Coach Billy Gillispie over at the University of Kentucky is eager to secure a successful future for his basketball program. Last week the men’s basketball coach offered a scholarship to an eight-grader, and then he did it again with a ninth-grader. Despite criticism from several prominent university presidents, Gillispie says there’s no cause for alarm; he’s simply thinking ahead and trying to get a jump on other colleges who may be planning on making similar offers.

“I don’t think it will become commonplace for eighth-graders to commit to schools, but I think there are certain exceptions,” Gillispie says. “There are certain players, certain students, certain musicians where they know what they want at a very early age. But I understand there are people who see negatives as well.”

“I find the practice appalling, quite frankly,” said Brit Kirwan, chancellor of the University of Maryland system and co-chair of the Knight Commission, which urges reform in college athletics. “I certainly hope the NCAA will step in and put a stop to it. I certainly will voice my objection to (NCAA President) Myles Brand and others at the NCAA.”

Steve Mallonee, the NCAA director of membership services for Division I and a liaison to the Division I Basketball Issues Committee, says there isn’t anything legislatively wrong with what Gillispie is doing, but adds the issue will be on the agenda at the next meeting of the issues committee in June.

(As an aside, Kentucky is listed at 35/1 odds to win the 2009 NCAA Mens Basketball Championship.)

College basketball’s Year of the Freshman almost had its perfect ending. But Derrick Rose leaves school without quite getting the career bump that Syracuse gave Carmelo Anthony five years ago. The Memphis Tigers, meanwhile, need a new point guard to get them back into Final Four contention.

How many other freshmen will follow Rose to the NBA? The outcome of the 2008-09 college hoops season depends on the answer. UCLA will probably lose Kevin Love as well as junior guard Darren Collison. That’s only their two most important players.

It’s not just the superfrosh who have to make up their minds. Wooden Award winner Tyler Hansbrough may or may not return to North Carolina for his senior year. If he does, the Tar Heels go to the head of the class as a preseason No. 1 favorite. Texas supporters also like their chances if D.J. Augustin remains with the Longhorns. If he doesn’t? Bupkis.

So the best team won after all. The Kansas Jayhawks, No. 1 on the efficiency charts, are also the NCAA men’s basketball champions.

Full credit to the Memphis Tigers (No. 2 in efficiency) for their amazing season, but it came up about 2.1 seconds short. That’s when Mario Chalmers hit the game-tying 3-pointer that ruined the evening for Memphis supporters. Instead of winning the championship and covering the 2-point spread, the Tigers lost 75-68 in overtime.

You’ll hear Billy Packer’s voice echoing in your head for the next few days, reminding you over and over again about how Memphis needed to hit free throws down the stretch. The Tigers were 12-for-19 on the night, missing four of their last five to give the Jayhawks a chance to tie. Memphis also could have used the services of Joey Dorsey in overtime, but he fouled out with 1:23 to go and the Tigers up by five. Right where Kansas wanted them.

Stanford vs. Texas: Oddsmakers currently have the Longhorns listed as 3-point favorites versus the Cardinal, while the game’s total is sitting at 134. My prediction: Texas to win and cover the spread.

The total has gone OVER in 6 of Stanford’s last 7 games
Stanford is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games
Stanford is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games
Texas is 14-2 SU in its last 16 games
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Texas’s last 6 games
Texas is 2-5-1 ATS in its last 8 games

Davidson vs. Wisconsin: Oddsmakers currently have the Badgers listed as 5½-point favorites versus the Wildcats, while the game’s total is sitting at 127. My prediction: Wisconsin to win and cover.

Davidson is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games
Davidson is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games
The total has gone UNDER in 7 of Davidson’s last 10 games
Wisconsin is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games
Wisconsin is 9-1 ATS in its last 10 games
The total has gone UNDER in 8 of Wisconsin’s last 9 games

Villanova vs. Kansas: Oddsmakers currently have the Jayhawks listed as 12½-point favorites versus the Wildcats, while the game’s total is sitting at 145. My prediction: Villanova to win.

Villanova is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games
Villanova is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games
The total has gone UNDER in 11 of Villanova’s last 14 games
Kansas is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games
Kansas is 6-2 ATS in its last 8 games
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Kansas’s last 6 games

Michigan vs. Memphis: Oddsmakers currently have the Tigers listed as 5-point favorites versus the Spartans, while the game’s total is sitting at 136. My prediction: Memphis to win, but not to cover.

Michigan State is 6-1 ATS in its last 7 games
Michigan State is 18-7 SU in its last 25 games
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Michigan State’s last 6 games
Memphis is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games
Memphis is 1-4 ATS in its last 5 games

Bet on tonight’s Sweet 16 games before it’s too late! The sportsbooks have all your NCAA Tournament odds up.

Believe it or not, we’ve got some big losers in the Sweet 16. Look at Memphis: 15-19-2. How about Villanova at 14-17? Pathetic.

