys that I have any faith in as to contributing for an NBA team in the next four to five years.  Let's see, Blake Griffin, Jordan Hill . . . ok, make that 2.  There are a lot more names I could have thrown at you, but those two are the only sure fire picks I see that were in the tournament.

Ricky Rubio. 

It's a little bit frustrating that I could have just gone with chalk in the Sweet 16 and been better off.  On the bright side, it took me until yesterday to realize that I went with all 1 and 2 seeds in the Elite 8. 

Locks for the Final Four:  Louisville, UNC.

Zero chance for the Final Four:  Xavier, Xavier, and Xavier.

Scary team that nobody pays any attention to:  Gonzaga.  Don't forget that UCLA survived a thriller with Western Kentucky last year en route to the Sweet 16.  Also, as much as I like how UConn is playing, Purdue is a very good team that would have been a 2 or 3 seed if not for health problems all year.

There are a lot of good coaches left in the tournament.  I expect to see some good games as a result.

The elephant reared its ugly head in the early rounds.  How bad has the officiating been?  Watching the Syracuse game I wondered whether the refs had orange shirts on under their jerseys.  And as much as it pains me because I can't stand them, USC got hosed.  Taj Gibson should not have put himself in the position to be called for fouls and maybe Tim Floyd is due some blame, but why on Earth do NCAA officials feel the need to foul out everybody's best big man?  It just makes no sense.  If Pendergraph and Gibson don't get some tough calls I think we may have had 3 teams left in the tournament from the Pac-10.  Also, how many seconds does a Syracuse player have to be in the key for a three second call to happen?  Onuaku was looking up for a rebound during so many extra passes I was thinking he might develop a neck problem.  Just garbage officiating and that's only two games.  I'm sure Western Kentucky and Marquette fans have some bones to pick as well.

I'm trying to figure out who the most annoying player to watch is.  I think that it's Tyler Hansbrough, but I could see him being one of those really nice guys, kind of like a slightly better version of Mark Madsen.  You know how you want to hate Tim Tebow but he goes to third world countries and tries to keep the spirits of prisoners in local jails up.  I could see Hansbrough being like that.  So instead of Hansbrough, I'm going to go with Greg Paulus.  He has that David Spade in P.C.U. feeling to him.  Just the sense I get. 

Tim Floyd is like a mix of Danny Ocean and Rusty from Ocean's 11 only the exact opposite.  Could you picture a better candidate for a person heading to AA straight after the game than Floyd?  And by AA, I mean the closest possible location that has alcohol.  My friends and I had a prop bet going before the USC game against Boston College.  We tried to guess when Floyd's suit jacket would come off and when he'd loosen his tie.  I guessed 3-minute mark and 6-minute mark respectively.  I was wrong.  Both bets were done before the tip-off even occurred.  The best part was that the camera was on him as he loosened his tie.  I was actually shocked that he didn't pick up a dumb technical foul against Michigan State with 30 seconds left in the game.  Just seemed like a Tim Floyd thing to do.

J'Nathan did not disappoint.

Clark Kellogg needs to get back into the studio.  I like his analysis a lot more than his play by play.  Jay Bilas needs to get out of my life.  He's the basketball version of Joe Buck.  If Bilas is doing the Duke/Villanova game I may boycott on principle. 

Gus Johnson is the anti-Bilas.  I really hope he gets the Missouri/Memphis game so he can go nuts over all 165 points.

Dominic James played on a broken foot.  He has that killer look and you could see it even while he was on the bench.  I'm sad we didn't get to see Marquette's big three all healthy in this tournament.  They would have been fun to watch and I could have seen them going to the Final Four.  Plus, their coach looks like a grown up Mini Me.

We could have a Final Four with Rick Pitino/Tom Izzo from the Midwest, Jim Calhoun/John Calipari from the West, Roy Williams/Mark Few/Jim Boeheim from the South, and Mike Kyzyzewski from the East.  That's pretty good.  I'm proud of myself that I no longer have to google Coach K's name for the correct spelling.

I hope you're as excited for the Sweet 16 as I am.  And don't worry, my picks work 60% of the time, every time.