Your last, but certainly not least, preview comes from RUTS

RUTS can be found in the Gay Spandex section of your local Google, and providing bong hits for Jesus.

His words on the West are after jump.

(AA Predicts- KAN/VT/DUKE/UCLA, VT/UCLA, UCLA.....this is the Region that will make or break me)


Will Kansas crap the bed again? Can Pitt finally make it to the Final Four? Does VCU really have a shot against Duke? Should Tubby Smith get his resume ready for monster.com? Do you know where I can get some 'shrooms? We'll tackle all of this and more in your West bracket preview!

The matchups at the top of the bracket:

(1) Kansas vs. (16) Anonymous Play-in Jokers -- Kansas has lost their last two opening round games, but that shouldn't be an issue in 2007 since they're the de facto #1 overall seed. Certainly, all of the elements are present for a long KU tournament run. They're extremely athletic. and hotter than the bottom log of a campfire as they head into Chicago. The real test for the Jayhawks will come in Round Two when they face the winner of...

(8) Kentucky vs. (9) Villanova -- It's Wildcat Insanity! Maybe it's my Philly roots coming into play, but this seems to be a bit of an unfair seeding for 'Nova, a 22-10 team which beat Texas and Georgetown. With the exception of a home loss against DePaul, all of Villanova's losses were to pretty good clubs. If anyone can tell me how Villanova get a #9 while Indiana gets a #7, I'd love to hear it. Kentucky, of course, limps into the tournament after losing to Mississippi State in the SEC tournament. Tubby Smith's future is in serious jeopardy, and Kentucky has lost to every Top 25 opponent they've faced this year. Not a good sign for a team with shattered confidence Expect Villanova to move on and give Kansas all they can handle in the next round.

(5) Virginia Tech vs. (12) Illinois -- Every year, it seems that a team that barely sneaks into the tournament by the good graces of the selection committee makes its way to the Sweet 16. Illinois fits the bill this year. Virginia Tech's a good team, but they're spotty. The Illini struggled mightily through the midpoint of the season, but finished 8-3. Unfortunately for them, they're a poor offensive team going up against a really good defensive team in the Hokies. You'll probably have to find your #5 / #12 upset elsewhere, Chachi.

(4) Southern Illinois vs. (13) Holy Cross -- Who doesn't love a Saluki? They're a defensive juggernaut that often struggles on offense, but that shouldn't be a huge issue against Holy Cross, which is essentially a less-talented version of Southern Illinois. Given the potential for this game to be a foul-marred, slower than molasses, 44-42 nailbiter, an upset isn't out of the question.

Of these teams, Villanova and Kansas have the combination of inside-outside scoring and athleticism. My heart says Villanova makes it out of this half of the bracket, but they'll need one hell of an effort to get by KU.

The lower half of the bracket is where things get rather interesting:

(6) Duke vs. (11) Virginia Commonwealth -- At some point, Duke has to play like Duke, don't they? They're paper-thin, but should be well-rested after crapping out in the first round of the ACC tournament. Sometimes, an early loss can be a blessing for a tired team (I think UCLA will also benefit from this, incidentally). That'll help against VCU, a team that like to push the tempo. If you're searching for a reason to go with VCU, they beat Drexel twice and split with Old Dominion. Also, they lost by three against Xavier back in November. As much as we all enjoy watching Duke fans squirm, they should be happy at the end of this game. Also, when will we, as a nation, start making fun of Mike Krzyzewski's ridiculous hair? He's only two or three years away from joining Gene Keady's oil-slicked snap-on wig in the Hair Hall Of Shame.

(3) Pittsburgh vs. (14) Wright State -- Initially, this looked like a classic upset scenario since Pitt has serious difficulties scoring. And let's face it, they don't exactly have a stellar record when it comes to the NCAA tournament lately. Wright State (it's in Ohio, you know) is your Horizon League champion, beating everyone's darling mid-major, Butler, in the conference tourney. They're a good team, but undersized in the paint. That's bad news against 7'0" Aaron Gray and 6'10" Levon Kendall (he's white, you'll have to just take my word for it). This game will be a grinder, but as long as Pitt can keep the entire WSU defense from smothering Gray and Kendall, the Panthers should advance.

(7) Indiana vs. (10) Gonzaga -- Do you trust Kelvin Sampson in the NCAA tournament? I sure don't. Gonzaga has all of the necessary ingredients for a minor upset here. They have great scoring balance and have played more than a few top teams this season. We all know they won't play timidly. Indiana? Their last three wins came against Big Ten bottom feeders Minnesota, Penn State, and Northwestern. They haven't beaten a good team away from home since they won at Illinois on January 23. Oh, and they're still coached by Kelvin Sampson. Gonzaga wins.

