I could bore you with some clever intro, but I won’t. This article already ran way longer than I expected it to.

Let's look at the bracket. How do I see things going down?

It's time to investigate...

East:

Quick Breakdown: For the second year in a row, the NCAA Tournament committee handed the No. 1 overall seed maybe the toughest bracket in the tournament. It happened last year when Kansas was grouped with Ohio State and Georgetown, and again this time around with the Buckeyes getting a brutal draw.

And you know the irony of all this is? Ohio State Athletic Director Gene Smith is the head of the Tournament Committee. Gene, my man, help your boys out! Then again, with everything that’s going on at Ohio State with Tressel-gate 2011, one has to wonder if Smith and his crew put more than 10 minutes into the actual seeding and selection of this field. From the looks of things, I’m not so sure.

Anyway, back to the bracket, where a lot of people are probably wondering, Aaron, is this really the toughest draw? What about what Duke’s got going on West?

Well, here’s the thing. The West absolutely, positively has the toughest top five seeds. I’m not arguing that. What I am arguing however, is that from say, seeds No. 1 through No. 10, I absolutely, positively think the Buckeyes have the toughest draw. The West may be more top heavy, but to steal a line from my buddy Ryan McNeill (who stole the line from Jersey Shore), the East is full of way more “grenades,” and “landmines.”

Right around this time last year I wrote an article called “Eight Tips For Filling Out Your NCAA Tournament Bracket.” Overall it was a fun exercise. At least for me anyway.

Well with the NCAA Tournament just 24-hours from getting fully under way, let’s update last year’s article, with some new and additional thoughts. 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, I'm not sure I can be friends with you.

Anyway, let's get to the tips. And also, be sure to check back at AaronTorres-Sports.com tomorrow, as I reveal my picks.

(And one final note: Yes, I know I'm a shill. But if you haven't signed up for the Aaron Torres Sports Tourney Challenge, well shame on you! Go ahead and get your picks in now to win lots of great prizes!)

Rule No. 1: Talent Almost Always Wins Out

You know all that talk about how to win in the NCAA Tournament, you need to have a senior point guard, or veteran coach, or superstar big man, or whatever? Well all of it is non-sense. You know what you actually need? Better players than everyone else. Crazy, I know.

Just taking a quick look over all the recent champions, the one overriding theme that virtually all of them had in common was more raw basketball talent than everyone else. Yes Duke was an exception last year, but looking at other recent winners it’s no contest.

Anybody as psyched for the NCAA Tournament as I am? Anyone? You out there? Well if you are, enter the Aaron Torres Sports Tournament Challenge!

What separates my Tournament Challenge from every other website, blog, radio call-in show, and friend that's asking you to enter their pool? Well not much, other than some really cool prizes I'll be giving away.

They are:

First Prize: $100 Amazon.com Gift Card

Second Prize: $50 Amazon.com Gift Card

Third Prize: A copy of Seth Davis' recently released book, "When March Went Mad."

Fourth Prize: A hug from me!

Ok, I'm only kidding on the last one, but the rest are real. And the best part is, the Aaron Torres Sports Tournament Challenge is 100 percent FREE!!

So how do you enter?

Simply, really. Just go ahead and click here, fill out your bracket and enter to win. Despite there being some additional games this year, you'll still have up until tip-off on Thursday morning (around noon EST) to make updates and changes to your bracket. Once the tournament starts, all selections are FINAL. The scoring system is like any other year, where you accumulate points for each win, with the point totals increasing by the round. The guy or gal with the most points at the end of the tournament wins! And as always, be sure to include a score for the National Championship Game as a tie-breaker.

Other than that, just sit back, relax and enjoy the next month. As always, feel free to e-mail me with any questions or concerns, and keep checking updates on AaronTorres-Sports.com for updates all tournament long.

I look forward to spending the next month competing against you!!

Need a reason to be excited about this year's NCAA Tournament? How about I give you 68 instead?

In no particular order...

1. One Full Year Until We Have To Deal With The Selection Committee Again: As a general rule I don’t like to take cheap shots at the committee, because ultimately they’ve got a pretty thankless job. But Texas as a four seed? Florida as a two? UAB? VCU? Did these guys (and gals) take more than 10 minutes on this bracket? Or just throw it together and head down to Applebee’s for Happy Hour? Looking it over, I’m honestly not sure.

2. Office Pools: If I’ve said once, I’ve said it a million times: If you’re ever going to trick your girlfriend into watching sports with you, this is the way to do it. You know how many times I’ve said something like, “But honey, we’ve got to watch Temple-Penn State. If the Owls win, you’re in fifth place in our pool!” Gets ‘em every time.

(Speaking of which, why not join the AaronTorres-Sports.com Tournament Challenge? First Prize is a $100 Amazon.com Giftcard. You could put that to use? Couldn't you??)

3. Charles Barkley, Reggie Miller, Kenny Smith and Steve Kerr: I know the early returns on Barkley were only so-so, but give him a chance. When Barkley makes some unsuspecting coach cry after a round two loss, it’ll all be worth it.

