Welcome to the madness. College basketball fans are now enjoying my favorite time of year. The NCAA Tournament beats the pants off Mardi Gras in New Orleans, Carnival in Rio and even Christmas in New York. And for all of you who don't know what I am talking about, get out of the G-Zang library already. The men's college basketball tournament is the single greatest "playoff" in all the sports world. Hopefully, all the locals can remove the tissues from their eyes and realize that Boston College wouldn't have done anything in the tournament anyways. Honestly, Troy Bell was the third-best player in the conference behind Georgetown's Mike Sweetney and Syracuse's freshman sensation Carmelo Anthony.

Now that we can all properly concentrate on our brackets, I find it to be my civic duty to share with all of you my predictions for the road to New Orleans. After all, you are reading the choices of Mr. Bracketology himself. I am the defending champion for five different NCAA pools from last year alone (of course, there were no monetary wages).

We will start in the South region, because it features the defending national champion Maryland Terrapins. In the first round the following teams will win: Texas, LSU, Connecticut, Stanford, Maryland, Xavier, Colorado and Florida. Texas, Connecticut, Maryland, and Florida will then advance to the Sweet 16. Here, though, it becomes a little dicey. I believe that all four of these teams have Final Four potential, but I love T.J. Ford and Texas to take out Connecticut before Maryland triumphs over Billy Donovan's Florida Gators.

Remember, no team has ever reached the Final Four after losing their last three games of the year. In the end, T.J. Ford will make like Jason Williams before him and be overmatched by my choice for Trailer Park player of the year, Maryland point guard Steve Blake. The Terps, under the steady leadership of head coach Gary Williams, will make it three straight Final Four appearances. Note that at least one team from the ACC has made it to the Final Four in 14 of the past 15 years, including the last two champions (Maryland and Duke).

The East is easily the strangest bracket, as no particular team stands out among the pack. That said, Oklahoma, North Carolina State, Mississippi State (MSU), Louisville, Pennsylvania, Syracuse, Auburn and Wake Forest will all reach round two. I think that the wicked smart kids from Philly will beat the SATs out of Oklahoma State. Oklahoma will squeak by the Wolfpack to reach the Sweet 16, accompanied by Mississippi State, Syracuse and Wake Forest. If Mario Austin gets two bounces his way, then we are talking about MSU as a three seed, but instead they are going to outplay an experienced Oklahoma squad and the one-dimensional Deamon Deacons to reach their first Final Four since the mid-90s. I just love teams who play tough defense and have endured a rigorous regular season schedule.

The Midwest looks a little traditional for my standards, but the matchups lack real flavor. Round one winners are Kentucky, Oregon, Weber State (over Big Ten champion Wisconsin), Tulsa, Missouri, Marquette (over local favorite Holy Cross), Alabama and Pittsburgh. Round two will see far fewer upsets, as Kentucky, Tulsa, Missouri and Pittsburgh survive and advance. The standard 1-2 matchup seems to be the obvious choice to reach the Elite Eight. Finally, Kentucky will stand alone at the top of the Midwest bracket. The fact that Atlantic 10 champion Dayton was granted a four seed makes me sick to my stomach. They played in a futile conference with the likes of George Washington University and the University of Rhode Island.

The West is tough. I'm talking Dudek final exams tough. Arizona, Gonzaga, Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Illinois, Central Michigan, Duke, Memphis and Kansas will all make it another weekend. Arizona will have no problem making it to the round of 16 and they'll be joined by Illinois, Duke and Kansas. That's right, for those playing along, I am taking the first four seeds to win through. Typically, one bracket does play out in such a fashion. Arizona will destroy Illinois, though, and Kansas will slip past a tough Duke team to set up a match-up for the ages. In the end, Lute Olsen's Wildcats will be cutting down the nets at the regionals in Anaheim, CA with the strong inside-outside combination of seniors Jason Gardner and Luke Walton.

I expect the pressure of Kentucky's 28-game winning streak (counting predicted tournament victories) to mount and Tubby Smith & Co. to succumb to the hype. Nobody expected much from Maryland all season, but the Terps have won big games and often play above their potential. At tournament's end, Maryland will be the first repeat champion since the Duke Blue Devils of the early 90's; Terrapin fever will reign down on the French Quarter.



So, you read it here first. My pick to win it all is an upset special on paper, but not according to the intangibles.