First, I apologize for the delay in writing my Elite 8 piece. I was a tad, um, incapacitated after the Kansas-Michigan State game Friday night. My boys lost (or so I am told. I have found it much easier to just black-out the final two minutes of the game and assume they won) and I have been having a tough time with it!

So anyway….

Saturday, Pittsburgh met Villanova and UConn met Missouri. My picks were right on the money! UConn and ‘Nova are advancing to the Final Four. I’m saving my recaps for Monday’s Top, Deals, Steals & Scores but let’s just say that as of right now, that Pitts-’Nova game is the game of the tournament. The ending was just unreal–it’s the reason we all love the Madness so much and will not be pried away from the end of a single game during March.

Today’s matchups are Louisville-Michigan State and Oklahoma-UNC. Games are starting soon so I’m just going to do a quick overview. I will be doing a more in depth analysis of the Big Name Player Matchup in the Oklahoma-UNC game.

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#2 Michigan State (26–6)

• Big 12
  
• Location: East Lansing, MI
• Mascot: Spartans
• School Colors: Green and White
• Coach: Tom Izzo (for shizzo)
• Players: Kalin Lucas, Raymar Morgan, Goran Sutton, Durrell Summers, Delvon Roe, Chris Allen (not to be confused with cutie Kris Allen from American Idol….)
• Claim to Fame: They have won 2 Championships. The most notable was the 1979 game that pitted Spartan Ervin “Magic” Johnson against Indiana’s Larry Bird. Perhaps you have heard of them? That win fueled the rivalry that extended into the NBA with Magic on the Lakers and Bird ont he Celtics.

#1 Louisville (28-5)

• Big East Champs
• Location: Louisville, Kentucky (wonder if that’s close to Morehead….)
• Mascot: Cardinals
• School Colors: Red & Black
• Coach: the Rick Pitino
• Players: Edgar Sosa, Terrence Williams, Preston Knowles, Earl Clark, Samardo Samuels
• They aren’t just a #1 seed, they are THE #1 seed. Their season and conference play was so impressive that the committee picked them as their fave!

My Amazing and thoughtful insights and pick: I’d love to say I hold a grudge over Mich State for their win over my boys, the Kansas Jayhawks on Friday night, but truth is, it was a great game and I can’t be mad. My friend Erik was even courteous enough to not rub in the whole “my team is better than your team” all night long. For his sake, I actually hope the Spartans rally and give the Cardinals a tough game. He’s hoping to go see his boys play in the Final Four in Detroit next weke.

Good luck with that!

Like I said, I’m all for a great game and part of me does hope they pull it out, but Louisville rallied back from their close call with Siena in the Trendy & Tenacious Top 32 and completely crushed the Arizona Wildcats by like 40 points. Remember, they are a #1 seed for a reason! Plus, if Louisville stays in the game, there is a chance my dad will keep watching college b’ball and we are really trying to convert him from the NBA!

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#2 Oklahoma (25-7)

• Big 12
  
• Location: Norman, Oklahoma
• Nickname: Sooners
• Sooner than what damnit!: I’ve been curious about their name for a long time! It’s actually a throwback to the early days of land settlement. People were given markers and allowed to claim their land, but a “sooner” was someone who snuck in before they were officially allowed to and staked their claim anyway! (Far & Away with Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman when they were still together and he wasn’t crazy, shows a great example of this….)
• Mascot: Sooner Schooner. LOL! It’s actually an oldtime wagon (think Oregon Trail game….) pulled by two horses, Boomer and Sooner
• School Colors: Crimson and Cream
• Coach: Jeff Capel
• Arch Rivals: Texas. It’s called the Red River Shootout. And also Oklahoma State.
• Facts: All I know is that Sam Bradford is the QB for the Sooners football team that almost won the NCAA Football thingy and he was the Heisman Trophy Winner.
• Players: Even better, the basketball team features the Griffin Brothers, Blake and Taylor. Anyone who knows me know that I truly believe there is nothing better than hottie brothers playing basketball together. Oh wait….it can actually get better if hottie brothers playing basketball play shirtless.

#1 UNC (28-4)

• ACC
• Location: Chapel Hill, North Carolina (University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill)
• Nickname: Tar Heels
• What is a Tar Heel: Been wondering that for years. In short, North Carolina was big on producing tar way back in the days of wars. Also, someone with “tar on their heels” is said to be someone who stands their ground and doesn’t back down.
• Mascot: Ram named Ramses
• School Colors: Carolina Blue and White
• Arch Nemesis: Duke Blue Devils
• Coach: Roy Williams (!)
• Players: Tyler Hansborough, Ty Lawson, Wayne Ellington. And a whole lot of other players that no one can remember the names of becaue those big 3 dominate the headlines.
• Fame and Fortune: home of the great Michael Jordan, amongst many, many others.

My Amazing and Insightful Thoughts and Picks: Short and sweet: I want Oklahoma to win it. The only reason I was pulling for UNC in the first place was because I wanted to see a UNC-Duke match-up. Well, clearly, that’s not going to happen and my brackets were beat to crap in the Sweet 16 anyway so now I couldn’t care less what happens to UNC. And I have a bit of a crush on Oklahoma University. (Hey if I can have a crush on the whole state of Arizona, I can crush on a college)

Can they do it? I’m really not sure. I made the mistake of listening to my friends’ insights and some sportscasters analysis so I’m a bit muddled up. But word on the street is that UNC most likely can not shut down Blake Griffin.

As long as the game isn’t a blowout, I’ll be happy.  And if UNC does pull it off, then I just hope ‘Nova beats the crap out of them in the next round!

About the author: Jennifer Taglione is the owner of this fabulous website Stiletto Sports. Despite writing well over 500 posts, she still maintains that she is not a sports writer! She is however a huge fan of Kurt Warner, Larry Fitzgerald, Mark Sanchez, the Celtics, and totally kicks butt on March Madness brackets! Connect with her by following her on Twitter @StilettoSportsJ and subscribing to her weekly newsletter. For more info check out the About the Editor page!

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