(2) UCLA vs. (15) Weber State -- Honestly, I liked what I saw from Weber State in their tournament championship game, but UCLA is on an entirely different level than WSU. This will be a cakewalk for the Bruins, who are my clear favorite to advance to the regional finals.

Your Sweet 16 teams? (1) Kansas, (5) Virginia Tech, (6) Duke, and (2) UCLA. We're looking at a Kansas vs. UCLA matchup in the regional finals, with UCLA moving on to the Final Four.

Possible Bracket Busters? Villanova and Gonzaga, with Holy Cross as a severe longshot with a chance in a relatively weak quartet.

Final Four Bound? UCLA. They were in the final game last year while Kansas has pooped out in its last two first-round games.

Your next preview comes from the Mid Major Man himself....Extrapolater.

Veronica Corningstone (he dubbed himself that) and I met through mutual "failed" writing attempts for a certain website (that shall remain nameless). He has plans to keep my head above water during the live-blogging over the next two days, and I'll need his life-preserver (I swear that's not dirty).

From the man who brought you Who the Hell are the Winthrop Eagles?, and (my personal favorite) Tom Brady: I'm the Father of Anna Nicole's Baby....comes the Midwest Region Preview. Read Ex's thoughts after the jump.

(FYI- AA is picking FLA/MD/ND/UNLV, FLA/ND, FLA)

Obviously we have to look out for the defending champs in this bracket. The less said about them, the better. But mark my words, Joakim Noah WILL receive karmic retribution for that nauseating dance he did after the SEC tournament final. Act like you been there before, mon frere.

The Butler/ODU game is mid-major heaven. Neither team has a player over 6’ 7”, and outside shooting is a beloved tactic for either squad. Valdas Vasilyus is the Monarchs’ top scorer and rebounder. Butler puts a formidable squad of big-school transfers and sharpshooters on the floor, but couldn’t back up their national ranking by winning their own conference. Highly suspect.

Maryland always seems to make a run this time of year. They certainly have talent and coaching. The question is, who steps up big? I’m thinking D.J. Strawberry gets fed up with hearing about Yannick Noah and Sidney Green and gives DAR-RYL! the vicarious thrill of living through his son.

Winthrop, Winthrop, Winthrop. Lord how I hate to jump on bandwagons. I’m a little bit troubled by their struggle to put down VMI in the Big South final. Quite frankly, Notre Dame looks like they distribute the wealth pretty well, with five double-figure scorers. Winthrop is good, but it’ll have to be their night for them to advance.

I don’t really believe in the bottom half of this bracket. Nobody jumps out at me, given that Wisconsin lost Brian Butch.

Who makes the Sweet Sixteen? Florida, Maryland, Notre Dame, Wisconsin.

Regional Final: Florida vs. Wisconsin – winner is Florida

Regional MVP: Horford can’t take away the embarrassment, but he can prove Dickie V. right. I think he’s motivated to pull some of that spotlight away from Noah legitimately, by outplaying him on the court.

Next up is Signal to Noise with the Dirty South. This is who JCMJ's East will end up playing in the Final Four, and could be the most exciting region come Thursday.

Signal to Noise is most famously known for laying into Steve Lavin, creating a Play Date for Tom Brady and Matt Leinart's kids, and putting Brett Favre and tongues together.

His thoughts on the South Region are after the jump.

Thanks to AA for bringing me in for the South Regional Preview -- let's do the first round games, then run down the other fun stuff you should be checking for when watching these games.

OSU (#1, 30-3) vs. Central Conn. State (#16, 22-11) - Thanks for coming, Other Blue Devils. Enjoy your courtesy graft and have a safe trip home after Greg Oden swats at least five of your shots in the first half.

BYU (#8, 25-8) vs. Xavier (#9, 24-8) -- Probably will be one of the closest games to watch, although Xavier tried to coast and it showed, losing an A10 tourney it should have won without a problem. BYU is on a very quick road to recovery, and if any of you like MWC MVP Keenan Young leading these guys to a Sweet 16 appearance, it might be nuts (they'd have to plow OSU to do it), but it would be respectable.

Tennessee (#5, 22-10) vs. Long Beach State (#12, 24-7) -- I like the 12-over-5 upset here. The Vols go as their threes fall, and if they're not (and Lofton is having an off night), then the 49ers have an opening to knock 'em out. LBSU is very short (no one over 6'6" on that team), but they run to make up for it, which is part of why they decimated their conference. Show the Big West some love!

Virginia (#4, 20-10) vs. Albany (#13, 23-9) - Albany almost upset UConn in the first round last year, and they get a better seed and a chance to move on this time against UVA, which has kind of slid in rather than hit the ground running with wins. Can't see an upset here, with Sean Singletary and J.R. Reynolds in the UVA backcourt and both averaging 18 a game.

