I am in desperate need of a vacation, one I get late next week for a few days -- and one that falls smack in the middle of the NCAA men's basketball tournament.

However, today (Thursday) is the Holy Day of college basketball. Heck, it's the Holy Day of sports, in my opinion -- the single best day of sports all year, well, that's focused on one sport.

In the fall, there are a few weekend days in which we have baseball playoff games, college football, pro football, NASCAR and beyond all in one 48-hour period. For a sports junkie with plenty of hot dog and beer money, it doesn't get much better.

But if you've planned your vacation or a day off or a sick day around the first day of March Madness, you are a wise soul of a human being. Enjoy it.

And what I thought I'd do is outline my thoughts on this year's tourney, my thoughts on how my team might do in the field of 64 -- just some random March Madness goodness.

For those of you who don't normally watch the tourney, turn on CBS starting at 11:15 a.m. CDT. Watch all day and all night. Rinse and repeat.

First, my 'Final Four.' When I fill out my bracket (and I got all four right last year, including the final game and the winner), I look at one stat: points per game allowed. In my experience, in the early games, the team with the lowest PPG against has an edge.

It signifies better defense, not all the time but most of the time. It's not a perfect stat by any means, but in lieu of anything definite, I typically pick teams from the better conference to win. And in lieu of something definite there, I guess ... go with the ol' gut hunch.

And my gut hunch likes Kansas to win the title 20 years after it won its last one, in 1988 against my beloved Oklahoma Sooners. KU's athleticism combined with a sense of their destiny makes me think the Jayhawks will win the whole thing.

But that same gut hunch loves UCLA's experience -- and the Bruins play great defense. I like Ben Howland's team to get to the championship game and possibly win, although my official pick is with the Jayhawks.

My gut hunch says North Carolina is totally beatable if they don't bring their best defensive effort. Not that a No. 16 will beat them. Not that Arkansas or Indiana will beat them. However, Notre Dame can, if the Irish get so luck as to beat George Mason and Washington State, which I think is likely.

Notre Dame comes from one of the better conferences this year, the Big East, with a 14-4 conference record. I think the Irish match up very well against UNC, with Luke Harangody going up against Tyler Hansbrough in the Sweet 16.

Every few years, a No. 4, 5 or 6-seeded team quietly plays its way to the Final Four, and my pick to do so is Notre Dame. Call me crazy, and buy me an Advil when they get beat in the first round, please. But call me brilliant if it happens.

In the South bracket, I'm not sold on Memphis. Their free-throw shooting is suspect, and I still don't think they've played that tough a schedule. Furthermore, I think these cats can be beaten in the second round by a good, middle-of-the-road SEC team like Mississippi State.

If not then, a loss will come at the hands of Michigan State. Tom Izzo's teams are almost always ready to play, and tourney time is their money time. The South bracket, to me, is wide open. Memphis could win it, although I doubt it, and I like the Spartans or Texas Longhorns to go to the Final Four.

In the West, I love UCLA. Defense and experience win titles, baby. And, I think UCLA's biggest competition will come from Xavier, not Duke. As much as I hate to say it, former Sooner Drew Lavender has turned into a leader, a player and a difference maker on the court.

However, the sleeper in this bracket is West Virginia and Joe Alexander. I love them to knock off Duke in the second round.

Kansas knocks off the Irish, and UCLA outlasts Michigan State en route to a classic final, with the Jayhawks beating UCLA 80-68.

But what about Oklahoma? I pick St. Joesph's to win over my Sooners because of one guy: Pat Calathes. He's a 6'10" white guy who plays much smaller than he is, and I am not sure how we can contain him.

The most telling thing OU head coach Jeff Capel said about the Hawks is that they've played together forever and are sort of an old team. Everybody is picking St. Joseph's to win this game, so much so that I feel like Oklahoma is the underdog here.

But I'll let you in on an opinion I have spouted all year: I believe Oklahoma under Jeff Capel is built for March. College coaches have a famous saying, "November is for show. March is for dough," and while Oklahoma is so fallable, the Sooners are also potential Cinderellas. Here's why.

1. When Austin Johnson is on, he's on. Sure, this could go for any guard, but truly when AJ is playing his game, we can hang with anybody except for Kansas and Texas, who own us like Bill Gates owns Microsoft. And this kid shoots great on the road.

2. Underrated inside play. Longar Longar ain't the second coming of Roy Hibbert, but he's not that far away either. Teams will not key on the Minnesota native, and that could be very good for us.

3. Country boy can shoot. Have you heard of Cade Davis? Didn't think so, and if he continues his ascent as a three-point shooter, this could be a magical, magical run.

4. Blake Griffin. Yes, the Big 12 knows about Blake, but does America? Has Blake been rubbing his sore knees as part of an elaborate acting job to lure teams into playing him softer, thinking he's gimpy?

Surely not, but there is something in my deepest of souls that believes much of what Capel has been doing with this team -- experimenting with lineups, sitting Longar for long periods of time in key conference games, testing Blake Griffin's ability to play through pain -- has been to get them ready for a March run.

I'm not delusional, but those of you who know me know for a fact that I have poo-pooed OU's chances every tourney aside from a couple: 2002 and 2003, the former of which we made it to the Final Four. Kelvin Sampson's teams were built to win every game, and Capel's teams seem to be built for three and four-game runs, as evidenced by the Sooners' streakiness all year.

If we can somehow beat St. Joe's, I love, love, love us to beat Louisville, and I think Tennessee is completely beatable. OK, perhaps I'm delusional, but the beauty of this tournament is that No. 6 seeds have gone on to do some miraculous things, such as Kansas in 1988 and North Carolina State in 1983.

OK, breathe. My head still says St. Joseph's knocks us out in the first round, but my heart still says we're on the verge of something special with Capel. On the other hand, some experts say our inside game is actually no match for the Hawks, that we'll kill them inside.

We'll see.

So, I'm sticking with St. Joseph's to beat OU in the first round, but I am totally going against my intuition, which says we'll be the talk of the nation in 10 days.

As for the tourney overall, this is still a super top-heavy group this year, like last year, which foretells the possibility that only the big boys win. However, that notion goes topsy-turvy about every third year, and we're due this year if not next.

A lot of folks are picking ORU to beat Pittsburgh, and I would love to see Oral Roberts get the win. The Tulsa school has the greatest motto of any university in the country: Expect a miracle, and why not?

March Madness is the time for them.

Fact is, I'm pulling for every underdog. I love all Cinderellas in this tourney, whether it's ORU or George Mason or Davidson or Georgia or Baylor. Yes, how about those Baylor Bears under Scott Drew, five years removed from the murder of a player and subsequent cover up on the part of their coach, former OU boss Dave Bliss.

Good karma is real, and while I think Purdue is simply too good for the Bears, nobody will root harder for the little Baptist school in Waco, Texas.

I'm pulling for Davidson big time, too. Why? Get this: They have a program on campus (and the school is very much an academic power, a liberal arts school in the Carolinas) in which every student's laundry gets done for them by the school -- and not one grad leaves with debt because of university-imposed work and scholarship programs.

I love them for being so darned innovative. Surely, it translates into success on the hardwood, no?

I'm pulling for the University of Texas at Arlington, which has no shot in the world, but don't you know it: The minute a No. 16 seed wins a men's tourney game, it will become the biggest upset in sports history.

It gets me tingly.

Regardless of how Oklahoma does, I really hope we get a ton more March Madness memories out of this batch of games. My favorite first-round memory centered on the Sooners and Arizona back in 1999. A late tip-in from Ryan Humphrey after an unforced error by an Arizona player led to the No. 13 Sooners beating the No. 4 Wildcats 61-60.

I was beside myself, literally giddier than after almost any OU-Texas win. Almost. Unfortunately, Sooners fans have just as many bad tourney memories.

For example, I have two words that should sicken every OU basketball lover: Rick Fox.

In 2002, Oklahoma had what I consider to be its most complete tourney game under Sampson, a comfortable Sweet 16 win over Arizona. It was a huge hump to get over for his clubs, and we had the perfect combo of great outside and inside play.

Aaron McGhee is still one of the most underrated Sooner men in history.

However, don't forget about 1998, when the Sooners came back from 17 down to tie Indiana before losing in overtime. That was almost a really special moment.

Unfortunately, that reminds me of 1987 when we held a huge, huge lead over Iowa in the Sweet 16 only to lose. That was my first OU March Madness heartbreak.

During the mid-1990s, as Kelvin was busy losing in the first round, most of my rooting effort went toward Oklahoma State and Tulsa. However, I squarely pulled for the Golden Hurricane against OSU in the second round a decade ago. Tulsa won. Watched that one with Dad, and he pulled for TU, too.

My Tulsa-rooting days go back to Nolan Richardson and Paul Pressey and the team that won the NIT back in 1981 or 1982. However, this Hurricane team is taking awhile to get back on track, and I can't wait for the year in which all four Oklahoma teams are in the tourney.

I pull for them all unless they're going head to head.

Who can forget the Oklahoma State - St. Joseph's game back a couple years ago? The joy of that game, followed by the heartbreak against Georgia Tech.

So, while I am picking UCLA and Kansas to play in a final, I guess I'm really hoping my bracket is a mess by Saturday, like it should be. This tournament is supposed to be eneveloped in chaos, and I would be much happier with a Final Four of Oklahoma, Wisconsin, Stanford and Drake than I would one with North Carolina, Kansas, Memphis and UCLA.

Well, I better go. I was exhausted to begin with, ready for that vacation, and now I'm pumped up for basketball. Boomer Sooner, and enjoy these tourney highlight videos I found on YouTube.