Andrew Perna and I sat down on Monday afternoon to draft who we believe will win the 2007 NCAA Tournament.  Like two captains of rival grade school kickball teams, we had many difficult decisions to make.  We were quick to grab Buckeyes, Tar Heels and Tigers while the Purple Eagles and other breeds of Tigers were staring at us with sad eyes for quite a while.

We alternated selections with Andrew picking and writing about the odds and I will battle him with my even warriors.

1. Ohio State ? They enter the tournament as the overall number one seed. The only teams they lost against this season were all ranked in the ten top, so they don?t look like a top seed that will be bounced by a Cinderella squad. Their only negative is Greg Oden. No, not Oden the player, but Oden the media darling.

2. North Carolina ? The Tar Heels have all of the tools to win their second championship in three seasons.  The parallels to that 2005 team is somewhat obvious; Tyler Hansbrough is Sean May, Ty Lawson is Raymond Felton, Wayne Ellington is Rashad McCants, Brandan Wright is a much more productive Marvin Williams Jr. and Rewshawn Terry is Jawad Williams.  They are unbeatable in fast paced barnburners, but will they be able to score buckets in the halfcourt late in close games?  Atlanta will

3. Memphis ? Tons of talent, but a little on the young side. Guard Jeremy Hunt will need to play sold, and keep the rest of the Tigers in check. I hope for John Calipari?s sake, that they don?t end up in a close battle in the final few minutes (poor foul shooting). That might be a non-factor with the St. Louis crowd in their back pocket.

4. Florida ? Vegas is calling for a repeat for the Gators.  It is always difficult to argue with oddsmakers, especially when the school has returned every significant player that was on their championship team last year.  I think Wisconsin is the toughest number two seed in the tournament (hence drafting them with my third pick), but Florida will have too many options to be upset by any inferior team in the Midwest.

5. Kansas ? Last year it was bad, I mean first round-exit kind of bad. Don?t expect anything like that to happen this season with the talent Bill Self puts out on the floor. They don?t have a single senior on their roster, but right now they are streaking like a Florida team I seem to remember from 2006.

6. Wisconsin ? The athleticism of UNLV/Georgia Tech and Oregon will be difficult to overcome merely to arrive in the Elite Eight for a meeting with Florida.  Senior talent is the most valuable commodity in NCAA basketball and there is no senior in the country better than Alando Tucker.

7. Georgetown ? The Hoyas are my pick to win the whole thing this year. I don?t know why, because I?ve never really been a Georgetown fan, but it might have something to do with them winning fifteen of their last sixteen games. They ran Pittsburgh out of the building in the Big East Final, and they?re a three seed.

8. UCLA ? I wasn?t expecting Perna to reach for Texas at nine, so I regret picking the Bruins here, but they did go to the Final Four last season.  If they go again this season, it wouldn?t be as improbable as it was when they got past Gonzaga and Memphis.

9. Texas ? The Longhorns will ride the back of Kevin Durant as far as his slender shoulders can carry them. Their loss to Kansas in the Big 12 Final wasn?t too promising, but the tournament is where legends are made. Durant can further his resume if he can will Texas into the Final Four.

10. Texas A&M ? I was very happy to pick up Texas A&M here.  With Acie Law IV, the Aggies are the most dangerous three seed in the tournament.  They will match up well against the untested Memphis Tigers and could even give Ohio State fits if they figure out a way to not let Oden have too large of an influence on the floor.

11. Oregon ? The old basketball clich? says that teams live and die by the three-pointer. No team in the field lives closer to that saying than the Ducks. Junior Bryce Taylor lit up USC for 32 points on perfect shooting from the field and the charity stripe in the Pac-10 Final. Efforts like that aren?t possible night-in and night-out, but Oregon?s shooters are willing to try.

12. Pittsburgh ? Pitt was upset by Bradley last year, but Aaron Gray didn?t come back to school for nothing.  UCLA has been extremely vulnerable of late while Kansas will have difficulties down low with Gray.

13. Southern Illinois ? The Salukis won thirteen straight games before their loss to Creighton in the MVC Final. Height could be an issue with only two players on their roster over 6?8?. They don?t have much experience against top teams, but that?s not their fault. They?ll look to duplicate what their MVC counterparts (Bradley and Wichita State) did last March.

