MIKE AND MIKE

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THE BIG QUESTION
Is it even possible to pick a decent bracket this year? Mike & Mike break it down—Then you're on your own.

GREENY It's tough to say which direction the Tournament will go in this year because the past few have all been so different. We had the bracket buster two years ago with George Mason, and last year we had the biggest chalk run in memory. My feeling is this will be a year for surprises. The power teams are not as good as the power teams in 2007 were. This is the year to take a flier on a five or six seed to make the title game.

GOLIC Would you be shocked if any one of eight teams wins the title? That's why I fill out multiple sheets: There's a lot of parity this year. You could pick many different teams for different reasons.

GREENY Every team has an Achilles' heel. The two teams I like right now—and two probable No. 1 seeds—are UNC and UCLA. I like UCLA because its defense rarely takes a night off and Ben Howland beats you by stopping you. Generally, a team can have a bad night shooting or its best player can get in foul trouble—a lot of bad things can happen in a single-elimination tournament. The safest bet is the team that counts on beating you with D. That's UCLA.

GOLIC I agree for all the same reasons. Memphis scares me because it can't shoot free throws and won't blow out every team. Otherwise, I was keen on Georgetown early and want to see what kind of run it makes. And Jim Calhoun has UConn playing well.

GREENY Another great Tournament coach is Michigan State's Tom Izzo. The Spartans will be a high seed but not one of the teams people talk about during the first week. But mark my words: They're going to win a bunch of games in March.

STONE COLD LEAD PIPE LOCKS
GREENY Hillary Clinton will win the Democratic nomination and choose Barack Obama as her running mate.
GOLIC John McCain will win the Republican nom—What? It's over already? Told ya!

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