…. 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.

They say Duke gets all the calls, and anyone who looks at this and doesn’t hear the whistle in the background would have a hard time arguing that. I didn’t count 12 illegal steps, but I did count 10 or 11.

First UNC, then Pitt, then Wake Forest, now maybe Duke. It’s been a carousel for No. 1 ranked teams, and tonight might feature a game where the new number one, Coach K’s Blue Devils, fall out of first place.

They play at Wake Forest, and I don’t care what the line is, bet it. Duke on the road? Duke on the road against a good team? Duke really being No. 1 with a bunch of unathletic white guys that play good defense when the refs let them hit you?

Like I said: Don’t know the line. Don’t need to. Wake covers. New No. 1 to be determined.

Wake Forest 61, Georgia Tech 75: Were you really expecting me to headline another college game over my Yellow Jackets? This was win number 18 for Georgia Tech, who has games left against UNC and Boston College at home, and Virginia on the road. GT will need to beat Boston College and play UNC close, I think, to make sure they get a bid. Nineteen wins in the ACC is generally enough, but with teams like Michigan State — who thought to be out, according to most of the bracketology stuff I read — beating Wisconsin, things get a little trickier. Oh yeah. Javaris Crittenton, a freshman I’m quite fond of, had 22 points, 9 assists and 6 rebounds.

South Carolina 49, Florida 63: It’s never good to have to play Florida after they’ve lost, something the ‘Cocks just found out firsthand. It also doesn’t help South Carolina’s chances when they only score 13 points in a half. Al Hortford scored 20 points, and Joakim Noah didn’t punch anybody. He’s gone after cheerleaders and coaches now, so we’re thinking the next road game, maybe a fan.

NC State 64, UNC 83: The Tar Heels got their revenge from their loss to the Wolfpack earlier in the season. Hansbrough dropped 20 and freshman Brandan Wright led the team with 24. I wasn’t able to watch this game, but I get the feeling that in person Ty Lawson looked a lot better than his five points in the box score would indicate.

Vanderbilt 70, Mississippi State 83: So much for that big win against Florida. It’s usually hard to win games, though, when you allow the other team to shoot 54% from the field.

Penn State 60, Ohio State 68: Jamar Butler was 4-6 beyond the arch, and Greg Oden had a double-double (17 and 14) to help — number one? — Ohio State win its 12th straight game. While that’s impressive, the teams they’ve beaten aren’t (Tennessee was the only tournament team they beat — Michigan State and Purdue, bubble teams, were the other quality wins).

Alabama 66, Tennessee 69: It’s hard to win when your best scorer, and maybe best shooter in the nation, goes 3-15 from beyond the arch, but Tennessee found a way. Chris Lofton played like garbage, but still managed 20 points. JuJuan Smith scored 16 to help the Vols get a much needed win.