Happy Bracket Burning Day!

We hate to post and push down Ms. Burke, but we're sure you'd rather read us rant and rave and link and make funny jokes instead of looking at her, so ... here's West Virginia's mascot to look at instead. You're welcome?

With the Sweet 16 set, some thoughts and links (an no predictions, we promise):

THURSDAY'S GAMES:

Xavier-West Virginia: Some love for West Virginia, which some believe is quickly becoming a two-sport powerhouse. (SI.com)

North Carolina-Washington State: The Tar Heels are averaging about 3,000 points a game so far. It's the team to beat, by far, especially with this guy returning to form. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Tennessee-Louisville: Louisville has been the second-most impressive team behind the Tar Heels. And since both are in the same bracket, here's hoping for a Cardinals' win. Here's a preview. (SPORTING NEWS)

UCLA-Western Kentucky: Will UCLA need more non-calls like this to advance? (SCOUT.com)

FRIDAY'S GAMES:

Wisconsin-Davidson: No way Davidson's Stephen Curry can keep his ridiculous scoring run going against the pressure defense-driven Badgers, who led the nation in scoring defense this year. Right? Right? Maybe, because it seems Curry has been pretty unstoppable for a while.

Texas-Stanford: Texas avoided a Georgetown-like collapse against Miami and Stanford avoided an upset despite its hot-tempered coach. The whole thing kind of reminded us of this. (ESPN)

Memphis-Michigan State: The Spartans have somewhat quietly pulled off two solid wins so far and probably nobody would consider an MSU win a shocker, especially if this beaten horse continues to receive headlines. (NEW YORK TIMES)

Kansas-Villanova: Like UNC, Kansas had been totally dominant, outscoring opponents by an average of about 2,746 points so far. But as coach Bill Self said, Kansas "is not playing a 12 seed." (KANSAS CITY STAR)

With three days of Tourney-less abyss ahead, try to -- I'm going to try and say it -- enjoy ... the ... -- almost done -- Women's ... ... Tourn -- ah, I can't do it! Not in good conscience!

The NIT is on later. There, go watch that instead.

More to come later.