1. I'll take Butler plus 5.5 vs. Wake Forest for $33. Wake has been underwhelming for the last month; Butler looked like a team that could play a bit. Basketball betting rule: Bet underdogs you think can win the game outright.

2. I'll take Ky minus 19 vs. Holy Cross for $44. I prefer not to lay this many points unless the underdog has no player over 6 feet tall and no player under 245 lbs. But Holy Cross looked slow to me and Ky runs and runs and runs.

3. I'll take Temple/Texas UNDER 128.5 for $33. After every shot you are going to hear a "clang" and you will eventually think you are in a bell museum.

4. I'll take Ga State plus 7.5 vs. Wisconsin for $22. This will be a low scoring game and that is a lot of points for a game that is likely to be in the mid-high 50s for both teams.

5. In the NIT, I'll take UC-Irvine plus 13 at Tulsa for $11. UC-Irvine may not play the toughest schedule in the world (274th most difficult out of 319!), but they can definitely run and jump. Tulsa looked ordinary to me so I would not be shocked if UC-Irvine won the game.

1. Do not bet on your alma mater and lay points. If they win and advance to the next round but don't cover you might wind up unhappy.

2. Do not bet on teams because you like one coach better than the other. Players win games and cover spreads, not coaches. Don't bet against coaches either; Dale Brown isn't in the business anymore.

3. There are far too many games to bet them all. To avoid an intervention that will land you in a 12-step program, do not bet on any game if you cannot name one player from each team and at least one of the coaches and the conferences of both teams.

A writer in the San Diego Union Tribune named Jay Posner was commenting on the departure of Ryan Leaf from San Diego. Saying that the XFL might be in Ryan's future, he said that his jersey might read, HE INTERCEPT ME.

Tony Kornheiser was on ESPN's Sports Reporters on Sunday and was ridiculing the XFL for saying they might consider drafting players just out of high school. He is absolutely correct here; that will make a mediocre product much worse. But Tony suggested that they might expand that idea to a draft of homeless persons and then one of them could have a jersey that reads, HE FEED ME.

The irony here is that the player who wears that jersey supposedly has the surname, "Smart". If ever there were a name that people cannot live up to, it would be smart. You have this goof and you have Maxwell and you have Keith. No MENSA candidates here.

Now the "smart money" is saying that Little Ricky Pitino will go to Michigan now that Brian Ellerbee has been "released". There is a job at UMass too. Pitino should stay away from any job in New England at the moment and if he thinks that taking the Louisville job will not paint a bulls eye on his back for all the rabid - and influential - UK fanatics to take a shot at, he needs to step back and take a deep breath and remember the depth of the animosity that exists between those schools and has existed for about the last 75 years.

Eddie Fogler will resign as basketball coach at South Carolina; he will finish out the season coaching the team through the NIT. Fogler wanted his contract extended; it still has three years to run. The university refused so Fogler said he would resign and announced, "…I am leaving with my dignity and with my integrity and with my sanity." If that is true, why did he want an extension?

Here is a stat from a TV talking head that I found staggering. Last year, Pedro Martinez won 18 games for the season; last year, Pedro Martinez gave up only 17 hits with men in scoring position for the season. That is downright scary!

Know what is even scarier? Gary Sheffield has just fired his agent and has retained the services of Scott Boras. You know, a pairing like this comes along only once in a lifetime; unfortunately it came along in my lifetime. Boras says the Sheffield will honor his contract (remember that statement, there are three years to go on this contract with an option year after that!) and that everything else will be handled privately and professionally. That is funny enough to be a warm-up act in the Borscht Belt!

I mentioned the departure of Ryan Leaf from San Diego a while back. There was a rumor on the Sporting News website that Dallas was interested in acquiring Leaf from the Bucs. Hey, if you are going to trade to acquire Ryan Leaf, why not go all the way and sign Gary Sheffield too. How bad can it get?

Leon Searcy may have been a cap casualty in Jax but he signed a fat $30M deal with the Ravens. If his knee is fixed, that gives the Ravens Jonathon Ogden and Leon Searcy as their OTs. That is formidable indeed.

The Browns signed Curtis Enis to a one-year contract. After three really miserable seasons in Chicago, Enis has to produce here or he will be in the XFL wearing a jersey that says MONGO STINKO.

Then again, maybe not. Running backs must be in short supply since the Lions just signed Amp Lee to a one-year deal. Lee reached the pinnacle of his career at the level of "barely acceptable" more than a couple of years ago. To make room for Lee, the Lions released Mike Tomczak. Look, if Bubby Brister and Mike Tomczak are your two choices to be an emergency QB, why not take Tomczak? You're team will stink either way.

Pat Riley sent Anthony Mason and Duane Causewell home to Miami from a road trip in Minnesota because the players were late to a team meeting. Riley said that he called the meeting to "get their [the players'] attention" and that there "has been some slippage recently". The Heat lost big to the Timberwolves last night, 94-77 and the leading Miami scorers were Horace Grant and Cedric Ceballos. The "slippage" is because Alonzo is out for the year and Eddie Jones is out with a dislocated shoulder. Team meetings won't cure that.

As you go and fill out your brackets for the office pool, here are some sleeper teams that can win a game or two. And if your pool gets you extra points for lower seeds that you pick, consider:

Creighton over Iowa. Creighton is actually favored by 1.5 even though Iowa is the 7 seed and Creighton is the 10 seed.

Hofstra over UCLA. The Bruins don't always show up ready to play; Hofstra has 4 seniors starting so this is a big deal for them.

Providence over Penn State. Every time I see Penn State, they play as if they have never met each other until that evening.

Gonzaga can beat UVA in the first round and Oklahoma in the second round and go to the Sweet 16 for the 3rd year in a row.

But don't get me wrong, I love sports...