Let the Madness Begin

Is it just me or does this weather make you want to quit your inside job and do something that places you outside doing just about anything for the months of March-October? I plan to take full advantage when my maternity leave rolls around, and get that sweet baby out of the house and enjoying the world as much as (she) will let me!

In other news, I filled out my first "March Madness" bracket. Truth be told, Mr. T and I filled them out last year but we didn't put our money where our mouth was, so to speak. So this year, I'm in a pool with several of Mr. T's friends (hello, girl representation) and plan to whoop UP. No mercy, boys. Bring your A game.

So since I know you're dying to know, here are my picks for the Final Four:

Ohio State, Duke, Kansas and Pittsburgh

With OHIO STATE going all the way, baby.

Now let me assure you, my heart belongs to college football, not basketball, in case there is any question. And I truly believe you can only really, really love one sport. But Mr. T gets so darn excited every year when March Madness rolls around that it's easier just to join in the fun. In fact, his college team made it to the Sweet 16 so his heart is invested like you've never seen. So that's exactly what I did. I filled out my bracket, promptly started trash talking on the message board to him and all of his buddies, and plan to take them all down like Julie Brown. If Mr. T is going to be watching basketball for every spare minute of the next three weeks, then I might as well have a reason to watch too. Say it with me: Baby Fund.

So how do I pick the teams in my bracket, you ask? Namely these factors:

First, if I know someone where that college is located and like that person, that automatically gives them an advantage (example: my best friend Stacy lives in D.C., therefore I picked Georgetown in the first round).

Second, if I like that location or general area, then that team also gets an advantage (example: we recently visited San Diego on our anniversary trip to California and loved it, so naturally I picked San Diego State).

Third, attempting to have some sort of allegiance to the SEC (let's not mention how my Alabama Crimson Tide got the shaft), I try to sprinkle in a few teams from the SEC. But I strongly dislike Tennessee, and double dislike Bruce Pearl, so no matter what, I can't root for them. So go Georgia. Why? Because I like Mark Richt, and yes, I know he's the football coach. As I said, my reasoning makes total sense to me.

How about you? Who are your picks?