Granted, these records are against the spread. But it’s very tempting to use them as evidence that the Tigers and Wildcats aren’t as good as the betting public thinks. It’s even more tempting when Memphis is 2-8 ATS in its last 10 games. The Tigers are 5-point favorites on Friday night against a tough Michigan State squad that’s cashed in four straight postseason contests.

Meanwhile, many of the biggest winners at the pay window are also performing well at the Tournament. North Carolina is the most profitable at 22-11 ATS, followed closely by Davidson at 21-11. They could meet in the Final Four; sure, Davidson’s a 10-seed, but it happened to No. 11 George Mason two years ago when the Patriots went 19-10-2 ATS. It could happen again.

The NCAA Basketball Tournament has already started and if you haven’t already filled out your bracket then I’m going to make it easy for you by giving you my First Round picks. You can thank me later.

East
UNC over St. Mary’s
Arkansas over Indiana
George Mason over Notre Dame
Washington State over Winthrop
Oklahoma over St. Joseph’s
Louisville over Boise State
Butler over South Alabama
American over Tennessee

Midwest
Kansas over Portland State
UNLV over Kent State
Villanova over Clemson
Vanderbilt over Siena
Kansas State over USC
Cal State Fullerton over Wisconsin
Gonzaga over Davidson
Georgetown over UNBC

South
Memphis over Texas Arlington
Oregon over Mississippi State
Michigan State over Temple
Pittsburgh over Oral Roberts
Kentucky over Marquette
Stanford over Cornell
St. Mary’s CA over Miami Florida
Texas over Austin Peay

West
UCLA over Mississippi Valley State
Texas A&M over BYU
Drake over Western Kentucky
San Diego over Connecticut
Purdue over Baylor
Xavier over Georgia
West Virginia over Arizona
Duke over Belmont

So “The Mount” came through as advertised, beating Coppin State (+7) 69-60 in the March Madness play-in (excuse me, Opening Round) game. That was my so-called “sure bet” for the Tournament, and even then it took a free-throw parade at the end for MSM to cash in. I don’t think there will be any other no-brainers.

I’ve already mused that you could take the moneyline on all the No. 1 seeds to beat the No. 16s, but good luck finding anything beyond the pointspread on these matchups. Look at this: UCLA is favored by 32 points over Mississippi Valley State. Even Kobayashi couldn’t eat that much chalk on the moneyline.

The NCAAB market is about to be flooded with first-time Tournament bettors. Perhaps you are one of them. Remember, there really are no sure bets. Top handicappers are giddy if they get three out of five correct. Don’t blow your stack all on one matchup.

This Sunday is Selection Sunday, the day when we’ll know the identities of all 65 teams participating in this year’s men’s college March Madness basketball tournament. Until then, at least we know when and where the games will take place.

Mar. 18: Opening-round game in Dayton
Mar. 20: First-round games in Anaheim, Denver, Omaha and Washington, D.C.
Mar. 21: First-round games in Birmingham, North Little Rock, Raleigh and Tampa
Mar. 22: Second-round games in Anaheim, Denver, Omaha and Washington, D.C.
Mar. 23: Second-round games in Birmingham, North Little Rock, Raleigh and Tampa
Mar. 27: Sweet 16 East and West Regionals in Charlotte and Phoenix
Mar. 28: Sweet 16 Midwest and South Regionals in Detroit and Houston
Mar. 29: Elite Eight East and West Regionals in Charlotte and Phoenix
Mar. 30: Elite Eight Midwest and South Regionals in Detroit and Houston
Apr. 5: Final Four in San Antonio
Apr. 7: Championship Game in San Antonio

They can’t all win the Tournament, can they? Look at how many teams there are clustered together at the top of the March Madness odds list. UCLA (4-1) was the favorite at press time, while Kansas, Memphis and North Carolina were all 5-1. Tennessee and UConn were 7-1. How about Louisville at 8-1 or Duke at 9-1? That really doesn’t leave room for anyone else in Division I to win the title.

In this kind of marketplace, the value is a rung or two lower on the price list. Why are the Wisconsin Badgers 40-1? Is it because they’re from the “small market” of Wisconsin, and their name is the Badgers? This is the No. 9 team in the coaches’ poll and No. 5 in efficiency, so the betting public must have something against them. Vanderbilt was a more deserving 40-1 heading into Monday’s action at No. 48 in team efficiency – that was before the Commodores beat Tennessee.

Bobby Knight’s legacy of chair throwing is going the way of short shorts and set shots. The NCAA has decided to enforce its rules on bench decorum a little more strictly. That decision rubbed some of the game’s more colorful coaches the wrong way – none more than Wagner College’s Mike Deane. He  straps himself in with a seat belt to avoid leaving the coaching box and earning a technical foul.

It’s worked so far. Deane has just one technical this year, in a road game where he didn’t bring his restraining device. Every point counts; the Seahawks (12-4 and on top of the Northeast Conference) have won twice by a single point and beat Loyola Marymount in overtime. These are critical wins in a conference where six teams have a better efficiency rating than No. 243 Wagner.

The seat belt might not be the most elegant anger management solution, but at least Deane hasn’t installed air bags.