40 Acres Sports

This weekend is one of the best times of year to be a sports fan. Wall-to-wall college basketball on television and everybody has a little something extra riding on the games. March Madness finally begins today.

Here are some of day one’s most interesting games:

(3) Xavier vs (14) Georgia – 11:20am
Can the Bulldogs keep any of that SEC Tourney magic going or are they worn out? A lot of people have Xavier going pretty far and I think they win this one easily. Prediction: Xavier

(11) Kentucky vs (6) Marquette – 1:30pm
Billy Clyde Gillispie’s Wildcats started off the season terribly and I thought he might not survive his first season in Lexington. They went on a late conference run and I think it continues today with the upset. Prediction: Kentucky

(11) Baylor vs (6) Purdue – 1:50pm
One of the games I’m most interested in today. Scott Drew has brought [tag]Baylor[/tag] lightyears from where they were a few years ago, can they get a first round victory? I think so. Prediction: Baylor

(11) Kansas State vs (6) USC – 6:10pm
Probably the premier national game of the day pitting two of the country’s top youngsters. Will [tag]Kansas State[/tag]’s Michael Beasley or USC‘s OJ Mayo prevail in this match-up of this year’s top five NBA draft picks? Prediction: Kansas State

(9) Texas A&M vs (8) BYU – 6:25pm
Farmers versus Mormons… fight! The Aggies will go as far as giant freshman DeAndre Jordan will take them. He’s not the best player on their team, but he’s the most important. Prediction: BYU

Related Links

• ESPN scoreboard
• Printable bracket (PDF)
• My Tourney Challenge bracket

AccuScore predictions for first round of NCAA Tournament. Giving Austin Peay a surprising 14% chance to win.

SI.com experts NCAA Tournament picks. Again, four out of five have Texas in Final Four.

SI.com has video previews up of all 65 NCAA Tournament teams in their Film Room section. Not exactly a ton of insight, but some nice highlight video of each team and it is a good way to get to know the players to watch.

Here’s the Texas preview:

Biggest question for the Texas offense is who will replace Charles. Vondrell McGee, Fozzy Whittaker and Chris Ogbonnaya are main options.

ESPN expert NCAA Tournament survey. Five out of six say Texas in their Final Four.

Texas’ Damion James an authority on toughness. I think he’ll be a top 20 pick after his Junior season.

For healthy, curse-free Barnes, it’s all ‘gosh, darn’ these days. Coach is a big advocate of Metamucil apparently.

Women’s basketball gets a 8 seed in NCAA Tournament. Earlier in the year I didn’t think they’d get in, congrats!

Rick Barnes threatens Arkansas fans. I love poking the Piggies with a stick. Should have them nice and riled up.r