Anyway, enjoy the preseason, way too early top 25. It is what I thought it was.

[Rivals]

Tomorrow marks the madness, and it begins at 12:20, sharp, with Butler and LSU, then five minutes later kicks off the beating that will be Memphis and CS Northridge, and then five minutes after that we’ve got BYU and Texas A&M.

At 2:30 Purdue and Northern Iowa tip off, which should prove to be a very good game; UCLA and Virginia Commonwealth, thought to be another good one in the hopper, isn’t until after 9:00 p.m., same with Illinois and Western Kentucky, which might very well finish with an upset (if you can call W. Kentucky winning an upset).

All in all, it’ll be a good day. Call in sick to work, sit back, drink some beers (the doctor’s told me it’s a good way to cure the flu), and enjoy the first couple days of March Madness, which are surely two of the best days of sports. My Final Four: Missouri, Villanova, Louisville, UNC, with UNC beating Louisville in the title game. Enjoy the madness, everybody.

Auriemma said last year that Summitt could not publicly explain her decision to end the series because “she would be put in a position of needing to back it up.”

On Tuesday, he said that if Summitt would not explain, he would.

“Pat knows … So she should just tell you why instead of saying, ‘Geno knows.’ I do know,” he said. “I already told you. She accused us of cheating at recruiting. She doesn’t have the courage to say it publicly. So yeah, Geno does know. And I’ve said it.”

It’s too bad that game was cancelled. I can truthfully say I’d watch the first five minutes of that game, which is five minutes more than I’ve ever watched of any other game.

Tennessee guard and leading scorer Chris Lofton has a minor leg injury but is expected to play Thursday against Louisville.

Team spokesman Craig Pinkerton says Lofton wore a walking boot on his foot as a precaution while the Vols rested on Monday and was expected to practice on Tuesday.

Coach Bruce Pearl told The Knoxville News Sentinel that Lofton “tweaked” his ankle in the first half of Tennessee’s 76-71 overtime win against Butler in the NCAA tournament.

The hope? Well, they’re saying it’s tweaked, and they’re saying it happened in the first half (he played the second half, so how bad can it be?). The thing that worries me? Tom Brady did something similar, “tweaking” his ankle, walked around with a boot, and then sucked it up in the Super Bowl.

If Chris Lofton is hurt, he’s got not Randy Moss to pass to.

In progress right now is the UNC/Arkansas game, which is pretty much over (UNC has doubled Arkansas’ score at the half), the Louisville/Oklahoma game, which also can be considered over (Louisville is killing them), and the only game that’s worth watching, the Memphis/MSU game, where Memphis is up eight points with 13 minutes remaning. Here’s scores of the games that went final today.

Siena 72, Villanova 84: Props to Villanova for making the Sweet 16 for the third time in four years, and this year no one really expected it. The ‘Cats shot 53 percent from the field, and held Siena to 35 percent for the game.

Miami 72, Texas 75: If you watched this game, you probably thought the same thing I did: How in the hell is Miami still hanging around? Texas coasted through most the game, went cold in the final four minutes, and before you knew it, there was a ball game to be played. AJ Abrams had 26 points for Texas, and was 6-10 from beyond the arch.

Butler 71, Tennessee 76: It took overtime, and there were moments in the game when UT looked like they were trying to let Butler win, but the Bruce Pearls move on to the next round, where they’ll either play Louisville or Oklahoma; and based on how that game is going right now, probbaly Louisville.

Davidson 74, Georgetown 70: Stephen Curry was quiet most the game, but poured it on in the final 10 minutes, causing arguably the biggest upset thus far in the tournament. Roy Hibbert, in his last collegiate game, fouled out and finished with six points.

San Diego 63, Western Kentucky 72: Hilltoppers to the Final Four!

Today featured our first upset, even though the King of Selection Sunday picked it right. Yes, I grabbed the Hilltoppers, partially because I’ve never been sold on Drake, and partially because I’m an NCAA 2K8 freak, and they’re very, very good from beyond the arch.

Here’s some finals from earlier, and some other games still in progress.

American 57, Tennessee 72: The score was closer than would indicate here, but take that for what it’s worth: Tennessee, which shoots over 40 percent on the season from beyond the arch, was wide open time and time again, only coming up short. The next time Chris Lofton is 0-5 from deep will probably be in the NBA. Don’t look for it to happen the rest of the tourney; that said, if they don’t play better, Butler will make certain that tourney will be short lived.

