After a week of deliberating, I'm going to stay with my initial picks from last weekend. I went 8-1 over the past three days of the NCAA Tournament.

Here are the picks for the Final Four.

Today at New Orleans
Kentucky (36-2) vs. Louisville (30-9),
Early line: Kentucky -8.5
At New Orleans, 6:09

Ohio State (31-7) vs. Kansas (31-6)
Early line: Ohio State -2.5
At New Orleans, 8:49 p.m.

I’ve ridden Kentucky for a while and that’s the case again. The drama over Pitino against the Wildcats is real but these ‘Cats are too tough. Kentucky beat Louisville by seven points earlier in the season but they led by 13 late before the Cardinals hit two 3-pointers in the last minute to make it look closer than it was. Don't think about the backdoor cover here.

In the second game I’m sticking with the Buckeyes and I think they’ll flex their muscles here. Look for Buford to bounce back with a solid performance and Ohio State to coast over the worst of the Final Four teams.

Well I swept the weekend card and am 8-1 over the past three days in the NCAA Tournament.

I’d like to say that I’m going to win the office pool but in the two brackets I filled out I went with North Carolina in one and Ohio State in the other. The UNC sheet was dead as soon as Kendall Marshall went down. I loaded up the one with the Buckeyes on it with upsets so that one is still in trouble, even with an OSU win.
Anyways, here are the picks for the Final Four.

Saturday at New Orleans
Kentucky (36-2) vs. Louisville (30-9),
Early line: Kentucky -8.5
At New Orleans, 6:09

Ohio State (31-7) vs. Kansas (31-6)
Early line: Ohio State -2.5
At New Orleans, 8:49 p.m.

I’ve ridden Kentucky for a while and that’s the case again. The drama over Pitino against the Wildcats is real but these ‘Cats are too tough.

In the second game I’m sticking with the Buckeyes and I think they’ll flex their muscles here. Look for Buford to bounce back with a solid performance and Ohio State to coast over the worst of the Final Four teams.

As for the final, if you’ve followed by blog you know what I’ve been saying for awhile and it’s quite upsetting: OSU

I went 3-1 on the blog yesterday. All 4 games weren't decided by the spread until the last minute but the only one that covered by the back door was Xavier.

You need some luck in the biz, dont ya?

Here's today's matchups and the spread.

Florida (-1) vs. Louisville at Phoenix
4:30 p.m.

Ohio State (-2.5) vs. Syracuse at Boston
7:05 p.m.

In a twist, both of the lower seeds are the faves today. In that case I'm going with Louisville in a classic coach-mentor battle and Ohio State which has looked solid thus far in the tournament and a I feel, the last team in the field that can beat Kentucky.

After going 2-2 against the spread last night, here are my picks for tonight.

Here are the matchups for Friday night's NCAA action.

Xavier vs. Baylor (-6) -- 7:15 p.m.

Ohio vs. North Carolina (-10.5) -- 7:47 p.m.

Indiana vs. Kentucky (-9.5) -- 9:45 p.m.

NC State vs. Kansas (-8.5) -- 10:17 p.m.

Best bet: Xavier -- This should be close throughout. Baylor's not the best defensive team so Xavier should be able to cover the spread even if they lose this one.

Also:
Ohio -- should be in this game for a while and could put a scare into the Tar Heels withouth Francis.
Kentucky -- don't like giving this many points but the Wildcats are running wild and the faves to win it all.
Kansas -- The Jayhawks survived last game without playing well. They'll play much better tonight and should cover late.

Tonight the NCAA moves into the round of 16. It's basically a Big East - Big 10 Challenge.

Here are the matchups and the lines.

Wisconsin @Syracuse (-3) 7:20 p.m at Boston

Louisville @Michigan St (-5) 7:47 p.m. at Phoenix

Cincinnati @Ohio St. (-7.5) 9:45 p.m. at Boston

Florida @ Marquette (-2) 10:17 p.m. at Phoenix

My picks:

Syracuse, Louisvile, Cincinnati and Marquette.

Best bet is Cincinnati. This should be a war and I'll take 7.5 points every time in a tight contest.