The NCAA Basketball tournament is well underway. The first weekend tipped off with a flurry of buzzer beaters, overtimes—double OTs—and anxiety producing excitement! There were little teams like Cleveland State that brought down their big powerhouses like Wake Forest. And teams like Siena that gave the big boys a big scare. In other words, the tourney has been packed with action, suspense, drama and fun!

By Monday I was exhausted. Although by Monday night I felt very sad and lonely without any games! Thank goodness there was Dancing with the Stars!

Oh and did I mention how much I rocked at my brackets? Currently I am 42-6–give or take one or two depending on the pool I’m in! I’m telling you, that Stiletto Sports Official Guide to

The teams have been whittled down from 64 to the sweet 16 where they will battle it out to become the Elite 8. Games begin at 7 p.m. Thursday and will last till mid–night each night so be prepared. If you are going out to eat, do it early! Or make sure you are at a place where they will keep bringing you food. Anyone else dying for Buffalo Wild Wings after the million commercials on CBS? (Note: this is the worst/best time of year to go there. It will be a zoo.)

Here are the matchups, broken down by day and time:

Thursday:

7:07 p.m.

#5 Purdue (24-9)

• Big Ten
• Location: West Lafayatte, Indiana
• Mascot: Boilermakers
• What is a Boilermaker?: It’s actually an old slang term for engineering. Pretty interesting story
• School Colors: Old Gold and Black
• Coach: Matt Painter
• Players:

#1 UConn (27-4)

• Big East
  
• Location: Storrs, Conn
• Mascot: Huskies
• School Colors: National Flag Blue and White
• Song:” UConn Husky”
• Coach: Jim Calhoun
• Players: Jeff Adrien,
• Big Name Alumni: Ray Allen, of the Boston “Three-Party” Celtics

My amazing insights and picks: Still a little ticked off at Purdue for it’s close game with Washington. I’ve never been a Purdue fan but decided to break down my old hard feelings and pick them, and then they make my heart stop throughout the tourney. Bad. However, this is tough because I happen to have a huge crush on Chris Kramer. He is really hot and I named him to my Super 16 Team.

But despite UConn’s shortage of hot men, I am still going to go with them. Rule #2d of the Stiletto Sports Official Rulebook for Team Selection clearly says you can go against the hotties if you really and truly have good reason to. I’ve been a UConn fan for awhile. I think it is safe.

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7:27 p.m.

#4 Xavier (25-7)

• Atlantic 10
  
• Location: Cincinnati, Ohio
• Nickname: Musketeers
• Mascot: “D’Artagnan the captain of Musketeers of the Guard” and also, The Blue Blob. Um. Okay.
• School Colors: Navy Blue, Grey, White
• Coach: Sean Miller
• Players: B.J. Raymond, Derrick Brown, C.J. Anderson, Jason Love

#1 Pittsburgh (28-4)

• Big East
  
• Location: Pittsburgh, PA
• Nickname: Panthers
• Mascot: Roc the Panthers
• School Colors: Blue and Gold
• Coach: Jamie Dixon
• Rivals: West Virginia
• Fanatical Fans: The Oakland Zoo. Pitts fans have been ranked the top in country and labeled “phenomenal” and “formidable.” Oakland refers to the neighborhood in Pitts where the college is.
• Players: Sam Young, DeJuan Blair, Jermaine Dixon, Levance Fields, Brad Wannamaker

My Amazing Insights and Picks: I still hold a grudge against Pitts for that whole winning the Super Bowl thing. I’m kinda anti-the whole state of Penn actually if you throw in the World Series winning Phillies and the fact that my hottie doctor boy decided to do his residency there and not in Florida…..

Oh, yeah focus. I like Xavier. They are the only Ohio team I currently support. But I’m still giving it to the Panthers. The Blue Blob and lack of hot men thing really gets me with the X.

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9:37 p.m.

#3 Missouri (28-6)

• Big 12 Champs
• Location: Columbia, Missouri
• Mascot: Tigers
• School Colors: Old Gold and Black
• Nickname: Mizzou
• Coach:  Mike Anderson
• Arch Rival: Kansas
• Players: DeMarre Carroll, Leo Lyons, J.T. Tiller, Matt Lawrence

#2 Memphis (31-3)

• Conference USA Champs
• Location: Memphis, Tennessee
• Mascot: Tigers
• School Colors: blue & grey (which I find odd. How do you have blue and grey tigers?)
• Coach: John Calipari (!)
• Players: Tyreke Evans, Robert Dozier, Shawn Taggart, Antonio Anderson
• Biggest Rival: Louisville
• Claim to Fame: They made it to the Final Four last year and into the Championship game where they lost to Kansas.
• Fun Fact: They have a live Bengal tiger as a mascot! He appears at football games. Well, actually, he died in October. But still, pretty cool.

My Amazing and Insightful Thoughts and Picks: In case I haven’t mentioned it enough, I heart John Calipari. I don’t know what it is but I have loved this man for well over 10 years since he was at UMass. His boys may always struggle to be the best but I definitely have a soft spot for them. Don’t get me wrong, I’m so happy KU won last year (FINALLY), but I’d like to see Memphis get another shot at it.  Even if some really believe Missouri can totally take them down.

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9:57 p.m

#3 Villanova (26-7)

• Big East
  
• Location: Villanova, PA
• Nickname: Wildcats
• Mascot: Will D. Cat
• School Colors: Blue and White
• Coach: Jay Wright
• Rivals: Part of the Philadelphia Big 5, which is the rivalry between the schools of the city. “The Holy War” is the battle between Nova and St Joseph’s.
• Claim to Fame: When the famous Liberty Bell cracked, a new one was made called “the Sister Bell.”  Nova proudly houses the bell on their campus
• Players: Dante Cunningham, Scottie Reynolds, Corey Fisher, Corey Stokes—I like to think of them like as the Two Coreys (for those of you who are not children of the 80s, that means the bromance team of Corey Haim and Corey Feldman)

#2 Duke (28-6)

• ACC Champs
• Location: Durham, North Carolina
• Nickname: Blue Devils
• School Colors: Royal (Duke) Blue and White
• Coach: Coach K, Mike Krzyzewski
• Fanatical Fans: The Cameron Crazies. You do not mess with these people. They will f&%$ you up.
• Rivals: UNC. It’s known as the Tobacco Road rivalry and is quite possibly the most famous war in sports.
• Players: Gerald Henderson, Kyle Singler, Jon Scheyer, Nolan Smith, Greg Paulus

My Amazing and Insightful Thoughts and Picks: So not to incriminate myself, I plead the 5th here.

See, there is a big of a problem with this game. Mark, one of my best guy friends of all time, is a huge Duke fan. I call him the Mayor of my Pink Bubble World because he stops me from making all sorts of bad decisions and tends to know me better than I know myself. His best guy friend Shelton, is a huge ‘Nova fan. I’ve also known Shelton since high school.

Therefore, I am stuck between two of my favorite guys (hmmm maybe that isn’t so bad afterall. They are both super hot….). I feel I can not vocally declare allegiance to either team because the possible reprecussions of said allegiance could destroy my bond with the boys. Although I have picked a team to cheer for. Shhhh…..

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Friday:

7:07 p.m.

#14 Arizona*** (19-13)

• Pac-10
• Location: Tuscon, Arizona
• *** NOT to be confused with Arizona State University. In fact, fans would really not be happy if you mixed them up. There is a very intense and heated rivalry between the two schools
• Mascot: Wildcats
• School Colors: Cardinal Red and Navy Blue
• Coach: Lute Olson
• Players: Jordan Hill, Chase Budinger, Nic Wise, Jamelle Horne, Kyle Fogg
• Fun Facts: Remember the hit movie Speed with Sandra Bullock, Keanu and the scary bomber guy Dennis Hopper? While Sandy’s character is driving the out-of-control bus, Hopper calls her “Wildcat” because he can see the college logo on her outfit.
• Record: The Wildcats have had 25 consecutive appearances in the NCAA tournament and is the longest current streak. However, they have only won one championship in that time….. But it was a doozy! In 1997, Arizona became the only team to ever defeat 3 of the 4 #1 seeds en route to the championship (it’s impossible to play all 4)

#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 Insightful Thoughts and Picks: Sorry boys, I’m jumping from my Arizona loving ship. Hey, I showed my love for the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals through most of the tourney by picking Arizona AND Arizona State even though they hate each other! If you weren’t following me through the NFL playoffs —(first, why not? and second you totally missed out. Go back and read all my stuff!)–I fell in love with Kurt Warner and the Cards. So much so that I felt it necessary to continue to pick Arizona teams in every other thing (I also have friends in AZ whom I love dearly–and another one should be born any day now…..).