Davidson 82, Gonzaga 76: It used to be that the Zags were the sleeper team that everyone picked. Now they’re the team everyone expects to lose. Stephen Curry had 40 points for Davidson, who will meet Georgetown in the next round.

St. Mary’s 64, Miami 78: St. Mary’s held a five point lead at halftime, but were then outscored by twenty in the second half.

Western Kentucky 101, Drake 99: There’s a good chance there won’t be a better game played in this tournament. If you missed it, I’m sorry. And if you missed it, Youtube it. It’ll be there soon.

South Alabama 61, Butler 81: There were a lot of people picking South Alabama, being so close to home, but so much for that: Butler was up by 17 at the half, and never looked back from there.

UMBC 47, Georgetown 66: They didn’t look great, but they won in an ugly fashion that suits GU best.

Austin Peay 54, Texas 74: I wanted a more convincing win from my Final Four team, but a win’s a win.

In Progress:

San Diego 49, Uconn 46: It’s a good game going on right now, and since the tournament has lacked good games, I suggest you flip there while it’s still on. And still close.

Thoughts on each bracket:

-East

• Carolina’s No. 1, which was the obvious pick. That said, does UT, who was thought to possibly be a No. 1 seed earlier in the day, really deserve to be thrown in the same bracket as UNC and Louisville? It makes for a tough region, and if the Sweet 16 pans out as anticipated, Louisville vs. UT could be a game that reaches 200 combined points.
• It may be a long shot, but don’t be surprised if Winthrop sneaks past Washington State.
• Indiana and Arkansas may be one of the best first round games, and Indiana/UNC could quite possibly be the best second round game.

-Midwest

• After beating Texas, Kansas seemed like the obvious pick. Even as a UT fan, I won’t argue that.
• Siena will upset Vanderbilt.
• Georgetown will make the Final Four.
• It’s crazy, but I think Kansas could lose to Kent State in the second round, doing what Kansas does best, exiting the tournament early.

-South

• Memphis won’t make the Final Four again. While everyone is bent on them playing the best out of conference schedule, their in conference schedule was terrible; and beyond that, their two best out of conference opponents, Tennessee and Georgetown, were both home games, and they only came away with a W in one of them.
• Michigan State will make a nice run, but Texas will win a close one in the Elite 8 to represent the region.
• People love the run Kentucky’s made to close the season, but I don’t see them getting past Marquette in Round 1.

-West

• To me, this is the easiest region. UCLA should be able to run through it. Duke is overrated, Xavier’s an untested, weak No. 3, and Uconn isn’t quick enough to hang with the Bruins.
• Don’t be surprised if West Virginia pulls one out against Duke in Round 2. The Blue Devils are fundamentally sound, but they’re not super athletic.

The Selection Committee hasn’t made any announcements yet, and won’t until later this evening, but UNC pretty much clinched the No. 1 overall seed with their win over Clemson today.

Texas is currently down by one at halftime against Kansas, and Georgia is pasting the Razorbacks, something every fan of any bubble team doesn’t want to see. The only way UGA sneaks into the tourney is if they win this game, and with a 30-13 lead in the first half, shooting over 50 percent, and only having one turnover in 13 minutes of play, they’re well on their way to getting that spot.

I’ll have updates later on in the day when the brackets come out, but my four No. 1 seeds are:

UNC
Memphis
Tennessee
UCLA

We’ll see.

It was a convtroversial ending for anyone who watched — there was what seemed to be a pretty blatant charge against a Georgia player, and it went uncalled — but the game is over, nonetheless, and UGA walked out the victor over the Wildcats.

UGA will face Mississippi State tonight, just six short hours after their win today. As a Georgia Tech (and Tennessee) fan, it’s hard for me to actually root for Georgia, but let’s be real: UT vs. UGA is a lot more appealing than anything else; Felton’s squad is just above a high school squad, an though they’ve played great the last couple of days, I can’t see them keeping this kind of pace up against a Top 5 team.

In other College Basketball news, UNC is trailing VT right now by 6 points with 13:00 left in the second half; Wisconsin is down to Michigan State by three in the first half, Texas is up seven at halftime against Oklahoma, and Memphis beat the hell out of Division II Tulsa to win the Conference USA Championship, as if anyone really cares to win the Conference USA Championship.