It's that time of year again....

... the time of the NCAA men's basketball tournament.

A little delayed, here's my official bracket:

Losing in the first round (seed)

Jackson State (16) -- Glad you could make it. Now get out of here.
Arizona (8) -- Again, not coming close to preseason expectations.
Old Dominion (12) -- The second at-large bid from the CAA doesn't come close to the first.
Davidson (13) -- I'd like this team, but they're playing Maryland.
Notre Dame (6) -- Without their PG, I smell an early exit.
Miami of Ohio (14) -- This was supposed to be a football school that wasn't very good at football.
UNLV (7) -- Javaris Crittenton will put the Yellow Jackets on his back.
Texas Agricultural & Mining - Corpus Christi (15) -- mostly due to sheer longness of name
Niagara (16) -- beating Florida A&M is plenty
Kentucky (8) -- Even Tubby Smith can't overcome this team's sheer lack of talent.
Illinois (12) -- The glory days of Dee Brown and Deron Williams are gone.
Holy Cross (13) -- While they're up against a fairly weak 4 in Southern Illinois, I don't see them winning.
Duke (6) -- This team just isn't very talented.
Wright State (14) -- Who?
Indiana (7) -- Now that Gonzaga's not favored, they'll go back to surprising everyone.
Weber State (15) -- UCLA is too good.
Eastern Kentucky (16) -- At least the players will have something to remember, even if it is getting run out of the gym by UNC.
Michigan State (9) -- Their 1-8 road record says it all.
Arkansas (12) -- If only Darren McFadden played basketball.
New Mexico State (13) -- Kevin Durant is not the POY, but he's still way better than anyone on the NMSU roster.
George Washington (11) -- What was that guy's name who was good last year for this team?
Oral Roberts (14) -- Lost all faith in this team after they didn't beat Memphis last year.
Texas Tech (10) -- Jared Dudley is amazing. Texas Tech is not.
Belmont (15) -- If you can't dance, stay out of the Big Dance.
Central Connecticut State (16)-- What is it with low seeds having big names?
Brigham Young (8)-- Good thing they're not scheduled to play on a Sunday.
Long Beach State (12)-- Tennessee is weak this year, but Long Beach State is nothing special either.
Albany (13) -- After almost beating UConn last year, got a bump up to a 13. Still can't win, though.
Stanford (11) -- Louisville should NOT be a 6. Stanford has a bad draw.
Penn (14) -- Penn is an excellent school. Just not on the basketball court.
Nevada (7) -- Even Nick Fazekas can't prevent another first-round upset.
North Texas (15) -- This team isn't even in northern Texas.

Losing in the second round:

Purdue (9) -- My joke pick to go all the way.
Butler (5) -- Sorry guys, next time don't draw Maryland.
Winthrop (11) -- Excellent team -- but Oregon is even better.
Georgia Tech (10) -- I had them getting by UNLV on luck, heart, and Javaris Crittenton. Won't work against Wisconsin.
Villanova (9) -- They won the best game of the tournament last year, and I see this one as another thriller. This time, though, Kyle Lowry won't pull it out for them.
Southern Illinois (4) -- Why this team is a 4 seed when Creighton is a 10 is beyond me.
Pittsburgh (3) -- If Aaron Gray doesn't have a monster game, this team can lose to anyone. VCU just happens to be anyone.
UCLA (2) -- Gonzaga's revenge! Without Adam Morrison crying!
Marquette (8) -- Should NOT be an 8 seed. And should not have to play UNC. Of course, they do. So they'll lose.
USC (5) -- Much as I dislike Texas, Kevin Durant is one heck of a player.
Vanderbilt (6) -- One season-long Cinderella loses to a better season-long Cinderella.
Xavier (9) -- Gotta give them points for having XU as their abbreviation. Not much else going for them, though. Especially not their draw.
Tennessee (5) -- Wrong seed, early exit.
Texas A&M (3) -- Louisville just might be the best 6-seed in the country.
Creighton (10) -- It's a shame they got a 10 seed. They're better than that.

