How's your bracket looking?

Hopefully you're well rested and ready for the two best days of basketball all year. Thursday-Friday (mostly Friday, apparently) are fun, but it's today and Sunday that provide the best games.

Assuming you didn't have Vanderbilt or USC in the Final Four your bracket still has life. Safe bet by midnight tonight, half of them won't.

Gus Johnson is ready, so here's my thoughts on today's games:

2 Duke vs 7 West Virginia (2:10) As we know, the Blue Devils are one failed assignment on defense or one executed inbounds from watching this at home. Either they completely forget about Belmont or their pysche is a bit fragile and West Virginia will carve them up. I suspect they'll play well, but I'm not a fan of the matchup against Alex Ruoff and Joe Alexander. Assuming the 'Eers keep up with their solid shooting, we'll get our wish. Pick: 'Eers 80-77

3 Wisconsin vs 11 Kansas State (4:20) Not that there's any bad matchup today, but this one is particularly interesting. Michael Beasley is clearly much, much more athletic than Brian Butch and Joe Krabbenhoft, but expect those guys to be as physical as they've been all year. Broken down simply, if Bill Walker and some other Wildcat steps up like they did Thursday night then I like their chances. Wisconsin definitely hasn't played anyone like Beasley (nor Walker, really) this year. Pick: Wildcats 67-65

3 Xavier vs 6 Purdue (4:40) Boilermakers offense sure looked good against Baylor, but that's what happens when no one is defending you. That's not how Xavier plays. Fun is over for the Baby Boilers. Pick: Musketeers 64-61

4 Washington St. vs 5 Notre Dame (6:40) Another fun experiment in contrasting styles. Notre Dame averaged 71 possessions per game vs. Washington State's 59. I picked the Irish to move into the Sweet 16, but I had them beating Winthrop. Oops. Now that I've seen more of the Cougars, not so much. Aron Baynes is a good match to keep Harangody in check, and Kyle Weaver should do the same with McAlarney. Pick: Cougars 73-71

3 Stanford vs 6 Marquette (6:45) Do guards win tournament games or do frontcourts? Your opinion will decide who you're picking here. Dominic James and Jerel McNeal will outplay the Cardinal backcourt but all the Golden Eagles have to offer the Lopez twins is 6'10 Ousmane Barro. There's not much height besides him and that should add up late in the second half. Pick: Cardinal 64-61

1 Kansas vs 8 UNLV (6:50) Don't be fooled by the Rebels Runnin' over Kent State, the Golden Flashes weren't any good. Bill Self made coach the Jayhawks out of a game, but it won't be this one. Not enough firepower on UNLV to get this done. Pick: Jayhawks 81-68

4 Pittsburgh vs 5 Michigan State (9:10) Being dubbed as a big physical, football game on the hardwood. That might be a little too much past reputation than where these two are currently at. That said, it'll be as physical as any other game today. DaJuan Blair and his enormous posterior vs Drew Naymick will be entertaining to watch as much for their contrasting looks as their contrasting styles. It hasn't happened yet this year, but the Spartans need Drew Neitzel and Raymar Morgan to have a good game together. Thus far it's been one or the other. Even if that happens, it's hard to go against the hottest team in the country. I'm not so sure the Panthers aren't one of the best 5 teams right now. Pick: Panthers 83-76

1 UCLA vs 9 Texas A&M (9:15) It won't be close. That is all.

Your picks? Thoughts?