(Author's Note: To those of you just checking out the site, please also be sure to visit late Wednesday afternoon, March 31, when Aaron will be publishing a special "tribute," to all the Kentucky fans who've been kind enough to reach out to him since Saturday evening. Thanks.)

I wasn't planning on writing tonight. It's been a long week, and a long month and a long college basketball season. Truthfully, I was really just hoping to kick my feet up, grab a few beers, watch some hoops and hit the hay early. Seemed like a perfect Saturday night to me.

But with West Virginia having just beaten Kentucky, here I am in front of my computer, trying to collect my thoughts on this game, and this Kentucky team. A team that might not be playing for a National Championship next weekend, but still may go down as the most fascinating of my lifetime.

Now make no mistake, I'm not a Kentucky fan. Quite honestly, I've never even been inside the states borders. And for most of my life I never really gave their basketball team much thought either. At least until December 9, when the Wildcats took on my UConn Huskies inside Madison Square Garden.

As I tried my hardest to describe the following day in my piece, "Kentucky-UConn: A Final Four In December," the level of fandom that I saw from the Big Blue faithful that night was unparalleled. I'm still fascinated, all these months later, at the passion the fan base had that night, when easily 10,000 people wearing royal blue and white filled the Garden to cheer for their team. For a a mid-week, seemingly meaningless, non-conference game.

I knew that what I had seen, and what I had written touched a nerve, when after publishing that article the following day, I had an inbox full of e-mails from Kentucky fans, and close to 100 comments on my old website (unfortunately, when the site got redesigned to look like this, those comments disappeared forever) all thanking me for documenting that game for them. To this day, that was the single most well received piece I've ever written. And I will forever be in debt to all Kentucky fans, and those who took the time to reach out to me.

After that experience, both at Madison Square Garden, and the following response as well, I started to follow Kentucky quite closely. Not just because of the graciousness of their fans, but because as the season went on, Kentucky happened to become the single most polarizing college basketball team I can ever remember.

"I'm not here to talk about the past."

The famous words of Mark McGwire. He spoke them as he stood in front of Congress a few years back, trying to beg, borrow and steal his way out of steroid accusations.

I'm not here to talk about the past.

Well Big Mac, after last weekend's NCAA Tournament, I know how you feel buddy.

I came into last weekend brimming with confidence, like Tiger Woods on the 18th hole at Augusta- or in the VIP room of Scores, whichever you prefer- about this year's NCAA Tournament. Never had I seen more games and known more about the teams participating. This was the year I would own my NCAA Tournament pools. It wasn't if I was going to win them, but what the final margin would be.

Well, needless to say, I'm licking my wounds right now. I ended up with a grand total of half of this weekend's Sweet 16 picked correctly, with my National Champion (Kansas), and another Final Four team (Villanova) joining me on the couch to watch this weekend's games. Not exactly the opening two rounds I was hoping for.

But I haven't lost hope. And like McGwire, I'm not here to talk about the past. Which is why it's time for me to roll out my new predictions on this weekend's games, predictions I'm itching to share with you.

So sit back, relax and enjoy my retroactive NCAA Tournament picks, as well as some fun-facts I'll be be throwing in along the way.

And oh, if you're a gambling man (or woman), now would be the time to bet heavily against everything I'm about to tell you...

Honestly, isn't the NCAA Tournament great? Just when you think things can't get any better, there's Bruce Pearl pacing the sidelines in his orange blazer and proving once again, that this is in fact, the best sporting even out there.

For anyone who watched, this weekend was obviously no exception. And after sacrificing my social life, and taking in as much of the weekend's action that I possibly could, it's time to hand out some awards.

Time to praise the good,  mock the bad, and recap everything else that happened in the NCAA Tournament's first weekend.

So look, I’m sure sometimes you guys read my work and think to yourselves, “This guy’s a lunatic. Sports are his life. Honestly, it all seems a bit unhealthy at this point.” And you know what, you’re totally right (In a related story, ladies, I'm single!).

