Happy Joe Lunardi Day!

Allow me to do this once (and only once) before ESPN shoves it down your throat for the rest of your Sunday.

Last year, "Bracketologist" Joe Lunardi correctly picked the 65-team field.

Good for him. I'm almost done getting my degree in journalism, but where and how can I get a degree in Bracketology?

North Carolina can't win without a healthy Ty Lawson. Fact. Tyler Hansbrough is a great college player and perimeter guys such as Wayne Ellington and Danny Green are great complimentary players. But without Lawson, who would likely be the fastest guy in the NBA if he stepped on a pro court right now, my beloved Tar Heels don't stand a chance.

At 31-3, the Memphis Tigers are deserving of a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. In principle, of course. Derrick Rose's former teammates have some quality non-conference wins, but they also had some real pushovers, too. And did I mention they have won 6,342 straight Conference USA games? I don't want to hear that C-USA is a competitive conference. Memphis swept the conference awards ... including a sixth man award for a guy who admitted he didn't deserve it.

Creighton deserves to make the NCAA Tournament. They were the preseason projected champs and they shared the Missouri Valley Conference title with auto bid Northern Iowa. A 26-7 record is worthy of a tourney bid. So is the team that beat them in the MVC semifinal, Illinois State.

Man, I'd pay a pretty penny to see an Osiris Eldridge-Stephen Curry matchup at Madison Square Garden. That's of course if The Committee doesn't gift-wrap a spot for Davidson.

Cleveland State, Temple and Southern California are in with auto bids. Huh? Last time I checked my U.S. map, Cleveland is a city ... not a state. I can't believe Temple is in ... do they still play that John Cheaney 2-3 zone? Is he still even coaching. Finally, congrats to the Trojans, but I'm still puzzled with how they got in. Pete Carroll isn't coaching that team. O.J. Mayo is playing for the Memphis Grizzlies. Is Lil' Romeo that damn good?

Someone needs to give Jay Bilas a lap dance ... he seems mighty irritated this morning on ESPN.
Cleveland state temple USC