Apparently, March makes me crazy like a fox.  I went 5-0 last week (pause for applause) and I've picked 9 of 10 correctly to temporarily salvage my overall record at 53-52.

Villanova Wildcats (-1.5) over UCLA Bruins - It's the early game, which means the Bruins will be playing at 9 a.m. body time.  Plus, it's in Philadelphia and the home crowd will be ready to roar for the Wildcats.  However, this is a decent matchup for the baby blues, so I would expect a tight one with the crowd pushing Nova over the top.

Washington Huskies (-1.5) over Purdue Boilermakers - What a contrast in styles.  Purdue wants to grind the Huskies into a painfully slow first-to-60 wins battle.  Isaiah Thomas and Justin Dentmon must push tempo at all costs, which again will be easier to do in front of a partisan crowd in Portland, OR.  He drives me nuts, but defensive specialist Venoy Overton has given UW an edge that was not there before by being a general s%!t-disturber.  The Pac-10 champs have too much firepower for any Big Ten team.

LSU Tigers (+11.5) over North Carolina Tar Heels - I'm on record as saying that LSU will win this game, but I feel really good about them covering.  I'm assuming Ty Lawson will play, but he won't do anything to help their defense stop Marcus Thornton and Tasmin Mitchell.  Call me crazy, but this smells like a classic.  

Texas Longhorns (+7.5) over Duke Blue Devils - Rebounding will be the only stat worth paying attention to in this Big 12/ACC showdown.  Texas needs to turn this game into a volleyball exhibition led by PF Damion James and C Dexter Pittman.  Both teams have issues at point guard, which will cancel each other out.  If Duke can survive on the glass with a frontcourt of Kyle Singler and Lance Thomas, they will win easily.  But Texas has enough size to punish them in the paint.

USC Trojans (+3.5) over Michigan St. Spartans - Ride her till she bucks you or don't ride her at all.  Vegas is making a statement with this spread.  They believe in the Trojans.  They made USC favorites against #7 Boston College and they have them playing the Spartans nose-to-nose.  If Taj Gibson and Daniel Hackett stay out of foul trouble, USC will take down the Big Ten's best.