But it hasn’t always been this way, I swear. You see I grew up as a relatively normal kid. Sure I liked sports, but no more than I liked riding bikes, watching Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, pulling girls hair (Ok, I may still do that), eating rocks, whatever. You know all the stuff normal kids do.

Then the 1995 NCAA Tournament changed my life. It was my first adventure into the world of the office pool. And as a young, whipper-snapping AT, I turned that thing on its head, when I shocked my dad’s entire office and picked Fran Fraschilla’s Manhattan Jaspers to beat Kelvin Sampson’s Oklahoma Sooners. I was on top of the world that day. Even a week’s worth of ice cream couldn’t have made me happier.

Well, flash-forward 15 years, and while I’ve had some tournament successes, I’m like a junkie still looking for the rush that I got that March day all these years ago. But as they say in sports, it’s always easier to get on top of the mountain than it is to stay there.

Either way, through the years I’ve tinkered with a system for filling out my March Madness brackets, and while still a work in progress, I am here to share them with you.

These rules apply to any standard NCAA Tournament pool that awards points for each win, with point values going higher per round (For example, a Round 1 win gets you one point, a Round 2 win two points etc.) with the highest point total at the end of the tournament winning the whole thing. And if that’s not how your pool is run, well good luck regardless. And oh, by the way, go back to whatever Communist-block country you came from.

So with that, here are my personal rules. Follow them, and you'll almost certainly do well in your office pool, if not win it all. As for me, well, I’ll be trying my best to regain the lofty status I held in my dad’s office a decade and a half ago. Where's Fran Fraschilla when you need him?

Look we all know that the NCAA Tournament is the greatest sporting event on our American calendar, but with college basketball a little down this year, even the biggest of fans may need a reason to tune in.

Well rather than just give you one, how about I give you 65 instead...

(Also, be sure to bookmark AaronTorres-Sports.com for continuing NCAA Tournament coverage all month long)

1. This May Be The Last Year Before The Tournament Field Expands to 96 Teams: Did anyone actually watch UConn this year? How about Arizona State? Dayton anyone? It was more painful than a double date with your grandparents. Well, if the tournament gets expanded to 96 teams, they'd all be in. And it could happen as early as next year.

2. Because Office Pools Are The Best Way To Trick Women Into Watching Sports: "Come on honey, we've got to watch this BYU-Florida game! If BYU holds on, you'll be up to 11th place in the pool. Stay focused!"

3. The Play In Game: For those of you who can't wait until Thursday to start gambling.

4. Is This The Last Time We See John Wall, Xavier Henry, DeMarcus Cousins, Derrick Favors and a few other freshman?: Hey guys, thanks for stopping by and hope you enjoyed your eight months on campus, here are some nice parting gifts. By the way, I hear New Jersey is lovely this time of year. Say hi to Brook Lopez and Snooki for me.

5. Evan Turner: Forget the National Player of the Year Talk. Did You See That Shot Against Michigan?

6. Regionals In Spokane, Jacksonville, Buffalo and Providence: Wow, the NCAA sure knows how to roll out the red carpet! What, were Billings, Sante Fe and Ocala all booked this year?

On Thursday night, I was lucky enough to talk some college basketball with Zack Cooper, host of the radio show "Hoops," on the Fan 590 radio station in Toronto.

Amongst the topics we discussed included:

- Is Syracuse still a No. 1 seed after their Big East Tournament loss to Georgetown?

- How could a potential injury to Arinze Onuaku impact Syracuse's National Championship hopes?

- What's wrong with North Carolina and UCLA this year and why they almost certainly won't be in this year's NCAA Tournament?

- Whether or not Kentucky can win a National Championship.

- Who should be the National Player of the Year

And much, much more.

Once again, a special thanks to Zack and his producer Len Grammenopolous for passing along this audio, and allowing me to share it with some of you who might not have gotten to listen.

It is in three parts, and you can hear them all here: