Happy Day

Spring is here.  The weather is warming up.  Weeds are already giving me a headache.  There are some flowers and trees blooming already.  My allergies are annoying the hell out of me too.  Next week is spring break and March Madness is starting.  It's a pretty kick ass time of year (except there's no football).  It's also time for something special to me.

Today is my birthday.  Birthdays aren't as exciting as they were when we were kids but it is still a special day.  I get to do whatever I want and everyone pretty much lets you get away with anything.  I'm not going to work today.  I'm going to sleep in a little and then I'm going to go play golf.  It's been a while since I've played so I'll probably play like crap but who cares?  It'll be fun and relaxing and it's what I want to do.  Afterwards, I'll head to my usual watering hole and let people buy me drinks (possibly the best perk of the birthday).  The wife has open house at her school so I'll be on my own for most of the evening (this could be trouble).  Happy Day to me.

Today is also the start of the Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis.  You can find the bracket here.  The first game will be (8) Northwestern and (9) Minnesota (2:30 ET, ESPN2).  Minnesota has been a big disappointment in my mind this year.  They were ranked at one point (possibly more than one point) and have had some solid wins (UNC, WVU, Purdue).  They split the season series with Michigan with each team winning on their own floor.  I believe they are the better team here but they have also lost five in a row and nine of 10.  Tubby Smith may be on the way out but I expect the Gophers to win this one and move on to face tsio.

Game 2 is (7) MSU and (10) Iowa (5:00 ET, ESPN2).  State wins this one to get to a second round matchup against Purdue.  There is little chance Iowa will give Sparty a game here and I expect a snoozer.  HOWEVER, I wouldn't be shocked to see MSU bomb in this game because they are still too worried about what happened in Ann Arbor last week and probably still whining about last second layups and trash talk on the court.  I would find this hilarious if they lost, although that would probably hurt Michigan in some way like strength of schedule.  It also wouldn't look good as our two (probably) best wins are against the Spartans.  Even still, I would find them losing in the first round to an awful Iowa team delicious.

Game 3 is the final game of the night and will feature (6) Penn State and (11) Indiana (7:30 ET, BTN).  Indiana is terrible at the basketballs.  I don't know what is going on down in Bloomington.  Tom Crean is, by most accounts, a good coach.  Indiana is a talent rich state.  And this is freaking Indiana we're talking about here.  Maybe the NCAA sanctions impacted that program more than I realized.  Unfortunately, I'm familiar with how that can happen (cough, cough).  Penn State cruises in this one and moves on to play Wisconsin on Friday.

HT to UMHoops for the bracket.