Dooley's pick: Kansas (AP photo)

The Back Nine comes at you after a wonderful week in Nashville where the music never stops and Kentucky fans spent Sunday booking rooms in Indianapolis. Used brackets sold separately.

10. OK, so it’s a quick turnaround for the Back Nine, flying home one day and out the next to see my good friends at the Biting Sow blues bar in Oklahoma City and dining at Mantle’s. Tough life but somebody has to do it. The only downer is I miss my wife’s birthday. She had gotten used to it through nine straight NCAAs. So let’s get to my picks for the bracket (especially since my pick of Tennessee in the SEC Tournament was so spot on.) In the Midwest I have Kansas beating Georgetown in the final. In the West, I have Butler beating Kansas State in the final. In the East, I have Kentucky beating New Mexico in the final. And in the South, Villanova beats Duke. Now off with you. Kentucky is the toughest call because it has some difficult matchups. But I’m going with the theory that you stick with the teams that have the most NBA players. That, of course, doesn’t explain Butler in the Final Four, but I believe in miracles. Still, Kansas beats Kentucky in the title game.

11. Must-see TV this week, peeps. Obviously, everyone will be glued to the Gator game (this just in, they got in) but there are some others I’m looking forward to seeing. And with Florida playing the first game of the tournament, the opportunities will be there (bad omen though because the last time UF opened the tournament it lost to Manhattan). Vandy-Murray State should be intriguing, as will Temple-Cornell in a battle of two under-seeded teams. FSU-Gonzaga oughta be a doozy. But the great thing about the tournament is that you don’t know which games will be good and will be the ones you talk about the next day. It’s the best week in sports in my opinion. Add in UF Pro Day and the start of spring football and the boys on the sports desk are going to be busy, eh?

12. I’m like everyone else who can’t figure out why Duke received an easy path to the Final Four and the top seed of the tournament Kansas received such a difficult one. And I don’t get the inconsistencies of rewarding or not rewarding teams for how they played late. They eliminated the last 12 criteria but then seemed to apply it anyway. But I do know that the writers who participated in the mock selection process said it was incredibly difficult. And I know this — the tournament is a lot more fun now that Florida is back in it.

Tennessee Volunteers head coach Bruce Pearl doesn't like the smell of his team's six seed. (AP photo)

13. Nobody is less happy about their seed than the boys at Tennessee. It’s as if they were penalized for a lousy second half against Kentucky in the tournament and the subsequent 29-point loss. “A six seed? A six seed?” said Scotty Hopson. The look on Bruce Pearl’s face when the Vols flashed up on the screen, I mean, it was like he was trying to read instructions to install a microwave in his couch. I think the committee erred in a lot of its seeding but nobody will remember when the tournament starts Thursday.

14. Remember last year when the NCAA asked its officials to start enforcing the coaches’ box in college basketball? They did during the non-conference schedule but backed off the rest of the year. This season, it has been ignored completely. And nobody abuses it more than Rick Stansbury, the Mississippi State coach. Personally, I have no problem with coaches leaving the box. But Stansbury was on the court more than some of his players at the SEC Tournament. At one point, Vanderbilt’s Jeffrey Taylor inbounded the ball from in front of the Mississippi State bench and had to literally dodge Stansbury so he could go up the court. I wonder if he had run into him if it would have been a technical.

15. If it was up to me, the tournament would be in Nashville every year. The arena is ideal for hoops and right around the corner from Broadway, which is packed with restaurants and bars. But it will continue to move around in part to expose the tournament to different groups of fans but mostly because Bridgestone Arena only seats 18,000. You can fit a lot more people into the Georgia Dome and with Kentucky rolling again that means extra revenue for the league.

Quiet Woods (AP photo)

16. If Tiger Woods is ready to come back, The Masters is the perfect spot. I keep hearing people say he can’t come back for a major without a tuneup, but he’s not coming back to win another major. He’s coming back to come back. And for the most controlling athlete in the world, why not make your return to the most controlled tournament in the world? Remember a few years ago when Martha Burk staged her protest and they made her hold it a mile away in an empty lot and there was more media than protesters? That’s why Augusta will be perfect for Tiger.

17. Kentucky fan comes up to me while I’m trying to eat dinner Saturday night in Nashville. He wants me to buy him a beer, like that was going to happen. He’s hammered and when he finds out I’m from Gainesville he starts ripping Joakim Noah for being a horrible person. It was at that point that it changed. My conversation with Ashley Judd earlier that day had killed all of my bad feelings about Kentucky fans. It’s back.

18. The iPod was great for workouts and four flights on the trip, so here are the weekly recommendations: Try “Ordinary Day” by Dolores O’Riordan, “Dirty Robot” by The Lemonheads and for old-school memories, how about “She’s Not There” by The Zombies?

Contact Pat Dooley at 352-374-5053 or at dooleyp@gvillesun.com. You can listen to The Pat Dooley Show weekdays from 4-6 p.m. on 104.9 FM. And follow at Twitter.com/Pat_Dooley.

But there was one bright spot on Saturday. The woman sitting next to me at the press conference smelled like flowers. Suddenly she turned and started talking to me.

It was Ashley Judd.

“Whuut?” I said to her after she spoke, using my sensational small talk.

