Part Duex - Or, Waiting for the Basketball to Start

What does it say about women's college basketball that I'm currently watching Caddyshack II? Although, I suppose a better question would actually be, what does it say about me that I'm watching Caddyshack II? Probably not good things. For either. Not gonna lie though, a Women's Regional Final between Arizona State and Bowling Green is not gonna pique my excitement a whole lot. What will the ole' Elite Eight juices rolling though, is a UConn (the number one seed and the closest thing women's college basketball has to an "Evil Empire") - NC State (Kay Yow is recovering from her third bout with cancer and brought this team out of a tailspin to make a legitimate run at something special in this tournament) matchup. And before you judge me, just know that I need my underdog fix okay? 'Cause the men's tournament hasn't exactly been lower seed friendly, with the "worst" seeded team in the Elite Eight the "Mighty" Ducks of Oregon.

The Ducks do represent the serious lack of appreciation that myself and the rest of the country gave to the PAC-10 this year; granted it's not the toughest conference top to bottom by any means, but they should have landed three teams in the Elite Eight, had Tim Floyd and the Trojans not managed to choke away an 18 point lead. Choke is a tough word though, the Tarheels are pretty freaking gross, and with Gibson on the bench with four fouls, USC had no shot at either rebounding or stopping the lockjob third pick in this year's draft that is Brandan Wright. Siggggggh. (He's just blatantly staying one more year, that's why the sigh.)

On tap today:

#1 Ohio State v. #2 Memphis. Has there ever been less said about a number two seed that has looked great on it's way to an Regional Final run than Calipari's Tigers? I think not. These guys are the closest thing to a darkhorse (Oregon doesn't have a prayer tomorrow) in this tournament, just solely based on lack of hype but I don't know that they can deal with the Buckeyes. Greg Oden is really starting to break out and two (or three) more big games from him and you can pencil him in for that top pick in the draft. Whenever the Celtics don't get it. Conley, Jr. is underrated given the amount of frosh talent in the NCAA's this year and the Buckeyes sport so many longballers that I don't see them losing again. Until they meet the Hoyas.

#1 Kansas v. #2 UCLA I hate UCLA. They're just not exciting and I wish Indiana had dumped them off. I also had equally unexciting Pittsburgh beating them so, um, yeah, my bracket is Donecakes. This game should be relatively low scoring--both teams sport very stout defenses, but I'll take Kansas by double digits based on their ability to score at will. Great test of Howland's defense coming tonight.