My NCAA Bracket

As the games are about to tip off let's take a few minutes to go over my NCAA pool.

My Bracket at a Glance:

• National Champion: Memphis
• Final Four: Louisville, Memphis, UNC, Villanova
• Sleeper team: Purdue, Boston College

West Bracket
Starting in the West bracket I clearly have faith in Memphis, who I have picked to win the national championship. I have UConn advancing to the Sweet 16 after defeating BYU but the Big Ten champions from Purdue will knock off the Huskies. Purdue will beat Washington in the second round.

Marquette will surprise a few people by advancing to the Sweet 16 after beating Big XII champion Missouri. But the road comes to an end when they face Memphis in Glendale. Memphis will beat Marquette after knocking off Maryland in the second round.

Midwest Bracket
Louisville will sprint to the Final Four, where they will lose to Memphis, but more on that later.

Siena will take out Ohio State in the first round. Utah will win two games against Arizona and Wake Forest. Dayton will upset West Virginia but will be knocked out by defending champion Kansas. Boston College will handle PAC-10 champion USC and will take out regular season Big Ten champion Michigan State in a stunner. Kansas will send the Boston College Eagles packing and then pack themselves home after losing to Louisville.

South Bracket
North Carolina will have an easy run through the South bracket, overcoming one game of poor shooting and being aided in another due to poor officiating. Butler will take out LSU before bowing to UNC. Western Kentucky will earn the upset of the first round by taking out Illinois. Gonzaga, who used to be a Cinderella story, will knock off Akron and Western Kentucky before losing to North Carolina.

Temple will win the first game and take Syracuse to the wire, but the Orange will advance after beating the Owls and Stephen F. Austin. The Clemson Tigers will beat Michigan in the Wolverine's first tournament game in a long time. Clemson will also knock out the second #2 seed in the round (Michigan State losing to Boston College) by beating Oklahoma. Syracuse will beat Clemson and then get out classed in a game against North Carolina.

East Region
Call me a homer, but I have Villanova going to the Final Four as the Big East's second Final Four team. The Wildcats will benefit from playing the first two games against American and UCLA (who will beat VCU) at the Wachovia Center. Duke will advance to the Sweet 16 after beating Minnesota, but will fall to Villanova.

Pitt will breeze by Eastern Texas-San Antonio but struggle with Tennessee, escaping with a victory. Xavier will also give Pitt a fight to the end but will come up short when it counts against the Panthers. Pitt and Villanova will meet for the tournament's first match-up between conference foes.

Final Four
North Carolina will beat Villanova and Memphis will win it all.

So the question for you is "Who you got?" I'll post a status update on my Final Four after each round of the tournament.