Losing in the Sweet 16:

Maryland (4) -- Unfortunately, Florida is Florida. End of the road for Jones, Ibekwe, and the everpresent Strawberry.
Wisconsin (2) -- Without Brian Butch, they're pretty vulnerable. Lucky draws got them this far. Oregon will get them out.
Virginia Tech (5) -- A season-long Cinderella can make a Sweet 16 exit with their head held high.
Virginia Commonwealth (11) -- Sorry, but George Mason was a once-in-a-lifetime thing.
North Carolina (1) -- If one team can run with the Heels, it's Texas, who, coincidentally, have Kevin Durant.
Washington State (3) -- See Virginia Tech.
Ohio State (1) -- Virginia has one of, if not the best backcourts in the nation.
Louisville (6) -- Will be sorry they left C-USA for the Big East.

Losing in the Elite Eight:

Florida (1) -- If Porter, Taylor, and Brooks are hitting from downtown, this may not even be close.
Gonzaga (10) -- Kansas is just too good.
Texas (4) -- Jared Dudley proves he's better than Durant.
Memphis (2) -- Can't keep up with Sean Singletary and J.R. Reynolds as Virginia moves on.

Losing in the Final Four:

Kansas (1) -- If Oregon gets hot, nobody can beat them. Nobody.
Boston College (7) -- Their style clashes with Virginia's, and, as a result, they can't beat them.

Losing in the national championship:

Virginia (4) -- Only Oregon can match this backcourt. And they do.

The national champions:

Oregon (3) -- Look at Bryce Taylor's game in the Pac-10 championship game. Then tell me this team isn't unstoppable when they're hot.

Spring is Here

Today, the Orioles had their first spring training game! They lost, 8-6, to the Marlins, and Steve Trachsel bombed. However, the offense perfomed well, and Todd Williams had great movement. Jeff Fiorentino had two hits.

Not much news to report, so check out these awesome commercials for the time being!

NHL Road Trip - http://youtube.com/watch?v=3OMk1s9s8K8&mode=related&search=
Bowling would be better if..... - http://youtube.com/watch?v=nrRi9bEQbFU
NHL commercial - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eS52bRZ0pQU&NR
Peter Forsberg - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsQchEt8fqY&mode=related&search=
Sedin twins - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1TRXOPL_vU&NR
Alex Ovechkin - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bhYS3slyGI&NR
Marty Turco - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUGRiAcPZDg&NR

The O's Offseason Gradesheet

Move #1: Traded RHP Chris Britton to NYY for RHP Jaret Wright. At the time, this move didn't make sense, trading a young reliever for a starter who can't go deep in games, but in hindsight, it looks decent, because of all the bullpen acquisitions. Grade: B

Move #2: Signed LHP Jamie Walker. OK, it's not Barry Zito, but it's still a good signing, and something that will help the team not be horrible. I like this deal a lot. Grade: B+

Move #3: Signed RHP Danys Baez. This is a lot like the Walker signing, but a little better, since Baez is a little younger, and has closer experience. Grade: A-

Move #4: Signed RHP Chad Bradford. I like this deal a lot too. Bradford is a good setup man whose submarine delivery can give the batters a different look out of the bullpen. Grade: A-

Move #5: Signed RHP Scott Williamson. This is a bit of a gamble, because Williamson seems to be injured a lot, but when healthy, he is an excellent reliever. Grade: B

Move #6: Signed IF/OF Aubrey Huff. This was easily, without a doubt, the best move of the offseason. Huff may be on the downswing, but he is still an excellent player who can give the Orioles a .285/25/100 season, and they need someone like that who will make pitchers think twice about pitching around Miggy. Grade: A+

Move #7: Traded RHP Rodrigo Lopez for RHP Jason Burch and RHP Jim Miller. Anything to get rid of Lopez is a great move, and getting closer prospect Burch for him makes it even better. Grade: A+

Overall: This was a great offseason for the Orioles, with no stupid moves, and it looked like Flanagan made a conscious effort to make the team better. They didn't land a Carlos Lee or a Barry Zito, but they plugged a few holes, and they look like a better team than last year.