What a strange, strange day.

And it was awesome. There were hot basketball fans all over the city and despite the $200 I lost playing blackjack at the Detroit casino (I was sitting next to a really cute UNC fan and didn’t want to get up….) the entire evening was really quite fun.

And now it is the moment of reckoning (for college basketball…not T.I.): the NCAA basketball final is here. Tonight the top two basketball teams in the country will face off for the ultimate title. Which team will come out on top: Barack Obama’s pick, UNC, or the Michigan State Spartans? And, the bigger question, will this game be over in time for the season premiere of The Hills?

We can only hope.
Who are you rooting for tonight?

We’re talking hardcore, fast and furious, make it or break it time.

Only 16 teams left. And only 8 spots remain to be filled in the Elite Eight. Who will make it? I give you my predictions below, after watching the action-packed first two rounds of the tourney.

First of all, we can finally settle the debate on which conference is the best this year, and possibly even in history. For the first time in the history of the NCAA tournament, five teams from one league advanced to the Sweet 16. The Big East is home to Connecticut, Louisville, Pittsburgh, Syracuse and Villanova, all of which made the cut and will play in the regional semifinals on Thursday and Friday.

The ACC, which was the other conference in the debate, only has two of its members left, although they are reputably two of the best college teams and have one of the biggest rivalries in sports history: UNC and Duke. (Sidenote: dark blue is wayyy better than that gross baby blue color. Eww.)

Anyway, do you remember last year when, surprisingly, all four #1′s made it to the Final Four? Well, this year marks the first time all the 1-, 2-, and 3-seeds are in the Sweet Sixteen. Looks like Cinderella is going to be hard to find this year.

But what a great first two rounds it’s been.

Does anyone remember Demetri Goodson’s last-second game-winner in that 83-81 second round Gonzaga victory over Western Kentucky? Or how Ty Lawson came back from a toe injury and permanently quelled rumors with his 23 points, 6 assists and 0 turnovers against LSU? And when Clemson’s Terrence Oglesby was ejected from the Michigan game for elbowing off the screen and cried about it like the little girl he is in the locker room afterwards? Ok, maybe I’m being a little harsh on him. It’s just because no one looks man enough next to the almighty Gerald Henderson.

Now for my picks:

East- Pitt over Xavier, Duke over Villanova (gotta go with the Dukies).
Midwest- Louisville over Arizona, Michigan State over Kansas (it’s over for the defending champs).
South- Syracuse over Oklahoma, UNC over Gonzaga (the Orange winning in 6 overtimes?Mad props).
West- UConn over Purdue, Memphis over Missouri (the Mizzous will give Memphis a run for their money, but the higher seed will prevail in the end).

No Cinderella this year, it looks like. But it’s ok; the chalk bracket will be a heck-of-an event to watch. I guarantee it.

Once you get past the fact that the NCAA Selection Committee made the mistake of not including some of the best teams that could have been this year’s Cinderella (Arizona State instead of St. Mary’s? come on), the board actually came up with a pretty good draw. And for the next 2 weeks, I will be fully immersing myself in the insanity and awesomeness that is the most exciting sporting event of the year: March Madness.

The best conference in the country (and maybe in history) is hands-down the Big East. 3 out of the 4 number 1 seeds are from the Big East: UConn, Louisville, and Pitt. Even Barack Obama believes in the dominance of this conference, since his bracket that he filled out on Wednesday (live on ESPN! what a cool prez) shows it filling half of his Elite Eight. Although Obama didn’t have our lovely school in his Final Four, Coach K isn’t worried.

And he shouldn’t be worried either. Thursday was the big first day of the NCAA tournament, and the big seeds shined just like they were predicted to. During lunch I heard the big news of #1-seeded UNC ripping Radford to shreds in the South, winning 101-58 (42 points too many, in my opinion). The other #1-seeded UConn also came out with a deafening roar, with the Huskies winning 103-47 against Chattanooga. #2 Memphis (who I have going to the Final Four) won as well, and of course the almighty Blue Devils beat Binghamton (ha, no chance at all).

The upsets were few, but pretty significant. Both the #10′s beat both the #7′s: Maryland showed they earned their spot in the draw by crushing California, while Michigan just got by Clemson (serves them right for beating Duke once in a fluke). Editor’s Note: GO BLUE!

#12 Western Kentucky beat #5 Illinois in a shocker, which definitely messed some of my friend’s brackets up and led to some name-calling on FB statuses (but with a “hilltopper” as mascot, they’re kinda asking for it). #9 Texas A&M beat #8 Brigham Young, which was expected, but the one non-upset that got me most upset (because it ruined my otherwise perfect bracket) was #6 UCLA squeezing by #11 VA Commonwealth! The score was 65-64, in a real nail-biter of a game (seriously, you should see my nails).

Oh well, 15 out of 16 – that ain’t bad. Watching the madness ensue on our flat-screen tv in the common room – that ain’t bad. Having Super G on our team – that’s the total opposite of bad. Now, if only Ty Lawson from UNC never comes back from sitting-out due to his injury…well, that’ll just be the icing on the cake.

March Madness kicks off today with the first 16 teams competing to move ahead, and while one CollegeCandy writer isn’t into the games, everyone else in the world is.

It’s the most exciting three weeks of the year for college sports as the entire country stops everything they are doing (seriously, even President Obama is trying to squeeze some game viewings in between his NATO meetings) to see which college basketball team is the best in the country.

Not into basketball? Well, then it’s an excuse to paint your face and drink beer on a weeknight. Not that you really needed an excuse…

Everyone is buzzing about the Presidente’s NCAA picks (UNC to go all the way?). Do you agree? Who do you think will take the title this year? Let out your school pride in the comments section below!

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Thanks to a new company called Masik Collegiate Fragrances, you can now purchase the scent of your school in perfume form. If scent is the sense most closely tied to memory, the kind folks at Masik have now made it possible to capture the memories of the best years of your life with just a whiff of their product. Want to show off your school pride in a stylish, subtle way? Buy a bottle of your school’s perfume!

I know what you’re thinking: how did they capture the distinctive smell of public-bathroom-disinfectant and Natty Light with just a pinch of mildew? And who on earth would ever wear that? But their methods are much more creative than that. Masik creates specific fragrances based on a variety of factors, such as school colors, traditions, and flowers found on campus. The goal is not to recreate a scent with which students are already familiar (i.e. spilled laundry detergent and leftover pizza), but a new scent that students can adopt and wear and begin to associate with their college memories. Not a bad idea.

Currently, they have developed fragrances for UNC-Chapel Hill and Penn State, with Auburn, UF, Tennessee, and others on the way. (Note to Masik: anytime you want to get started on Fordham’s, be my guest.) So if you’ve got any Tar Heels or Nittany Lions fans on your holiday gift list this year, $60.00 will get you a bottle of their school perfume/cologne. And be on the lookout in case your school is next; perhaps you, too could be spritzing a bottle of Eau du Alma Mater in the near future!