However, who doesn’t love some Rick Pitino? Even my dad who cast off March Madness with a dismissive shrug saying he just doesn’t get it, decided to cheer on Louisville because he saw his buddy Rick was the coach.

If you look, it’s actually kinda ironic for me. Arizona versus the Cardinals! So I don’t feel wrong picking the Cards. I’m not a full traitor

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7:27 p.m.

#3 Syracuse (26-9)

• Big East
  
• Location: Syracuse, NY
• Nicknames: Orange, Orangemen
• Mascot: Otto The Orange
• School Colors: Orange….. are you noticing a theme here?
• Coach: Jim Boeheim
• Home Court Advantage: The Orange play in the Carrier Dome–I’ve even heard of it! It’s the largest domed college stadium in the country. My school had a dome. It was small.
• Players: Jonny Flynn, Arinze Onuaku, Eric Devendorf, Paul Harris
• Fame: VP Joe Biden

#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.

My Amazing and Insightful Thoughts and Picks: Please please please PLEASE do not make me pick this one! Here’s my deal. I’m from upstate NY. I know a lot of people that went to ‘Cuse. They year they won the tourney was the year my bracket won in the pool with all my male friends much to their dismay. I have love for the Orange.

But in 2009 during college football season, I found some serious love for the Sooners and his name is Sam Bradford. Once again, if you didn’t follow my heartache during the college BCS, go read! Even when they went up against Gator Nation –a mere three hours from my place here in sunny Florida–I still repped for Oklahoma. And then I got know the Griffin Bros. Well not personally, I wish. They stand for everything I love about basketball: Hottie Brothers Playing It! That’s how I got my start loving the game and I feel it would be disrespectful to go against that!

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9:37 p.m.

#3 KU: Kansas University (25-7)

• Big 12
• Location: Lawrence, Kansas. Allen Fieldhouse
• Mascot: Jayhawks
• School Colors: Blue and Crimson
• Song: Rock Chalk, Jayhawk (totally worth clicking the link and hearing the story. Could be most peculiar Fight Song of the tourney)
• Coach: Bill Self
• Players: Sherron Collins, Cole Aldrich, Tyshawn Taylor, Marcus Morris, Brady Morningstar,
• Fame: The father of basketball James Naismith himself, actually founded and ran the first basketball program at KU.  The basketball court at the Allen Fieldhouse is the James Naismith Court.
• Finally: After years of being seeded high and failing to go all the way, the Jayhawks broke out and won the 2008 Championship! Rock Chalk boys, rock chalk…

#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, 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.

My Amazing and Insightful Thoughts and Picks: Mich state YOU ARE GOING DOWN! HA!

I pick Kansas. I heart Kansas. I am cuckoo for KU! The first love of my life got me into KU and he currently lives right near it. And I will be rocking my sweet old school KU jersey to the bar Friday night when my boys take on my buddy Erik’s boys from Mich State. It’s a matchup we have been waiting two years for.

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9:57 p.m.

#4 Gonzaga (26-5)

• West Coast Champs
• Location:  Spokane, Washington (You have no idea how long I’ve wondered where it was. I always assumed it was in the Southeast)
• Nickname: Bulldogs ( I really wish it was Gonzo from the Muppet Babies). Players are also called Zags***
• What is a Gonzaga?: I feel kinda bad because it really always has reminded me of the Muppets but the school is actually named for the young Jesuit saint, St. Aloysius Gonzaga.
• Mascot: Spike the Bulldog
• School Colors: Blue, White, and Red
• Coach: Mark Few
• Players: John Heytvelt, Matt Bouldin, Austin Daye, Jeremy Pargo, Steven Grey

#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: It breaks my heart a little bit to do this but I’m going to have to pick UNC. Secretly, though, I am pulling for the Zags. I am just in awe of how far they have come since their first attempts at the tourney back in the day—when everyone was like “who the hell is Gonzaga?” Now they seem to always get invited to the Dance and are beginning to run with the popular crowd.

But even so, it seems a bit silly to say they can defeat the powerhouse UNC. Besides, if I am pulling for Duke to win (which I neither confirm nor deny….) then I have to pull for UNC because it would be swell if they met up in the Final Four. It would take the tourney to a whole new level.

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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