ncaa march madness kicks off

word of the day:
flagrant - shockingly noticeable or evident; glaring; notorious; scandalous
(used in basketball in 'flagrant foul' - an unnecessary and obvious foul that concerns serious unsportsmanlike personal contact with a court opponent)

ncaa march madness officially begins today! i have an office pool bracket, and i get really into it--mainly because being able to justify streaming espn all day at work is awesome. last year i tied for 4th in the office pool. not bad, but i'm hoping to do better this year. i picked some upsets in an attempt to get more points. here's my picks:

my pick for the ncaa champion is unc. (note: i have some family loyalty to duke, so on a personal note--i wouldn't mind seeing unc fall...it's a win-win either way for me.) i found another bracket that looks pretty similar to mine. here's president obama's own hand-written bracket picks:

we have the same choices for final four, play-offs, and champion. and we're only off by two teams in the elite eight and sweet sixteen. not bad, mr. president.

i started a nike+ running challenge so ncaa fans can log miles for their teams. sign up if you have a nike+ sensor! here's the real-time standings: