Am I the only one being driven mad by their "brackets" for the NCAA tournament?

Last year, probably after the first day of the tournament was in the books and the bracket I'd entered into a few pools had become utterly decimated, I swore off ever doing any of these again. Why? Well, for many reasons, not the least of which being that the amount of preparation I put in to picking the games was borderline absurd (I tend to get obsessive about some things), but mainly because I found that filling out brackets was sort of taking the fun out of the tournament for me. This always seemed to happen when I'd find myself evolving into fan of certain teams, usually the scrappy underdogs, that I naturally wanted to pull for but felt so torn because their winning a game or two would fuck my bracket even further. The whole thing turns into such a conundrum.

So here I am, the day before the tournament is set to commence, and I've allowed myself to become swept up in bracket fever once again, and I'm driving myself crazy over a few of the games. I can't tell you how much "expert analysis" I've digested in the past 48-72 hours, and all it's served to do is probably make me even more confused. I'd probably do better just flipping coins anyway, especially after you get past the first three seeds in each region. It seems as though any game involving a four seed or below can go either way. Anyway, here are a few of the games/teams that I'm stuck on. Maybe some of you have some sort of amazing insight to share that'll show me the light.

-Mississippi State vs. Washington in the first round...Every fiber of my being wants to pick Mississippi State in this game. I think they're much better than people give them credit for, and they're gelling peaking as a team right now, which is always good heading into the tournament. On the other hand, I really like Washington. I'd probably have them going to the Sweet 16 if they were the four seed in any other region. Plus, the game is being played in Oregon, which isn't that far of a travel for the team and their fans. But I really like Mississippi State to win this game AND beat Purdue in the second round to make it to the Sweet 16. Am I nuts?

-Villanova vs. VCU in the second round...I'm not even going to debate whether or not VCU beats UCLA in the first round because I truly believe that they will. I like VCU a lot. I can actually see them being a Cinderella who makes a run to the Final Four. This presents a second round game against Villanova in Philly, Villanova's hometown. VCU can't beat Villanova in Philly, can they?

-LSU vs. Butler in the first round...Here we have the classic "homer conundrum," where our hearts tell us to go one way but our heads tell us to go another. LSU has struggled of late and all, but fuck it, I can't pick against them in the first round. Besides, I doubt either team will get past UNC in round two, so it doesn't matter that much if I'm wrong.

-Florida State vs. Pittsburgh in the Sweet 16...I really like Pitt. They're the team that my gut is telling me will win it all. However, they seem to have a propensity to lose games that they should easily win. When they're playing well, I don't think anybody can beat them. But get DeJuan Blair in foul trouble and they're toast. I think Florida State can present some problems for them and possibly beat them, which would totally fuck me if I picked Pitt to win it all. Oy.

-Gonzaga vs. UNC in the Sweet 16...Call me crazy, but I'm just not that impressed with North Carolina and I think they'll slip up and get beaten in the regional, and I really like Gonzaga's guards. I want to pick them to win this game so bad, but since everyone seems to be picking UNC to win it all, it's fucking with my head.

Other first round games presenting dilemmas...

Arizona State vs. Temple

Marquette vs. Utah State

Kansas vs. North Dakota St.

Clemson vs. Michigan

I'll probably be up all night trying to figure this all out. It's not like I've got lots of money riding on it, it's just that I enjoy winning so much. I just hope that Obama isn't obsessing over all of this as much as I am.