Best first-round game: 8 Ohio State vs. 9 Siena. Liked what we saw from the Buckeyes this weekend, and the talent is there – Turner, Diebler, Buford and Mullens – but they rarely seem to all play well at the same time. Honorable mention: 12 Arizona vs. 5 Utah.

You’ve Been Warned: WVU. Ken Pom has loved the Mountaineers all season. WVU just beat Pitt. Lost to Louisville twice by a total of nine points. Rouff is as fundamentally-sound as any player in the tournament. But there isn’t much size to battle MSU’s Suton or KU’s Aldrich.

Crazy: Seth Davis of CBS picked no-shooting Wake Forest to get to the Final Four. We used to love Wake Forest; then teams started to zone them, and Dino Gaudio had no answers.

One-man gang potential: Tyrese Rice, Boston College. Honorable mention: Ben Woodside, North Dakota State.

Best freshman: Demar DeRozan, USC.

Coolest name: Wolfgang Gieler, Siena.

Kool-aid Tastes Like: Louisville. Don’t be blinded by the Big East glory (1-1 vs. Pitt and Connecticut in the regular season, both at home). If a team has sure-handed guards who can handle the pressure, the Louisville press will be rendered ineffective. Nic Wise? Jeff Teague? Sherron Collins? Tyrese Rice? Kalin Lucas? Good region for PGs.

Hot!: USC. Just beat three tourney teams – Arizona, UCLA, Arizona State – in three days to win the Pac-10 tournament. Louisville. Haven’t lost since a Feb 12 thumping in South Bend.

Cold: Kansas. Lost two of its last three, and to teams that won’t be dancing (Texas Tech, Baylor). Dayton. Flyers have lost four of seven, and seemingly forgotten how to play defense. And Chris “Top Flight” Wright can’t stay out of foul trouble.

Dangerous Double-Figure Seed: USC, followed by Cleveland State. If Hackett can put the cuffs on Rice, will the Eagles have enough offense? Cleveland State played Washington, Kansas State, Syracuse, West Virginia, and Butler (three times). We’ll be taking a chance on the Vikings.

The early pick that is likely to change at least once by Thursday morning: West Virginia over Louisville in a rematch of the 2005 regional final thriller that went OT (WVU hit 18 three’s) with the Cards winning.