Get your brackets ready because it’s going to be a show. The NCAA men’s basketball tournament field is set, and it’s time for office workers, college students and gamblers across the country to fill out their brackets. It’s time to throw the last three months of basketball out the window and rely on hunches, trends and probability to make the winning bracket.Let’s get to my picks — starting with the South bracket.LSU plays the first game of the tournament against Butler. The Tigers will lose.Now that that’s out of the way, let’s get to the important games.  No real upsets will happen in this bracket besides Butler downing the Tigers and Michigan toppling Clemson. There’s no bigger disappointment in athletics than Clemson. Everyone expects so much, and they do nothing worthwhile in any sport. North Carolina, Gonzaga, Syracuse and Oklahoma are the Sweet 16 teams in this region on my bracket. I have UNC and Syracuse playing in the Elite Eight with the Tar Heels advancing. I had real fits choosing this bracket. Oklahoma and Syracuse are both sexy teams, and the potential for a Blake Griffin vs. Tyler Hansbrough matchup was almost too good to pass up. But I stuck with the Orange. I hope they won’t let me down.The next bracket is the East region. This is — without a doubt — the hardest bracket to pick.About 10 teams in this region are good enough to be in the Sweet 16. No. 1 seed Pittsburgh is one DeJaun Blair foul-out away from being upset by anyone in the region. Because of this, I don’t think Pittsburgh will make it to the Final Four.I like Florida State, Texas and Duke to all get there before the Panthers. Tennessee, as a No. 9 seed, is looking like the best bet to be a Cinderella and knock off Pittsburgh. But I have commitment issues, so I’ll hold off on picking them. For now, I’ll put the Panthers as an Elite Eight team losing to Villanova. Moving on to the Midwest region — this one is pretty interesting as well. Louisville is the team to beat. The Cardinals have cemented   themselves as the best team in the nation heading into the tournament. They’ll pretty much skate into the Elite Eight to face defending national champion Kansas.The Jayhawks can sing Rock Chalk all they want, but it won’t be enough to keep the Cardinals out of Detroit. An interesting team to look out for in this region is USC. The Trojans haven’t done much this season, as they’re a middle of the road Pac-10 team. But Master P’s son, Lil’ Romeo, is on the team, and I can’t in good faith have them lose in the first round. He’s a No Limit Soldier. I thought I told ‘ya. Sometimes you just have to pick teams that make no sense. The West region is the one I’ve caught the most scrutiny for. Call me crazy, but I’m putting Missouri in the Final Four. They’ve had a pretty good season, and it’s another one of those hunches. They won the Big 12 for Pete’s sake. They were better than Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas, who everyone seems to be so high on. The only team I can see knocking them off is Connecticut. The Huskies aren’t a No. 1 seed for nothing, but they’re 4-3 since the season-ending injury to guard Jerome Dyson. They could still win some games, but I don’t think they can beat Mizzou. As of right now, my Final Four will match Louisville against Missouri and Villanova against UNC with the Cardinals and Tar Heels advancing.I have UNC winning its second national title in five seasons, but like everyone else’s, my bracket will   definitely change before the tournament starts.It’s changed three times since I started writing this. 
 
 
 
—-Contact Johanathan Brooks at [email protected]