Round 1 is done and gone! How’d you do? Apparently I rock at this bracket thingy becuase in most of my pools I’m 28-4! I’d also like to mention that I’m tied for #1…..that’s gotta really piss people off since My Bracketology Method is not all stats and figures and player analysis.

Round 2 kicks off (can you say kicks off when in basketball?) in a few hours and I am ready to go! I’m so full of March Madness I’ve begun mentally bracketing all aspects of my life from best outfits in my closet to ex-boyfriends. The ex-boyfriend bracket was pretty fun to do…..

Anyway, here are the matchups for today’s games and my predicitions. I’ll post Sundays a bit later.

#6 UCLA v. #3 Villanova

#6 UCLA (25-8)

• Pac-10
  
• Location: University of California Los Angeles
• Nickname: The Bruins
• What is a Bruin: It’s a fancy-schmancy old skool name for a Brown Bear.
• Mascot: Joe and Josephine Bruin
• School Colors: Blue and Gold
• Coach: Ben Howland
• Fun Facts: The Bruins have a total of 11 National Championships, more than anyone else! They also are the only team to have over 100 NCAA championships!
• Rivals: USC
• Fame: Jackie Robinson, Kareem-Abdul Jabbar, Troy Aikman, Chase Utley, Francis Ford Coppola, Carol Burnett, Marilyn Monroe, Ben Stiller, Sarah Baralleis, movie musical composer John Williams, Brooke Burke and Steve Urkel himself, Jaleel White!

#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

In my brackets: I have Villanova. It pains me a bit to say that over UCLA but my friends and I are really pushing for Nova-Duke matchup. See, Shelton is Nova Nation and Mark is Go, Duke! And they are male BFF….going to be fun to watch!

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#10 Maryland v. #2 Memphis

#10 Maryland (20-13)

• ACC
  
• Location: College Park, Maryland
• Mascot: Terrapin. In other words, a freaking turtle.
• Slogan: Their rally cry is “Fear the turtle.” Well, I suppose they are fearsome. Snapping turtles do bite. If they can catch you.
• School Colors: Red, white, black and gold
• Coach: Gary Williams
• Famous Alumni: Jim Henson, creator of the Muppets!

#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:
• 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.

In my brackets: Well I have Memphis going to the Final Four—and I even picked them to win in my Upset Bracket I threw in last minute for fun. Despite their crap-ass performance in Round 1, I’m still die hard John Calipari lover so I’m going to keep pushing for them to win. Fear the turtle no more!

#9 Texas A&M v. #1 UConn

#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:
• Big Name Alumni: Ray Allen, of the Boston “Three-Party” Celtics

#9 Texas A&M (23-9)

• Big 12
  
• Location: College Station, Texas
• Mascot: Aggies
• What the heck is an Aggie?: I always get the mental image of a witch. I have no idea why. But I was sad to find out that an Aggie is just slang used to describe someone that goes to an Agriculture College, ie Texas Agriculture & Mechanical College
• School Colors: maroon and white
• Coach: Mike Turgeon
• Players:
• Howdy Partner: The official greeting of Texas A&M is “Howdy.” Seriously.

In my Brackets: UConn.

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#5 Purdue v. #4 Washington

#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:

#4 Washington (25-8)

• Pac-10
  
• Location: Seattle, Washington
• Mascot: Huskies
• School Colors: Purple and Gold
• Coach: Lorenzo Romar
• Claim to Fame: The Huskies like to take credit for the invention of the ultimate crowd reaction “The Wave.” Rumored to have been created in October 1981 in a game against Stanford.

In my brackets: This is a tough match-up for me because I have no feelings whatsoever about Washington and my only feelings for Purdue are negative. However, they are feelings. Plus my ex boyfriend seems to be rooting for Washington and well, I have always found it so much more fun to disagree with him than to agree because he always things he is right. But their colors are purple and gold, which were my high school and sorority colors. And I picked Wake Forest to win in Round 1 and I didn’t like them either and they let me down…..

Seriously, that was my thought process. Hmmmm. I’ll go Purdue. No wait! Washington! If Wash and UConn both win than it will be a battle of the Huskies in the Sweet 16!

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#8 LSU v. #1 UNC

#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
• Fame and Fortune: home of the great Michael Jordan, amongst many, many others.

#8 LSU (26-7)

• SEC
  
• Location: Baton Rouge, LA
• Nickname: Tigers
• Mascot: Mike VI, a real Bengal-Siberian Tiger (because the name Tony was already taken perhaps?)
• School Colors: Purple and Gold in honor of Mardi Gras
• Coach: Trent Johnson
• Famous alumni: Shaq

In my brackets: Unfortunately, still going with UNC although it pains me to say it. And until this year I actually liked them. Now, I can’t stand them.

#10 Michigan v.  #2 Oklahoma

#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.
• Fact: 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.

#10  Michigan (20-13)

• Big Ten
  
• Location: Ann Arbor, MI
• Mascot: Wolverines
• School Colors: Maize and Blue
• Fight Song: ” The Victors” was declared by John Phillip Sousa as the “greatest college fight song ever written”
• Coach: John Beilein
• The Fab Five: The fab all-freshman starting line-up team of Chris Webber, Juwan Howard, Jalen Rose, Jimmy King, and Ray Jackson that went to the championship game in the tourney in their freshmen and sophomore years. They were also the first team to really start rocking the loose baggy shorts that are so popular today. However, there was a HUGE money scandal surrounding the team and um, yeah, totally took away their glory. But I still like to think of them as the Fabulous Fab Five Forever!
• Fame: James Earl Jones, Lucy Liu, and Selma Blair, Madonna, Derek Jeter and Michael Phelps…just to name a few!

My Brackets: Please, please please don’t make me choose! In my bracket’s I went with Oklahoma but now that it’s crunch time—and when I had to fill out my Round-by-Round Challenge on CBSSports I had a really hard time deciding. Been a fan of Mich for years (I use fan loosely because I know nothing about them in recent years. I just root for them come tourney time). I was never big on Oklahoma but then came the BCS and I discovered Mr. Bradford and I’ve been a bit intrigued. And Blake Griffin really has some moments of serious hottiness.

As much as I would enjoy Michigan getting some fame for winning…..I’m sticking with Oklahoma

#12 Western Kentucky v. #4 Gonzaga

#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

#12 Western Kentucky (24-8)

• Sun Belt Champs
• Location: Bowling Green, Kentucky
• Nickname: Hilltoppers
• Mascot: Big Red, a very indescrible, yet beloved, red creature appearing during the games.
• School Colors: Green and White
• Coach: Ken McDonald

My Brackets: Gonzaga. This little team is erally winning me over more and more every year. Go Zags!!!

#7 Texas v. #2 Duke

#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.

#7 Texas (21-11)

• Big 12
  
• Location: Austin, Texas
• Nickname: Longhorns
• Mascot: Bevo the Longhorn Steer
• School Colors: Burnt Orange and White
• Fan Slogan: “Hook ‘Em Horns!”
• Coach: Rick Barnes
• Rivals: Texas A&M and Oklahoma
• Fame: Janis Joplin, Matthew McConaughey!!

My Brackets: Duke! Like I said, we really want a Duke-Villanova match-up!

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More matchups later!

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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