UNC beat Oklahoma in a game where the Sooner didn’t look like they knew what to do when Blake Griffin didn’t carry them on his shoulders. Michigan State beat a Louisville team that just didn’t look like it knew it was doing, period.

UNC advances to play for in its second Final Four in as many years, where it will meet the feisty Villanova Wildcats, who needed a last second driving basket to sink Pitt in the waning moments.

In the first game this afternoon, Michigan State beatdown Louisville, who couldn’t dribble, couldn’t rebound, and couldn’t shoot. MSU hit big shot after big shot, and when they did happen to miss, one of their guys was there to grab the board.

Don’t be surprised to see UCONN and UNC in the finals. Right now, both teams just look too good to lose.

This tournament hasn’t seen too many buzzer beaters, but such wasn’t the case during the Villanova/Pitt matchup. What looked like it might be a five second violation turned into a perfect catch, pass, and drive. Villanova plays UNC in the Final Four, who after today’s beatdown of Oklahoma, looks almost unstoppable.

If you went through the bracket when they were first given, and you said, “You know what, I think I’m going to have the top 16 teams in the Sweet 16,” then you’re probably doing pretty well right now, given that Arizona and Wisconsin (both 12 seeds) are the only two “surprise” teams in there, if you can call them that.

The best game waiting in the flats? Mizzou and Memphis sure looks tasty, and I think watching guards play guards in Duke and Villanova will be fun. My original Final Four was Villanova, Mizzou, Louisville and UNC. If I had to go back and change it, I’d swap Mizzou out and insert Uconn, who’s been beating teams like they’re a high school Texas all girls team (it’s a hundred point reference, people).

The rest should be entertaining. The tournament resumes this Thursday.

…. everyone called in sick to work, even a mouse (yeah, couldn’t think of anything better than rhymed with house).

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.

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!

Conference Tournaments have been kicked off, and some bubble teams are doing their best to punch their way into the tournament, while others have done their best to punch their way out. Here’s what’s going on.

-Villanova: They lost bad to Georgetown, but still have 20 wins, and if you gave them a win in that very controversial game against Georgetown a few weeks back, they’d have 21. They’re on the outside looking in, but depending on how the rest of the tournaments finish up, they may make it.

-Syracuse: Say hello to the NIT for the second consecutive year.

-West Virginia: They were a bubble team, per se, but they were probably more in than out. After beating UCONN today, you can probably stamp them in, barring a miraculous screw up by the selection committee.

Games to watch:

-Pitt vs. Louisville: If Pitt can win this game, they’re in. If Louisville can win the Big East, they’re a two seed. Both have something at stake.

This is last night’s horrible call, which really overshadowed an otherwise great game. Instead of talking about what a game it was — and what an upset it could’ve potentially been — we’re talking about a terrible call, one of the worst I’ve seen in a long time.

A part of me was happy, though, because the Texas/Kansas game had already started and, really: Would you rather watch Nova/GU or Kansas/Texas?