14. Butler ? It has been long a time since I saw Butler on fire in New York in the NIT, but they can still do serious damage.  A.J. Graves and Mike Green live and die by the outside shot.  They have done some dying recently, so they are due for a run into the Sweet 16.

15. Maryland ? With six Tournament-ready seniors on their roster, they have the ability to outplay younger teams that are more talented. A meeting with Florida in the Sweet 16 would give the Terrapins a shot at shocking the world. If any coach can guide a team like this, it?s Gary Williams.

16. Washington State ? Perna kept baiting me to pick the Cougars, meanwhile I was baiting him to pick them too.  I caved first.  I feel like I could play starters minutes on this team and they are a three seed!?

17. USC ? As was mentioned above, they got killed by Oregon in the Pac-10 Final, but that shouldn?t faze them against Arkansas in the first round. Trouble begins in the second round when they could be pitted against Texas. Durant is a guy that could beat a team single-handedly. USC won?t want to honor Ryan Francis like that.

18. Duke ? The Blue Devils were picked here merely because of reputation.  I?ll admit it.  They are really bad this year.

19. Tennessee ? Long Beach State is about as good of a twelve seed gets, and that?s who Volunteers will open the tourney against. A majority of their losses have come in the second half of the season, but with Bruce Pearl on the sidelines ? anything seems possible. The only upside to an early Tennessee exit would be seeing Pearl topless cheering on Pat Summit?s women.

20. Virginia ? The Cavaliers are an overrated four seed but Sean Singletary and J.R. Reynolds would pose problems for any team in the tourney.  Like many teams of this caliber, the difference between them on a good night and on a bad night is very startling.

21. Nevada ? Sadly, most of the Wolf Pack?s hopes lie in the hamstring of Kyle Shiloh. Of their four losses, two were against tournament teams (UNLV and New Mexico State). The other two came against Utah State, who is now scheduling tee times. I don?t see them getting past Memphis in the second round, but stranger things have happened.

22. Virginia Tech ? Their chances of getting out of the West region would be better if they opened with the Tar Heels.  They beat them twice this season.

23. Louisville ? The Cardinals didn?t do so hot against ranked teams this season, but gave Pittsburgh a run for their money in the Big East. Their conference record was second only to Georgetown, and we ranked them seventh. Tough opening round match-ups will either send Louisville home, or prep them for meetings against powerhouses later on.

24. Vanderbilt ? Buster Olney gives great updates of Vandy on his blog, so before he gets going on how soon Lou Piniella will lose his mind at Wrigley, let?s give him a little tourney run.

25. Marquette ? If Jerel McNeal?s thumb holds up Marquette has a chance against any opponent. I?d love for them to advance just so Dominic James gets some national publicity, but with a lack of inside punch ? going far might be a stretch.

26. Arizona ? The Wildcats have the talent of a two seed, so maybe lightning will strike and they?ll get past Florida in the second round.

27. Notre Dame ? See Oregon, but add some of the program?s mystique. Speaking of the Ducks, wins could pit the Fighting Irish against them in the second round. My prediction? Someone will hit triple digits.

28. Indiana ? The Hoosiers followed-up an impressive home win against Wisconsin with a 4-5 record to cap the season.

29. Boston College ? We?re getting to the point where these teams are no longer favorites in the first round. The Eagles never should have left the Big East.

30. UNLV ? The Runnin? Rebels are 19 in the AP poll but 30 in our hearts.  They have a balanced scoring attack and the Mountain West is a very underrated conference.

31. BYU ? If they get past Xavier, it?ll be tough for them to keep up with the Buckeyes in the second round. Ohio State is just too talented for the Cougars.

32. Georgia Tech ? The hype surrounding Thaddeus Young was as huge when the season started as it was for Kevin Durant.  Young scored 30 points in their previous game, a 114-112 loss to Wake Forest.

33. Xavier ? An older squad, who has a better chance against knocking off OSU than their first round opponent, BYU.

34. Long Beach State ? The 49ers are athletic and are the very vogue choice to be the 12-seed winner of the year.

35. Creighton ? They punched their ticket by winning the MVC Title over Southern Illinois, a more heralded team. If only they still had Kyle Korver.

