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NIT:
Umass over Stephen F. Austin
Syracuse over Robert Morris
Florida State over Akron
Creighton over Rhode Island
Ohio State over NC Asheville
Southern Illinois over Oklahoma State
Maryland over Minnesota
Arizona State over Alabama State

CBI:
Virginia over Richmond
Old Dominion over Rider
Ohio over Brown
Houston over Nevada

NCAA Tournament Opening Round Game:
Mt St. Mary's over Coppin State

West Region First Round Preview:

1 UCLA vs. 16 Mississippi Valley State
UCLA should roll here behind Collison, Love, and all the rest of their talent.

Player to Watch: Kevin Love
Love is one of the best players in the country and hopefully his back spasms will not affect his play here (although UCLA shouldn't need much from him). If he can rebound well then UCLA's shooters will get second chance oppurtunities to score points all night long.

Key to the Game: MVST's trying to prevent huge UCLA runs.
Playing in Anaheim UCLA will have a lot of fans on hand to watch them play so if Mississippi Valley State wants to have any chance they might want to keep them out of the game. The only way to do that is to jump on the Bruins early and show them that they can play as well.

The Pick: UCLA 87, Mississippi Valley State
UCLA is just way too talented. The Bruins are looking to run through the West and looking at the bracket they know there isn't much in their way to prevent them from getting to a third consecutive Final Four.

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8 Brigham Young vs. 9 Texas A&M
This should be one of the better games of the first round because both teams are pretty even.

Player to Watch: Joseph Jones
Jones shoots the three at a very high percentage, 40%, and his ability to stretch the BYU defense will mean everything here. If he can score then others like Dominique Kirk, Josh Carter, and Donald Sloan can enjoy success as well.

Key to the Game: BYU's ability to rebound the basketball.
The Cougars rebound well led by Lee Cummard (15.8 ppg), Trent Plaisted (15.6 ppg), and Jonathan Tavernari (13.1 ppg). If they can do that against the Aggies then they will have a great chance to win.

The Pick: Texas A&M 71, BYU 64
A close game until the final stretch when the Aggies pull away with a few late jumpers

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5 Drake vs. 12 Western Kentucky
Two of the best mid majors in the country meet in Tampa, and it should be fun to watch.

Player to Watch: Klayton Korver
Kyle's younger brother has the same shooting touch and can also rebound the ball pretty well. Korver and Emmenecker will be huge in this game.

Key to the Game: Can Drake keep hitting 3s?
Drake hits about as many threes as any team in the country. The Bulldogs rely on 45% from Josh Young, 35% from Leonard Houston, and 43% from Jonathan Cox. If they all shoot like that then any team will have a tough time beating them.

The Pick: Drake 71, Western Kentucky 63
Drake just shoots the ball too well to lose here but the Hilltoppers play well.

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4Connecticut vs 13 San Diego
Connecticut against a red hot San Diego squad...this one should be fun.

Player to Watch: Hasheem Thabeet
Thabeet blocks 4.5 shots a game and his mere presence can affect a players shot. If he can add some offense to go with his outstanding defense then Connecticut should roll.

Key to the Game: San Diego's getting to the line
If San Diego can get Thabeet up in the air on shot fakes and get him in early foul trouble then they could take a huge part of Uconn's defense out of the game.

The Pick: Connecticut 75, San Diego 69
San Diego sticks around but Jeff Adrien and A. J. Price score too much and make too many players to lose for the Huskies.

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6 Purdue vs. 11 Baylor
Purdue's loss early in the Big Ten tournament has Boilermaker fans wondering if they could lose quick here too.

Player to Watch: Chris Kramer Kramer is Purdue's emotional leader and the Boilermakers will rely on his leadership big time here. If he can make plays and get into the game then the whole team will start playing better.

Key to the Game: Rebounding: Which team shows up for both teams?
Purdue and Baylor have both been extremely inconsistent this season. Both cost themselves a few seeds by losing early in conference tournaments. Will both teams show up for this one? I hope so.

The Pick: Baylor 65,Purdue 61
Purdue has been decent all season but I believe they are still a little overrated because the Big Ten is down. Baylor pulls the upset with their athleticism.

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3 Xavier vs. 14 Georgia
Georgia just made a miracle run to get here but can they keep it going?

Player to Watch: Drew Lavender
Lavender has led the Musketeers all the way to a 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament. His assist to turnover ratio is 2.5 to 1 which is pretty good. If Lavender plays well then Xavier plays well.

Key to the Game: Georgia's ability to hit jump shots.
Sundiata Gaines can score at will and he did during the SEC Touranment. His 14.9 ppg and 6.1 rpg average is fantastic. Gaines is the heart of Georgia.

The Pick: Xavier 75, Georgia 68
Georiga plays like the team that just won the SEC Tournament but Josh Duncan and Lavender are too good to lose this early.

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7 West Virginia vs. 10 Arizona
Two teams that can play with anybody, but also somewhat inconistent.

Player to Watch: Chase Budinger
Budinger is one of the best all around players in the Pac 10. He can score in a variety of ways and shotos 38% from the three point line.

Key to the Game: Which Arizona teams shows up?
To clear up my question is it the team that started the year 15-6 or the team that finished the yaer 19-14? Arizona better hope it's the team that started the year so strong.

The Pick: Arizona 74, West Virginia 67
You know I didn't want to pick the inconsistent team in Arizona but they are loaded with talent.....how can they not win some games? That's the question of their season.

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2 Duke vs. 15 Belmont
Duke should win going away but Belmont does have some tournament experience.

Player to Watch:Greg Paulus
Man has this kid grown up. He's probably the player Coach K dreamed of when he came to Duke, and Paulus now seems to shine brightest in the biggest games. Those games are probably down the road for Duke but here I'm sure he will light up Belmont for at least a few deep triples.

Key to the Game: Limiting down Duke's threes.
We all know this guard oriented Blue Devil teams focuses on threes. If Belmont can get a hand in the face of Duke's shooters then they may be able to stick around for a little while at least. Plus Duke has no inside presence, Belmont needs to get rebounds in bunches.

The Pick: Duke 86 Belmont 68
Duke is just too talented, and they move on to the second round.

South Region First Round Preview:

1 Memphis vs. 16 Texas-Arlington
The Tigers will run, run, and run and will outdo Texas Arlington here. This one shouldn't be close.

Player to Watch: Chris Douglas Roberts
Douglas-Roberts is one of the best players in the country. He can score, dish, rebound....basically do anything Memphis needs him to do to get a victory.

Key to the Game: Can Texas-Arlington slow down the Tigers?
Probably not considering no one has done it all season. UT-Arlington has to try though and the first way to slow down Memphis is cause mistakes by ultra talented freshman Derek Rose.

The Pick: Memphis 96, Texas Arlington 65
Memphis just scores way too much for any team to compete with them for long.

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8 Mississippi State vs. 9 Oregon
Both are fresh off quick exits in their conference tournaments. The winner hopes to give Memphis all they want and more in round two.

Player to Watch: Tajuan Porter
Oregon has not bee