The Midwest Bracket: How I Picked 'Em and Why

#1 Kansas vs. #16 Portland St.: Automatic.

#8 UNLV vs. #9 Kent St.: Both these teams are solid on defense, take good shots, and don't really have a star player. I picked the Rebels because they have a guard named Wink Adams, and that sounds like a guy who'd just kill you in a tourney game (a la UAB's Squeaky Johnson).

#5 Clemson vs. #12 Villanova: After Clemson's performance in the ACC tournament, everyone and their mother will pick them in this game. So will I. Clemson's so strong inside, and Villanova starts two underclassmen in the backcourt.

#4 Vanderbilt vs. #13 Siena: Siena is very young and their main scorer is a 6-6 power forward...I don't see him being effective against an SEC front line.

#6 USC vs. #11 Kansas State: Did you see what O.J. Mayo said about this? He said he knew he and Beasley would be matched up because it's "all about the money." Man, O.J. Mayo is one aware dude for being a freshman in college. This should be a fun game, but I'll be rooting for SC so I may as well pick them.

#3 Wisconsin vs. #14 CSU-Fullerton: My feeling is that upsets usually come when the underdog has a vastly different style. In this case, CSU-Fullerton plays with the 18th fastest pace in the nation, while Wisconsin is 312th in that category. CSU is going to run like mad, and it could well work. Also, I like to see the Big 10 lose.

#7 Gonzaga vs. #10 Davidson: No real reason, I just know I'll be reflexively rooting against Gonzaga anyway, so I may as well just make my bracket and my emotions line up.

#2 Georgetown vs. #15 UMBC: Automatic.