A very belated congratulations to the University of Florida Gators for winning two men’s college basketball national championships in a row.

Wow, were they good this year!

The pinnacle of March Madness is upon us. The Final Four is set and there is no shortage of intruiging matchups. Florida, fresh of its 85-77 win over Oregon, has claimed the Midwest region. The Western region champion Bruins of UCLA will face off against the Gators in a rematch of last year’s championship game. The Bruins are hoping for a much better outcome than last season’s matchup in which they were run out of the building. From the East region the 2 seeded Georgetown Hoyas defeated the North Carolina Tarheels in overtime to reserve their spot in the Final Four. The Ohio State Buckeyes defeated the very athletic Tigers of Memphis to claim the South region title. In what is perhaps the most anticipated one-on-one matchups in the Final Four, the fantastic freshman Greg Oden will face off against the 7ft. 2 Roy Hibbert of Georgetown. Each is regarded as a defensive game changer who causes teams to alter shots in the lane. The star studded lineup of Florida is hoping to have repeat success against Ben Howland’s UCLA team, but the talented Arron Afflalo will do his best to keep the Gators at bay.

There’s really only one important piece of news in the Sweet Sixteen—  Vanderbilt is still in it.  Let’s face it, Vandy is never going to bring home a football championship, so basketball is their only shot at a major national title. 

March 22 is the next round, which will see the following:

Kansas vs. Southern Illinois—  I guess I’ll go with Illinois on this one.  When in doubt, I usually choose an Illinois team.

Pittsburgh vs. UCLA—  I have no real opinion on this one—  Pittsburgh?  Just because.

Ohio State vs. Tennessee—  You can’t cheer for Vanderbilt and Tennessee, so I have to favor Ohio State in this game.

Texas A&M vs. Memphis—  Clearly, as a Texan, I have to root for A&M, even if I normally favor the Longhorns.  (As you can see, my picks are in no way based on who is expected to win.  It’s all about who I like, which quite often in the NCAA Tournament gets me just about as far as people who like to think they can predict who will win.)

Then on the 23rd:

Florida vs. Butler—  Florida is, of course, favored to win, but I’d like to see Butler pull off a win.  Florida showed they could be vulnerable to a loss when they played against Purdue, so it’s not as though it’s an impossibility.  My husband went to FSU, so it’s forbidden to hope the Gators win.  I guess that leaves me cheering for Butler.

Oregon vs. UNLV—  I don’t have any strong feelings on this one.  My son likes Oregon, so we’ll go with them.

North Carolina vs. USC—  This comes down to who I want to see face Vanderbilt, when they annihalate Georgetown (okay, I’ll settle for a win).  Well, North Carolina was predicted far and wide to win the East, so I’d probably prefer that they lose.  But USC is playing better than some expected…  Hmm.  It’s a difficult decision.  USC did beat the Longhorns, which makes it hard for me to want them to win.  So, I guess I’ll be going with North Carolina for this one. 

Vanderbilt vs. Georgetown—  Do I really have to tell you who I want to win this one?

In case you want to participate in a bracket challenge but aren’t sure where to start, here are a few websites offering substantial prizes if you can pick the winners:

Rival.com offers a $1 million pot to anyone who can pick a perfect bracket.  There are other prizes for those who are somewhat less than perfect.

ESPN offers $10,000 to the person who picks the most correct wins.

CBS Sportsline is also offering $10,000.

Fox is offering a 60 inch flat screen HDTV.

AOL is offering a 42 inch flat screen plasma HDTV.

Want to create your own challenge?  Head over to Pick Hoops and set it up.

Want help picking your bracket?  Check out the following for recommendations and expert picks:

Yahoo Sports expert predictions

Mike Greenfield’s Power rankings

ESPN’s Bracketology predictions

College HoopsNet’s Predictions

Haven’t a clue who to choose?  Use Coke Zero’s Bracket-O-Matic.  (I ended up with Florida A&M versus Belmont in the Finals, with Florida A&M winning by setting it to complete Cinderella and Underdog.  That would be a tournament worth watching.  Upsets in every game—  wouldn’t that be fun?  The Twilight Zone of college basketball.)  If you’re feeling more serious, then use Team Ranking’s Bracket Brains.

My underdog favorite?  Vanderbilt.  I was there when they won the NIT in 1990, and I would love to see them win the NCAA Tournament.

The University of Florida Gators beat the UCLA Bruins to win the 2006 NCAA college basketball National Championship game. UF dominated UCLA from the start and won 73-57, which gave the Florida Gators their first championship trophy in Basketball.

The Gators have been playing great ball for most of this season and this just topped off what was an excellent season for the team from Gainsville.

I was kind of rooting for them, despite being a FSU alumnus.

Joakim Noah (son of former tennis star Yannik Noah) earned Final 4 MVP with great play . He scored 16 points, nine rebounds and a record six blocks. However, this win really was because of a great team effort.

UCLA and Florida are playing for the National Championship on Monday night. I was rooting for LSU and George Mason, but the Gators and the Bruins both deserve to be in the final game. It should be fun to watch.

I have a hard time rooting for the Gators since I went to FSU, but I think I will probably be rooting for them. Maybe I won’t root for either team and just enjoy the game. We’ll see…

So , who are you pulling for?

