First things first. Make sure you enter the FanIQ vs "Experts" Bracket Contest. It's only Monday afternoon, but you've already beaten Jay Bilas and Andy Katz. They both picked all #1 seeds to Final Four.

I realize you don't care, but I'm going to give you my picks anyway. I'm not willing to commit to my picks until I know the announcing schedule. The Gus factor most be taken into consideration. But here's where I'm at after having slept on a few games.

Best First Round Game: Butler vs South Alabama. ND-George Mason is intriguing, but I don't believe it will end up close. The aforementioned game will end on the final play.

Second Round matchup I'm most looking forward to: Butler-Tennessee. Indiana-UNC is clearly going to be a great game, but I always enjoy those where styles contrast.

Upset Most Tempted to Pick: Indiana over UNC, but I lack the cajones for now.

Bold Upset: Butler over Tennessee. I told you I'd pick the Vols to lose earlier, and I won't wuss out on that one.

Underrated Player You Need to Know: Pat Calathes, St. Joe's.

Here are my brief thoughts on the first round games:

1 North Carolina vs 16 Coppin State/Mount St. Mary's (Fri, 7:10) Every now and then a 16 seed will hang around for 10-15 minutes just to make sure you're paying attention. This will be 20-0 before you start watching. UNC has their flaws, but there's one thing I'll credit them with, they blow out the teams they're supposed to.

8 Indiana vs 9 Arkansas (Fri, 9:40) One of the most bizarre seedings of the tournament. Indiana lost three out of their last four but I would honestly rip up that stat. Teams with a big time guard and center obviously do well this time of the year. The Hogs aren't going to stop the Gordon and White in the mud. No chance. Indiana wins by 15.

5 Notre Dame vs 12 George Mason (Thur, 9:50) Tempted to go with George Mason as the new George Mason with Will Thomas and Folarin Campbell returning to the dance. This is a 5/12 after all, but this Irish team is much better than last year's. One stat I like about ND is that they have an assist on 67% of their field goals, 5th best in the country. They're also 4th best in the country in shooting the three-ball and those two factors should outweigh any Cinderella-esque effort from a George Mason team that can't hit the three, nor a free throw. Irish.

4 Washington St. vs 13 Winthrop (Thur, 7:20) Ouch. Wazzu was a much higher seed than I expected and I'm thinking Tony Bennett would have been more than happy to be a 6-seed in many brackets. No one wanted to get paired with Winthrop and for good reason, they're going to win. I like the Cougars defense but it's worth noting the Eagles play solid D as well and should force quite a few turnovers in trying to get WSU to play at their tempo. Upset: Winthrop.

6 Oklahoma vs 11 St. Joseph's (Fri, 7:10) Not a huge fan of either team and geared to pick both to lose. Now I must decide which I dislike a little less than the other. I like St. Joe's ability to stop Blake Griffin, and even more so, senior Pat Calathes carrying the Hawks on his back for at least this game. Either way, this will be painful to watch. St. Joe's 45-44.

3 Louisville vs 14 Boise State (Fri, 9:40) I'm not even going to pretend to know anything about Boise State  other than they try to play at a quick tempo as well. That bodes well for the Cardinals, who will struggle when someone tries to turn it into a slow, plodding half-court affair. Louisville by 25+.

7 Butler vs 10 South Alabama (Fri, 2:45) Still can't figure out how Butler was given a 7-seed. 29-3 overall record, beating some quality teams in the process and have proven their worth in playing Florida last year as well as anyone else.  However, I didn't quickly pencil the Bullgdogs into the second round. South Alabama has the athleticism factor significantly in their favor (yes, nice way of saying Butler is too white). Tourney experience weighs out, though. Butler.

2 Tennessee vs 15 American (Fri, 12:15) Hard to pick against America, but this isn't even worth breaking down. Vols.

The rest:
UNC over Indiana
Notre Dame over Winthrop
Louisville over St. Joe's
Butler over Tennessee

UNC over Notre Dame
Louisville over Butler

UNC over Louisville. Playing at home in Raleigh and Charlotte is too big a factor, as is a healthy Ty Lawson.

Who do you have in the East?