4. Arizona, Memphis, North Carolina, UCLA and UConn: The NCAA Tournament just didn’t feel the same last year without last year. Good to have them back.

5. The Four Opening Round Games: Or as I like to call them, “A reason to start gambling on Tuesday. Instead of having to wait until Thursday.” 

6. Jimmer Fredette: I don’t know if BYU is still a Final Four contender without Brandon Davies, but really, shouldn’t we all just be thankful for another few games with Jimmer?

7. Duke’s Opening Round Matchup With Hampton: The Pirates haven’t made the tournament many times in school history, but one of the times they did, well, this happened. Obviously I'm not saying it will again. But a guy can dream, can't he?

Speaking of Duke, how about…

I’ve got a lot to say about yesterday’s games, and just a little time to say it before the action tips off again.

In no particular order, here are some thoughts from an epic Friday afternoon in Championship Week:

1. UConn: Honestly, if you’re looking for some logical insight into UConn’s run at Madison Square Garden, you’ve come to the wrong place. Much like the success of the show “Big Bang Theory,” I have no idea how or why it’s happening. I've been just as surprised this entire week as you are.

Truthfully, it’s beyond surprise.

For example, when I was in Arizona last weekend, one of my buddies asked me if I was upset after UConn lost to Notre Dame, when they blew a late lead, at home, on Senior Day, none the less. My response? Not really. While (at the time), I thought UConn’s season was essentially over, I wouldn’t let it cloud how fun those first few weeks were, when UConn was knocking off all comers, and the Huskies were the toast of the college hoops world. As a sports fan, it’s one thing to root for a team which has expectations and meets them. But it’s quite different (and in a lot of cases more satisfying) to root for one with few expectations that proceeds to blow them out of the water. After the Notre Dame loss last weekend, I was trying to keep exactly that in perspective. I really was. Which- in large part- is why the run this weekend has been so surprising and enjoyable. Because just when I let my guard down, this team pulled me back in.

Obviously, this whole thing all comes back to Kemba Walker. You know that. I know that. Doris, the overweight receptionist in your office, who has never watched a second of basketball in her life knows that. Just understand that what Kemba is doing in New York isn’t just impressive, it’s unprecedented. Remember, Eric Devendorf had the four day Big East Tournament scoring record with 84 points. Kemba has 111 and counting.

Really though, the difference is something I touched on a bit in my College Basketball Most Valuable Player column last week: Kemba is once again playing within himself, which is something you couldn’t have said two weeks ago. There are no wild runners, no off-balance corner jumpers, no reckless drives into three defenders looking for a foul call. Incredibly, Walker is averaging almost 28 points per game, but still doing it within the context of the offense. If that isn’t contradictory, I don’t know what is.

As I've told you all many times, one of the best perks of my job is the schedule. I don't have to anywhere at any specific time, I don't have answer any dumb inter-office e-mails and thankfully, no one is is ever asking me for the damn TPS reports. Maybe the best part though, is that for two glorious weeks a year, I get to watch a whole heck of a lot of basketball.

Well this is one of those weeks, and I couldn't be more excited. Which is why while you're stuck at work this afternoon, I'll be Live Blogging today's Big East Tournament matchups. Starting right before noon, AaronTorres-Sports needs to be your stop for constant updates on UConn-Georgetown and Rutgers-St. John's. Stop by every hour, every 10 minutes or refresh the page every 30 seconds, I don't care. Just know that I'll be updating by the minute, anytime anything important happens.

So grab a snack, put down those TPS reports, and join me at 11:50 a.m. EST on Wednesday. I'll see you then!

If you missed Part I of this list, where I ranked players No. 40-21, go ahead and click here. Today, let’s get to Part II.

First a quick refresher in how we go about ranking these players. Here are the criteria:

1. Competition Matters: My buddy Steve mentioned this last year and I liked it so much, I decided to keep it in, "AT I watched Northern Iowa last week, and it was a joke. It was a bunch of pale of 6'3 jump shooters running around like chickens with their heads cut off. Any team in the Big East would beat them by 50. And they're ranked No. 22 in the country! What a joke."

Granted, that Northern Iowa team ended up being No. 1 Kansas in the NCAA Tournament, and getting to the Sweet 16. But still, his point was clear: It's harder to get 21 points and 10 rebounds a night in the Big East than it is in the MEAC or America East. Sorry it's just true.

2. NBA Draft Positioning Does Not Matter: This isn't a list of who the best pure basketball talents are, or what a guy might be like in 10 years. It's based on what they're doing right now.

For example, Perry Jones might be the first overall pick in the upcoming NBA Draft (for reasons that are still somewhat unbeknownst to me). Yet he’s playing for a team that’s 18-10 and might miss the NCAA Tournament all together. Would Baylor really be that much worse without him?

3. If Your Team Stinks, Your Value Suffers: It's great that you're getting your 20 and 10 every night.  Seriously I'm happy for you. But if your team is 10-20, how important is what you're doing?