And he delivers a preview of a true toss-up of an 8/9 game.

CHJ's final regional preview comes to you in the dinner hour, and it's a full meal of games that the East is offering up. In fact, a buffet's more like it, and you won't want to treat this group of tilts like an à la cart menu (too heavy on the food metaphors? Stopping now). In the past decade no region has had more unpredictability, in terms of which seed ... Read More

Now we're going to talk about Duke and all that's been handed to it and how easy it's going to be for it to saunter to the Final Four. Wait. We're not doing any of that. See, Duke can't "win." Either it reaches the Final Four and everyone rolls their eyes, or it loses before then and Duke gets pummeled for not being able to roll through what's conceived to ... Read More

Heard it called The Man Region yesterday, and that's a great call. I went on the radio last night to talk about these 16 teams, and as I was feebly trying to come off as something barely resembling an analyst, I realized this region is great for us, the viewers. Yeah, it really sucks that Kansas got the toughest region possible, but what a television experience this quadrant is going ... Read More

Today is the day I'll be doling out all the previews for all the regions. I don't want to get you straight-and-narrow analysis and over-exhaustive breakdowns from every game; you can find that in plenty of places, and it's often way, way too much, wouldn't you agree? Doesn't a lot of the stuff so many people slave over just become white noise? So, my own little take on the games, ... Read More

Here are the five games that will be deciding our first automatic bids for the 2010 NCAA Tournament. Yep, it's already that time. Can you believe it? Why, it seems like the NFL season just ended. Perhaps the Olympics masking another chunk of the season made it all go by so much faster than we realized. But March is well underway and it's time for college basketball to shake off ... Read More

I'm not even going to address the surefire teams that are playing tonight and will be in The Tournament (and there are a few interesting games there, too). These are the games with only bubble impact. Last night, I used an interest level, tonight, it's another arbitrary measuring tool: urgency for each team. Temple-Saint Louis. Temple is securely in but Saint Louis needs to win out and lose in overtime of ... Read More

Got a chance to speak with Joey Brackets today, and while I still don't read his prognostications, I figured most of you do. So this is a work for you, the reader. All I did was put my phone speaker and listen to a bunch of newspaper men and women were holed up in their offices around the country and asking regional-related questions about their teams. I got three questions ... Read More

Sneaking up on us tonight are not only the start of conference tournaments, but games with serious consequence. We're down to two games or less for everyone in Division I. Let's look at all the games around the country that impact that soapy surface. I count eight of significance. Tonight, for the first time this season, I'll be DVR'ing "Lost" and watching it a few hours after it airs. Gotta keep ... Read More

I'll check in every now and again, but there's no way I can mold my night around a Pac-10 game. ESPN can't expect any college basketball fan to do it, either. There's no bubble impact on tonight's game. Sure, we'll be told Washington can remain on the fringe with a win, but that's nowhere close to being the case. ESPN took a gamble when it scheduled its "GameDay" sites back in September. ... Read More

Last night, around dinner time, ESPN announced the pairings for the eighth annual BracketBusters. If you're new to this site, the sport or only pay attention to the big boys, here's basically what BracketBusters is: a bunch of mid-major teams going up against each other on national television to prove to the Selection Committee just how good, terrible, forgettable or fundamentally sound they really are. Sometimes the games give a team ... Read More

And here's my faulty reasoning. Remember when the University of Florida basketball program received its first No. 1 ranking some years back? (My God, I can't believe it's been almost seven years.) It was big news at Florida. The team was on a high. That week, ESPN was broadcasting Florida walking into Rupp and trying to prove its worth against one of the most storied programs in the history of the ... Read More

Game of the weekend? Purdue at Wisconsin, no doubt. Purdue couldn't have two other wins that would impress more than if it can go into Kohl and walk out with a W Saturday afternoon. A win for Purdue would set a new school record. Kansas at Tennessee is interesting, mainly after Tyler Smith's dismissal from the team. Tennessee handled upset-minded Charlotte Wednesday night while Kansas struggled at home with Cornell. (I ... Read More

Well, would you look at that:We've got a handful of really intriguing games tonight.

If you read this site it means you follow college hoops with a FERVOR. (For that, I thank you.) And with that fervor comes knowledge. So it's no surprise to you that Kentucky is on the precipice of becoming the first team in the history of college basketball to win 2,000 games. The school that has been to the Final Four 13 times, won seven national titles, won 25 SEC titles, has ... Read More

It's a pretty light news day, so why not throw up a quick preview on the ESPN doubleheader that puts a bow on Jimmy V Week.

Everyone was thinking, This is the year! This is the year the Big Ten finally wins this! Eh ... not so much. Here's why ...

Syracuse will get its chance to beat two preseason conference favorites in two nights when it plays UNC tonight. The last time these two played was almost 22 years ago to the day.