Five Day Forecast

True or False: Two weeks from today conference tournaments will be underway. (True)
True or False: 17 days from today is Selection Sunday. (True)
True or False: Three weeks from today (Thursday 2/24), the Maaaadness will be in full swing (minus the first 4 play in games on that Tuesday). (True)
True or False: We are not excited. (False - see, you always have to throw a false in there to keep people honest)

With that in mind, Daily Onions needs to make sure we have clear eyes (and full hearts) leading into the month of March. That's why Daily Onions (along with the First Lady) will be taking a brief trip to "Camp David" (aka Florida), for some R and R. The blog will most likely be quiet until next Tuesday, unless Jimmer scores 100 in a game, Jim Boeheim invites the local media and all Big East officials over to his house for dinner, or CBS/Turner announces that the team of Gus Johnson and Bill Raftery will be announcing the Final 4.

Before we go though, we want to give you a heads up on everything you should be paying attention to over the next five days (in chronological order).

Thursday

-NBA Trade Deadline - 3pm ET: We've already had two blockbuster deals this week with Carmelo coming to NY (27 points in his debut Wednesday night, as predicted by Daily Onions) and Deron Williams heading to.......'New Jersey' (SNL Governor Patterson voice). East Coast! Guaranteed there will be some lower level deals made on Thursday, but not sure there is enough movable firepower for another "Boom Goes the Dynamite" deal.

-Miami Heat at Chicago Bulls: A possible Eastern Conference Championship preview at the United Center. Two MVP candidates in Lebron and Derrick Rose. Joakim Noah in his second game back after missing 30 games with an injury. TNT in the building. In the words of 1991 Dunk Contest Commentator Magic, "It's gonna get exciting!" Bulls need a win after dropping one at Toronto on Wednesday night.

Guaranteed: Huggy will have his boys fired up for Pitt (AP)

-Backyard Brawlers: West Virginia at the Oakland Zoo. WVU is coming off a nice win over Notre Dame, while Pitt is coming off loss at St. John's. Odds are Pitt gets a W here, but if WVU is to pull another upset, good news is their fans won't be able to storm the court.

Saturday (I feel like Ahmad Rashad during "Rewind" on Inside Stuff)

-Your Mother's a Hoya: Syracuse at G-town, where the Orange will try to avenge an earlier home loss. Hmm, that's sounds familiar. Hoyas PG Chris Wright injured his wrist in Wednesday's loss to Cincy. Could be trouble in G-town.

Jimmer has played well on the road this year

-Jimmer Mania: In the most anticipated MWC game since....the last time the Cougs played San Diego State, #7 BYU travels to the Saint Diego (discovered by the Germans) to take on the fourth ranked Aztecs. Unfortunately, Gus Johnson won't be on the call for CBS, but this is the second game of a triple-header, so there should be signs of Raftery and Gus throughout the afternoon. Pretty crazy that one of these teams could be a #1 seed come tournament team, and both should be at worst a top 3 in a region.

-Cats and the Gators: And the silver spoon (too much?). Kentucky hosts Florida in the third game on CBS this afternoon. Luckily the Cats are at home. They lost AGAIN on the road in SEC play on Wednesday night (by 1 pt at Arkansas). Remember how Daily Onions has been telling you all along that UK can't win tight games? Make sure you keep listening. For what its worth - Kudos to CBS for a great lineup today. If you aren't on vacation, there is no reason you shouldn't be on your couch from 12pm-6 pm EST to watch these three games.

Sunday

-Three games tickle our fancy today. Pitt at Louisville (fun Big East game at the Yum); Purdue at Michigan State (Are the Spartans going to be hitting their March stride?); Maryland at UNC (Tarheels need to take care of business at home. Their final two games are at FSU and home against the Dukies).

-Bracketology: No, not with Lunardi. We're talking Accenture Match Play Golf. Who is your Final Four (hope it doesn't include Tiger). Final Day of play wraps up today, and should serve as a good primer for what a bracket of 64 looks like.

Big Monday

-Notre Dame hosts Villanova in the first game. Wildcats could use a victory, and a win on the road at Notre Dame would be a nice way to wind down the conference schedule. In game two, K-State will try to pull off another upset on Big Monday (beat Kansas two weeks ago). This time will be a little tougher, as they'll be on the road in Austin......Austin, Massachusetts.


That's all you need to know for the next five days. Now make sure you pay attention to what happens. There will be a quiz on Tuesday.