Eight games are in the books. Are your brackets screwed yet? I am sure anxious Memphis boosters lost a few pounds in sweat this afternoon. Not to mention schmuks like myself who wagered NO on the prop bet that no 16-15-14 seeds would win a game. The funny thing is as I was getting caught up in the game, I naturally found myself pulling for the Matadors. For about 20 minutes, I had forgotten all about that bet. March Madness, where we prove that Jamie Mac has a heart. In case you aren’t fully lathered in the event yet, take a double dose of Gus. That first highlight clip is from all the way back in 1999, during what was Gonzaga’s debut in the NCAA Tournament. What an entrance indeed as the Zags fell a few possessions shy of the Final Four. They’ve been a fixture in this tournament every year since, evolving from underdog darling to Final Four contenders. And, during that time, the University of Michigan made nary an appearance in the NCAA Tournament. That will change in a few hours. We’re moments away from finally seeing the Maize and Blue chase a shining moment. You know what? It feels freaking awesome. I’m not going to bore you with a preview as MgoBlog, UMHoops, Maize ‘N Brew and Varsity Blue have been breaking down this game all week. Everything you need to know you can find somewhere on those sites. My quick take on the game is that Michigan has a better puncher’s chance than a breakdown of the numbers would indicate. If ever a team was on the downturn, it’s Clemson. They’ve labored to a 7-8 record in the final 15 games and dropped four of five entering this tournament. They were run off the court by last place Georgia Tech in the ACC Tournament, a result that caused finger pointing, multiple team meetings and surprise practices. Clemson will come in refocused, but there is so much more pressure on them. Their fans are grumbling about hot starts leading to late winter fades. They were trounced in this tournament’s opening round last season. Michigan, meanwhile, is playing with house money. Nobody expected them to get this far. I’ll take the loose team with nothing to lose any day in March Madness over a team that’s a few bad possessions away from a self-implosion. The Tigers have a ton of scoring and look like an imposing collection of talent on paper. But, I remain unconvinced that Manny Harris and Deshaun Sims wont be the two best players on the court. Trevor Booker is a great forward for the Tigers, but he was ranked more than 20 spots lower than Sims by the recruitniks when they both arrived in the same freshmen class. Tonight would be a nice night for Sims to prove those projections correct. As for do-it-all Manny Harris, he can easily outshine his perimeter counterpart KC Rivers and it would not come as a shock. Clemson has not seen any zone since league play began. They have seen no examples of the 1-3-1 zone, let alone a team that runs it as well as Michigan. The Tigers are a good three-point shooting team, but we’ve seen the Wolverines use that zone to push teams out of their comfort range and force them to throw up junk treys. If Michigan can contain Clemson’s long range shooting and value the basketball when they’re on offense, they will be in this game and have a chance to win in the end. Besides, I’ll take Beilein over Purnell in a coaching matchup every day of the week. Will Michigan win? It’s 50/50. But, I have no qualms backing them at the window catching 5.5 points. Go Blue and enjoy the game. Here’s some quick links to get you prepped for the rest of the action tonight. The former Big 10 Wonk breaks down the tournament leaning heavily on efficiency stats. I wonder if he's uneasy about his pick of Memphis after today? #4 Gonzaga vs. #13 Akron. Line, Zags -14, O/U 133.5 Zag bloggers are asking who exactly are the Akron Zips. I’ll tell you: they’re a surprisingly deep team, that’s battled inconsistency issues, well, forever and are currently coached by Lebron James’ high school coach. Despite their depth, I cant imagine this team throwing together a perfect enough game to keep pace with the Gonzaga thoroughbreds. #5 Illinois vs. $12 Western Kentucky. Line, Illini -5, O/U 123 The other side of the Portland brackets pits Illinois against Western Kentucky out of the Sun Belt. A preview of the entire Portland subsets reveals the Illini to only have a 33-percent chance of surviving the weekend. Without lead guard Chester Fraizer those odds appear better than most are willing to give. The Hilltoppers have become the trendy upset pick by all the experts. Channeling his inner Chuck-D, our Illini blogger compatriot don’t believe the Hilltopper Hype. For my Big 10 total bet on wins, I hope they’re right. My take: Playing without Frazier did not hurt the Illini against Michigan. And, this is not the same WKU team that won a couple games in last year’s field. They’re hot shot guards have departed and I don’t know if the youth of WKU in those spots is ready for the March Madness spotlight. Of course, the same could be said about the Illini, whose main core is making its debut in this field. I like the interior presence of Davis and Tisdale a lot in this game. Eventually those jum;s shots that Tisdale appears to jump downward in will push the Illini across the finish line first. #7 Texas vs #10 Minnesota. Line, Texas -4.5, O/U 126.5 In their comprehensive overview of this game, From The Barn illustrates the different perceptions these two programs and fan bases have of tonight first round game. The Gophers hope to continue a successful season. The Longhorns, meanwhile, are trying to salvage what has been an uneven campaign. In an in-depth commentary and Q/A exchange I’ve seen, Burnt Orange Nation and Gopher Nation pepper each with back and forth commentary. BON also has the scoop on who The Wire characters are pulling for. There’s an obvious talent disparity in this game. The Longhorns