Louisville (#6, 23-9) vs. Stanford (#11, 18-12) - The Cardinals are playing well heading into the bracket, while Stanford is reeling from losing four of their last five, including getting shellacked by an inconsistent USC team in the Pac-10 tourney. Louisville also has semi-homecourt in Lexington, but that could be filled with UK folks and Pitino haters.

Texas A&M (#3, 25-6) vs. Penn (#14, 22-8) - May rate high on the "game you can skip" list. Unless something catastrophic happens to Acie Law IV, Penn should be happy with their third straight Ivy League crown, and A&M will head on to a tough Louisville team.

Nevada (#7, 28-4) vs. Creighton (#10, 22-10) - Who gets the right to knock off Memphis? (Yes, that will happen.) Nevada's O led by the awesomeness that is Nick Fazekas inside against a Creighton defense that has been tough as of late. Winner of this game will make the Sweet 16 because....

Memphis (#2) vs. North Texas (#15) - ...the Tigers have a fatal flaw, and have had it over the years, that kills teams in March Madness: horrific free throw shooting. I watched Memphis players brick a bunch of free throws against Gonzaga when they ought to have won that game going away (and I believe that game went to overtime because of those misses at the line.) It's not going to kill them against North Texas, but I like them out next round.

2nd Round Upset: Nevada over Memphis. If you're feeling really brave and picked LBSU to beat Tenn, you might take them to beat UVA too, although I won't.

2nd Round Trap Game for a High Seed: OSU vs. BYU. Buckeyes win, but BYU will make it closer than most of us think.

Sweet 16 Teams: OSU, UVA, A&M, Nevada.

Regional Final: OSU vs. A&M.

Winner: A&M. Senior leadership matters, and while OSU is talented, no one knows how they're going to react in later rounds with the pressure on. Acie Law IV just makes his teammates better, and while OSU has the pure talent, I can't jump off the Aggie bandwagon now.

S2N

Up first in the previews is Marco from Just Call Me Juice. Marco not only has live blogged some awesome games blowouts at AA, but he's doing the Play-in game tonight!

Marco is known for calling Morgan State a Jewish School, having a run-in with OJ, and stealing Gilbert Arenas' shoe from an Asian kid.

His thoughts on the East Region are after the jump.

(FYI- AA is picking UNC/Texas/GW/GTown, UNC/GTown, UNC)

JCMJ's East Region Preview

Welcome to the East Region, the toughest in this year's bracket. Here is the breakdown

Best Game: Marquette vs Michigan State - Two well coached teams with great point guards play in a game that seems like it should be taking place in the second round. Winner will give North Carolina fits in the second round.

Upset Game: #14 Oral Roberts over #3 Washington State - Everyone is all over this game as a possible upset for good reasons. ORU has already won at Kansas and gave Memphis a run for their money last March. Washington State is in their first Tournament since 1994 and has no March experience.

Bandwagon Team: George Washington - Simply because NO ONE is talking about them. Carl Elliot and Maurice Rice are quick guards with March experience . The Colonials also have some pretty favorable match-ups with Vandy and Washington State/ORU. Don't be shocked if GW is in the Sweet 16. Seriously.

Easiest Ride to the Elite 8: Georgetown - Belmont, BC, Washington State.......did they strike a deal with the Selections Committee or something?

Toughest Ride to the Elite 8: North Carolina - Marquette/Michigan State, Texas,USC.......the Heels are going to earn it if they go the Final Four this year.

Most Interesting Team: Washington State - This is the Cougars first trip to the tournament since 1994 and outside of the West Coast, this team is quite anonymous to the rest of the nation for a #3 seed. I know that Derrick Lowe and Robbie Cowgill can pay, but I've honestly only seen the Cougars play once this season. It will be interesting to see how the Cougars handle the role of favorites after sneaking up on everyone all year

Most Interesting Possible Match-up: North Carolina-Texas - I'm going to at the Regional Finals in Jersey and I'm willing to pay double to see this game. I'm willing to do that to see Kevin Durant take on the deepest and most talented team in college basketball.This game has potential to be the best college basketball game of the season. I'm already excited.

Most Boring Team: Boston College - Maybe I'm still bitter about them knocking off my upstart Canes, but nothing interests me about this team at all. I think they are going down against Texas Tech

Best Coach Formally on a Saturday Morning TV Show : Reggie Theus - The Hang Time coaching tree continues to grow....

Teams You Will Forget They Were Even in the Tournament: Eastern Kentucky, Belmont, New Mexico State, Arkansas,

Sweet 16: North Carolina, Texas, Georgetown, George Washington

Regional Final: Texas vs Georgetown

Regional Champ: Georgetown - Best team in college basketball since February 1st