There’s more than one way to skin a Cat.

Davidson’s journey to the Sweet 16 is the story of the Tournament thus far. Can this Cinderella story go all the way to the championship? How about we settle for the Midwest Region at 8-1. The competition is tough: first Wisconsin (5-2), and then probably Kansas (4-9). But giving the Wildcats this smaller task to complete makes them far more likely to cash in than tacking on another two elite opponents in the Final Four.

Villanova is the other team still in the Midwest hunt at 10-1. This species of Wildcat is already a 12-point underdog (no moneyline at press time) against Kansas. Davidson is only getting five points from the Badgers and would figure to be a tougher matchup for the Jayhawks.

Here are the odds for the remaining Sweet 16 teams to win the South Region:

Memphis    3-2
Texas        2-1
Stanford    5-2
Michigan St.    9-2

If you were looking for an upset tonight you’re going to have to check back tomorrow because UCLA pulled it out in the later part of the second half to beat Western Kentucky 88-78. It was a close call for Xavier, who needed OT to put West Virginia away. Louisville’s defense was too big for Tennessee but the big win on the day goes to North Carolina for cleaning out Washington State 68-47.

UCLA 88, Western Kentucky 78
Xavier 79, West Virginia 75
North Carolina 68, Washington State 47
Louisville 79, Tennessee 60

Friday’s matchups should be just as tight. Here’s your schedule:

Davidson Wildcats vs. Wisconsin Badgers @ 7:10 p.m.
Stanford Cardinals vs. Texas Longhorns @ 7:27 p.m.
Villanova Wildcats vs. Kansas Jayhawks @ 9:40 p.m.
Michigan State Spartans vs. Memphis Tigers @ 9:57 p.m.

Good luck with your NCAA Tournament brackets…or whatever’s left of ‘em.

The end of Tuesday’s NBA action saw the usual suspects on the playoff bubble. No. 8 Golden State was a half-game up on No. 9 Denver in the Western Conference, while Atlanta held the same slim margin over New Jersey in the East.

For the Warriors, the writing may be on the wall now that Chris Webber is retiring. But the West is still anyone’s to win or lose; Denver is only six games out of first place. If Golden State doesn’t fall out of the top eight, maybe Dallas will.

The East is just a mess. Four teams have a reasonable shot at the No. 8 seed, and all four of them don’t deserve it. Atlanta has the best record of the bunch at 30-40, although Chicago just beat the Hawks on Tuesday night to stay in the hunt. The Bulls are 60-1 to win the East. Atlanta is 80-1.

If your Tournament bracket strategy included going heavy on the underdogs, welcome to Busted, population: millions.

Only one puppy advanced from Thursday’s action: the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels, who were getting 1.5 points against Kent State and cruised to a 71-58 victory. That wasn’t much of a surprise; the numbers say about two-thirds of bettors were on UNLV.

I won’t bore you with my bracket results, but I will point out that my Sweet 16 predictions are intact thus far. I’m not very confident right now about Wisconsin in the second round, mind you. Elsewhere, Kentucky might have softened up Marquette just enough for Stanford to make it through.

I’m expecting a little more first-round carnage once the dust settles. I’m riding South Alabama (+4) over a Butler squad that I believe was exposed by Drake during the BracketBuster series. A stronger non-con schedule would have given us a little more information about how this Horizon League “powerhouse” matches up. Alas.

How’s your March Madness bracket holding out? Tell me you didn’t actually think that Georgia could win against an experienced Xavier team? Bet with your head, not your heart. That’s rule No. 1.

I’m telling you, it’s not always about how many three-pointers you can nail, but how many free throw shots you can make. And Xavier shot 29 free throws in the second half compared with only 5 for Georgia.

“It’s hard to compete with that,” Georgia guard Billy Humphrey said. “They’re taking wide-open shots at the free-throw line, and they’re doing it five times as much as we are, almost six times as much. There’s nothing we can do about it.”

The day’s action is not yet over, with a number of teams still fighting to make it through to the second round. Earlier today you may have seen Xavier rally back in the second half to win the game against Georgia, and what about Duke and Belmont?

There are 16 games scheduled for tomorrow, including matchups featuring top seeds North Carolina and Memphis. As of right now, however, here are the final scores in the opening round of the NCAA basketball tournament:

Xavier 73, Georgia 61
Kansas 85, Portland State 61
Michigan State 72, Temple 61
Marquette 74, Kentucky 66
UNLV 71, Kent State 58
Pittsburgh 82, Oral Roberts 63
Purdue 90, Baylor 79
Stanford 77, Cornell 53
Kansas State 80, USC 67
Duke 71, Belmont 70
Washington State 71, Winthrop 40
Texas A&M 67, Brigham Young 62

For all your NCAA Tournament scores and updates the best place to go is NCAA.com

Are you ready to pencil in the Wisconsin Badgers to go to the Final Four? No? Fair enough. The Badgers don’t have the pedigree; they’ve been there twice, most recently in 2000, while North Carolina has been there 16 times.

So let’s try another gimmick for filling out that March Madness bracket. Let’s look at the teams with the most dominant centers – the big men on campus, if you will. Center is a premium position on the floor, and last year’s Final Four gave us Greg Oden, Roy Hibbert and Joakim Noah.

This is where the UCLA Bruins have made their move with the addition of Kevin Love. The freshman sensation was the best player on the team from the minute he walked into Pauley Pavilion. Hibbert is still taking care of business for the Hoyas; how about Tyler Hansbrough for UNC and David Padgett for Louisville to round out your Final Four? We’ll see Sunday whether the bracket allows.

After Wednesday’s 90-78 victory by the Boston Celtics (-4) over the visiting Detroit Pistons, commentators pointed to Detroit’s lack of motivation. In fairness, the Pistons did play the night before at the Palace against the Sonics, while the C’s had enjoyed a couple days off. But is Detroit really resting on its laurels?

Gauging a team’s emotional state isn’t just for nuanced handicappers – it’s a vital piece of the betting puzzle, particularly in a more creative sport like NBA basketball. All those worn-out sports clichés like “You gotta want it more” are worn-out for a reason: They’re true.

Detroit’s questionable hunger level is one of the key reasons the 2003-04 champions are 13-2 to win another title, while Boston is a co-favorite with the Lakers at 5-2. The big question is, can and will the Pistons decide to want it more? They have betting value if you think this year’s model has that extra gear.