have a roster full of former Rivals top 150 recruits. The Gophers have just one, Lawrence Westbrook. Despite all the talent, the Horns have been prone to clunkers all season long. They don’t really have a leader on offense. Dogus Balbay emerged as a point guard, but he will not shoot the ball. Look for Tubby Smith’s defense to play a four-on-five game until Balbay begins to hurt them from the outside. Both teams have great size up front and if the refs let some of the action go, this is going to a war of wills all night on the interior. This might just be the most physical first round game on the docket. #6 UCLA vs #11 VCU. Line, UCLA -8, O/U 136.5 There wont be many one-on-one matchups better than the one we'll see in Philadelphia tonight between Bruins Darrin Collison and the Rams Eric Maynor. Both point guards could be first round draft choices in May. It's a scout's dream. The Bruins have some injury issues, though. Collison is nursing a sore tailbone. Drew Gordon has a shaky knee. Both appear to be ready to go and their situations, among many other game-day issuea are spelled out in Bruins Nation latest edition of Ben Ball. Other than the Michigan game, this is the first round game I've looked most forward to. #3 Villanova vs #14 American. Line, Nova -15, O/U 128 Playing in Philadelphia, the Wildcats have an obvious home court edge tonight. Its hard to conjure up an upset here. Villanova's best and worst case scenarios for the weekend are outlined by a partisan blogger. As for American, expect alums Judge Judy, Goldie Hawn and the chick from Ugly Betty to be waving the pom-poms. #2 Duke vs #15 Binghamton. Line, Duke -22, O/U 137 Can Duke regain its March mojo? They probably wont be threatened tonight by Binghamton (although we haters can hope). It might sound backwards, but none of the guys on this year's team have experienced any of the tradional Duke March moments. The message out of Durham states that Duke is refreshed and in its best March position in several years. You still have a couple hours to get down on onre of the more fascinating prop bets on the board. Will Binghamton ever have a lead tonight. I hope this wins easy for whomever backed Binghamton. At any rate, it makes the opening moments of this game that much exciting to follow. Duke is favored by 22 tonight. They've failed to cover in their last four NCAA first round games. Interesting. #2Oklahoma at #15 Morgan State. Line, OU -15.5, O/U 136.5 Should Michigan advance, they could be in trouble against the Sooners. No, not because of all-orld Blake Griffin. I'm concerned that legendary bad ass Samuel Jackson picked OU to win the whole thing Crimson and Cream (which sounds like an IU blog.....hey, fawkers, you can have Kelvin back!) gives us everything you ever needed to know abot tonight's game with morgan state The compelling storyline with Morgan State revolves around the return to the NCAA Tournament of head coach Todd Bozeman. For those who dont remember him, he was the coach of the Cal Bears when Jason Kidd was there. The club had a large upset of the two-time defending champion Duke Blue Devils en route to the Sweet 16. Unfortuneatly, Bozeman could not keep the Bears at such heights after Kidd left. Desperation led to recruiting violations. The punitive damage to Bozeman was akin to a ban. Finally removed of a show cause restrictions (meaning schools would need to convince the NCAA why they should hire him. Trust me, no school will do that), he landed as head coach of the MEAC Morgan State Bears. It's a nice story of redemption. But, if Kelvin Sampson recovers from his show-cause punishment and returns to the tournament as a head coach, I will biiter. Predictions, sure to go awry Hey, hey! Cashed the first three. But, I wont be throwing a perfect tournament as it looks like UW +6 is going down. I'll take the 3-1 start. Three dead Cinderellas gets me closer to the 14-15-16 prop, only nine to go. And, good for Purdue to not choke that game away. That's one Big 10 win, six to go. Which brings me to tonight's conundrum. There are three Big 10 games tonight, but I've already invested somewhat in their results. To I add to the pot? Do I hedge? Or, just sit back, enjoy the games and invest elsewhere? I like that last option the best. *** VCU +8 over UCLA. I hate going against the Bruins in March. But, I like backing Colonial teams just as much. The Colonial is 10-4-2 ATS this decade in the tournament. Their tourney champ is 6-2-2 ATS in the first round. VCU is 4-0 ATS in three appearances since 2000. My favorite mid-major conference, my favorite mid-major player in Eric Maynor, it all adds up. The Bruins are not vintage. They have gone through long dry spells in every big game this season and have had a hard time finding its second half scoring touch. That's not good news against the relentless Rams. Maynor will keep coming at them and any scoring drought will put UCLA on serious upset alert. Maynor will outshine a banged up Collison. I like Larry Saunders up front going up against UCLA. He's a lot like Sims in that he's a one-man show up front. I would hate this matchup last year for Saunders, but this season against the young Bruins, I think he stars like he did in the CAA finals. *** Michigan +5.5 over Clemson. I've documented Beilein's profit making numbers in March enough to know I will take him catching points against a coach who has never won an NCAA Tournament game. *** Minnesota +4.5 over Texas. If Kansas State can win in Austin, the Gophers can win this on a nuetral court. But, I'll gladly take the points. I'll always take Tubby Smith in the postseason when people doubt him. I learned my lesson fading him last week. Sorry, Orlando. I think Nolan locks up Augustine and the Gophers turn Texas into enough of a rudderless ship to make this a final possession game. So, yeah, I guess I grabbed some Big 10 action after all.