36. Texas Tech ? It is unfortunate that they aren?t playing Texas A&M (either one) because they have their number.

37. Kentucky ? The Wildcats are uncharacteristically low on this list, and rightfully so ? they where 0-5 against ranked opponents this season.

38. Michigan State ? There are very few coaches in college basketball better than Tom Izzo in March.

39. Villanova ? Imagine where this team would have been had they not lost all those guys to the NBA last June?

40. Stanford ? The Cardinal must have some impressive wins because they only have 18 of them.  The Lopez twins get attention but Lawrence Hill does a lot of the heavy lifting.

41. Purdue ? They have several seniors, so they should be poised. The question is will they even advance?

42. Winthrop ? All of their losses came against top shelf teams of the tournament.  The Eagles could definitely have their way Notre Dame.

43. Gonzaga ? They?re without Adam Morrison (NBA) and Josh Heytvelt (drug charges). Will that leave them without a win?

44. Illinois ? I think the Tar Heels are going to the championship game and maybe they?ll meet the Fighting Illini again?

45. Pennsylvania ? The best of the fourteen seeds, and maybe even better than some of the other ?teens, but it?ll be tough to beat a strong Aggies team.

46. Virginia Commonwealth ? I picked the Rams here because I thought Ben Wallace went here but then remembered that he went to Virginia Union.  VCU won 27 games this year and this is a pretty average (being pretty generous) Duke team.

47. Holy Cross ? Their match-up against the Salukis might be the best of the first-round, let?s see what they can make of it.

48. Davidson ? Their loss at Duke was very ugly but maybe the Teripans will get confused which guy Stephen Curry is.

49. Albany ? They?re only here because Vermont crashed and burned. Message to the Grant Danes: Enjoy it, because it?ll be over before you know it.

50. Arkansas ? The momentum of teams that come from virtually nowhere in big conference tourneys is always inspiring and Tim Floyd may be more concerned with O.J.?s legal problems than he is the Razorbacks.

51. Oral Roberts ? They dominated their conference, but what does that mean? Probably nothing once their battle against Washington State is over.

52. George Washington ? GW is terribly streaky but if they could get a performance like their 63-62 win over Virginia Tech, then Vanderbilt will have their hands full.

53. Old Dominion ? Their at-large bid, despite a CAA tournament loss to George Mason, could make them this year?s version of the Patriots.

54. New Mexico State ? Coach Bill Fuller on Hang Time (Reggie Theus) would always come up with ways to stop dominating players like Kevin Durant on Saturday mornings.

55. Weber State ? They don?t want the score to go too high, so UCLA poses a good first round match-up. How long that lasts is the question.

56. Wright State ? Dashaun Wood is only 5-11 but the senior does just about everything for the Raiders.

57. Miami (OH) ? Their slow pace might bother teams, but they?re only in the Big Dance because of a buzzer-beating three. It?ll take more than that to beat Oregon.

58. Texas A&M, CC ? Big man Chris Daniels is a beast in the middle (7 footer), scoring 15.2 ppg with a 59.4 shooting percentage.  Their 26 wins are nothing to scoff at either.

59. Central Connecticut ? With no UConn in the field, CCSU is the lone hometown team for Andrew in this year?s tourney. Too bad Greg Oden is on the horizon.

60. Belmont ? The Bruins 23-9 record doesn?t include a single quality win, but their 14-4 record in the Atlantic Sun is impressive enough.  They do have size in the frontcourt to contend with Roy Hibbert, but who will guard Jeff Green?

61. North Texas ? Their game against Memphis will be over seconds after the opening tip.

62. Eastern Kentucky ? The Colonels could easily beat the winner of the Michigan State/Marquette match-up.  Which number one seed will they be given to as a sacrifice?

63. Jackson State ? This is the first time the Tigers have been here since 2000, maybe the Gators will go easy on them.

64. Niagara ? The Purple Eagles come into the tourney winners of their past eleven games.  Charron Fisher is a great scorer, averaging 21 ppg.

65. Florida A&M ? They stole a bid from Delaware State, a better team, with a win in the MEAC Final. They?ll take the play-in, but that?s all.