JJ Redick who earlier this year set a record for most 3 point field goals in a single game, was voted as the NCAA men’s basketball player of the year for 2006 by the AP.

You can read more here.

The coaches hope the NCAA will expand the Basketball tournament field. Now I don’t know about you but isn’t 64 teams enough? I mean sure, I would have loved to see my alma matta Florida State University go to the Tourney this year. And yes, there were a few other teams that I thought deserved to be in, but isn’t 64 enough?

On the other hand, the kids playing the games would enjoy it and some fans would enjoy it.

I personally think that it would work fine if they reduced the field to 32 teams, but it is fun with 64.

Take our new poll, and tell us what you think. Should the NCAA expand the Tournament field? Should all the teams play? Should they reduce the field?

Inidana hired Oklahoma basketball coach Kelvin Sampson today. You can read more about his hiring in this Houston Chronicle article.

Because of Indiana’s great basketball history it is one of the top places that basketball coaches would want to work. It’s a good move for Kelvin and we wish him the best.

Wow. I always find it cool when a lower seed makes into the final four. What’s so funny about this is that George Mason almost didn’t make it into the tournament at all.

Despite being a bubble team, they got their chance and made it to the Final Four. For more on George Mason’s vicotry over UCONN, check out this article on Fox Sports.

Well, rats! Texas is out, beaten soundly by LSU. So, that means the Final Four will be LSU, UCLA, George Mason, and University of Florida.

Well, at least George Mason won. They tried to give it away, missing a free throw and forcing another tense 5 minutes in overtime, but I think they looked good. They didn’t look like the lucked into winning.

My husband and I are disappointed that Texas is out, but we still have a team to root for— George Mason. They were ranked 11 in their bracket coming into this and should have gone home in the first or second round, but now they’re playing for a trip to the Final Four. If they make it, they will become only the second double digit team to make it to the Final Four (The 1986 LSU team, also ranked 11th, also made it). Come on,George Mason!

As you all know, Texas is the only team I care that much about, and they’re still in, after defeating West Virginia 74-71. Duke is out, defeated 62-54 by LSU.

Memphis defeated Bradley 80-64, taking out the remaining true underdog (Well, except for George Mason). Rats. They will face UCLA, after they defeated Gonzaga 73-71.

By all accounts, Ray Meyer was as great a man as he was a basketball coach. Meyer coached DePaul for 42 years, before retiring in 1984. Coach Meyer died last Friday at the age of 92.

His son eulogized his father, saying “Seven hundred twenty-four wins, Hall of Fame, four decades, one of the best coaches that has ever coached the game of basketball, and he’ll be remembered more for the type of person he was than the coach he was,” Joey Meyer said, to applause. “I think that speaks volumes about Coach.”

Well, I’m happy with the tournament, so far. Texas is still in it, and that’s the only team I really care about. Will they add to their National Championships in baseball and football? We’ll see. I think they will end up playing Duke for the regional finals.

One of the biggest surprises in the tournament, thus far, has got to be Bradley. Where did they come from? They are only the 4th 13 seed to advance to the Sweet Sixteen and the first since 1999. Will they be able to advance against Memphis this Thursday?

George Mason and Wichita State probably upset quite a few people’s bracket picks. Did you pick Wichita State to beat Tennessee? How about George Mason to beat Michigan State or North Carolina?

The funny thing is that Texas’ performance in the NCAA Tournament doesn’t even merit a mention on the university home page. Compare that to the spreads on the home page’s of the sleeper schools. They’ve obviously been keeping some web designer busy. Of course, maybe that’s because UT has their own domain dedicated to sports.

I like the energy that underrated schools bring to the tournament. For so many of the powerhouse schools, you can’t help but want to root against them. It’s a foregone conclusion that they’ll walk through the first rounds. So, I guess it’s just human nature to be somewhat pleased when they don’t. Of course, there are some curmudgeons who say there’s no such thing as a shocking upset anymore. Aww, come on. If the finals end up being Bradley versus George Mason, I don’t think I’m the only one who will be shocked.

Northwestern State University of Natchitoches, Louisiana has a student enrollment of about 10,000. They were seeded 14th and expected to go home today when they met Iowa. But when it’s March Madness time, anything is possible. Pulling off the biggest upset of the tournament, so far, Northwestern State defeated Iowa today 64-63 on a buzzer wish and a prayer shot.

There were few surprises yesterday, but the few unexpected victories are really what makes the tournament exciting. For some reason, number 12 teams defeat number 5 teams in a surprisingly high ratio. Yesterday was no exception, as number 12 Texas A&M defeated number 5 Syracuse and number 12 Montana defeated number 5 Nevada. The other noteable upset was number 11 Milwaukee-Wisconsin over number 6 Oklahoma.

Tennessee almost handed Winthrop a huge upset but pulled out a win with a las-minute shot. Gonzaga had a rough first half over Xavier, but prevailed in the end.

The rest of yesterday’s results:

Duke over Southern
George Washington over North Carolina-Wilmington
LSU over Iona
Indiana over San Diego State
Alabama over Marquette
UCLA over Belmont
Washington over Utah State
Illinois over Air Force
Wichita St. over Seton Hall
Boston College over Pacific
Florida over South Alabama