“Oh, I’m just talking to myself. Coach just said, ‘Let’s go win it all.’ It’s so exciting,” she said.

Now, I’ve never been a big Ashley Judd fan. Can’t even recall a movie of hers I really liked. But I was a little starstruck in her presence.

We chatted a bit. I told her the place was louder than Rupp on Saturday.

“It was loud,” she said.

And then she said, “I’ve was getting on DeMarcus last night.” And then she put her finger to the corner of her mouth and made a smile. DeMarcus Cousins, Kentucky’s moody center, never smiles.

And when she left, I told her good luck. She thanked me and then she walked away and was out of my life forever. Or at least until tomorrow’s press conference.

They are making a killing here because Kentucky fans are attacking the streets in droves. The loudest roar for the opening game came when the big screen showed Kentucky players watching from the stands.

In order, here’s what I have seen as far as the most fans in Nashville.

1. Kentucky fans with tickets.

2. Kentucky fans looking to buy tickets.

3. Kentucky fans who can’t afford tickets but want to be here anyway.

4. Tennessee fans.

5. Vanderbilt fans (it is Nashville after all).

6. Everybody else.

Truth is I have yet to see a Florida fan that is not employed by the University Athletic Association or related to Billy Donovan. I’m sure they’re all waiting for game time. Not.

That said, tonight’s game is vital for UF. The more I talk to people and watch the results of other tournaments, the more I’m convinced Florida is in the NCAA Tournament with a win tonight.

We’ll see.

And it’s not Kentucky.

I’m not taking the time-honored tradition of picking someone other than the favorite to stir things up. There are reasons why Kentucky will be the pick of most of the members of the media. The Wildcats will have the most fans, most talent and most tradition.

But they also will have the least motivation. When John Calipari says that winning the tourney isn’t important, that it’s only about getting a No. 1 seed, it makes me wonder if that sentiment won’t leak over to the players.

We’ll see, but here are my picks, game by game:

Game 1: Alabama over South Carolina. Tide seems to finally be getting what Anthony Grant has been preaching and JaMychal Green is back.

Game 2: Tennessee over LSU. This will be a seal-clubbing despite better play by Tigers late in the season. “There’s only one team in the league that’s not very good,” said Trent Johnson, “and you happen to be talking to him.”

Game 3: Florida over Auburn. Knock on wood Gator fans.

Game 4: Georgia over Arkansas. But watch out for Rotnei Clarke.

QUARTERFINALS

Game 5: Kentucky over Alabama. Big Blue fans hit the sauce early.

Game 6: Tennessee over Ole Miss. Say hello to my little friend — the NIT.

Game 7: Mississippi State over Florida. Vernon Macklin won’t dominate Jarvis Varnado again.

Game 8: Vanderbilt over Georgia. Vandy has too much talent to be one and done.

SEMIFINALS

Game 9: Tennessee over Kentucky. The Vols’ win at Mississippi State was no fluke.

Game 10: Vanderbilt over Mississippi State: An all-Tennessee final.

FINAL

Game 11: Tennessee over Vandy. Bruce Pearl finally gets tourney monkey off his back.

People think of Nashville as a country music town and there is certainly plenty of that. But it’s a great city for all kinds of music. You walk down Broadway near the Bridgestone Arena and it pours out into the street.

On Tuesday night, I got my fill. I ended up spending most of the night in a place that was serving pitchers of Natty Lite for $6 (I passed). The reason I wandered in was the first few chords of “Last Dance with Mary Jane.”  The cool thing about watching bands in Nashville is that they are made with interchangeable parts. This band played three songs and then another drummer from the crowd sat in for a few. Then another guy took over on rhythm guitar.

As I walked out of the bar, I stopped and told the lead singer he had a good band.

“Where are you from?” he said.

Gainesville, Florida.

“So am I. Actually Newberry. Went to UF for a couple of years,” he said.

Small world, eh?

But I’m here for hoops and already there is controversy. The Golden Flakes rep went nuts when he saw Lays potato chips in the media room. He had them removed. Golden Flakes is an official sponsor of the SEC. So there are no chips on the table.

Stay tuned.

We figured that it would be Auburn and on Saturday after Alabama did beat Auburn it was confirmed by the SEC — Florida v. Auburn Thursday night at 7:30 in Nashville, The Gators handled Auburn at home earlier this year but Auburn ended Florida’s NCAA hopes at the SEC Tournament a year ago.

So we’ll see what happens up there.

This have something to do with throwing mechanics? (AP photo)

The Back Nine has seen enough vertical jumps, 40-yard dashes and nasty press room sandwiches to last a lifetime. Home has never looked better.

10. That was my first NFL Scouting Combine and it won’t kill me if it is my last. Don’t get me wrong. It’s invaluable for the people who cover the NFL and made a lot of sense for us to be there with 10 Gators including the Great One. (Think Tim Tebow isn’t already a star? The NFL Network teased to his broad jump on Sunday). But it’s really boring. It’s kind of like going to cover a bowl game and you get every player on both teams to come into the media room and then there’s no bowl game. No payoff. And I had to watch Florida lose to Georgia on GameTracker. Indianapolis was cold and wet, snow piled up everywhere. Luckily, they have these things called Pedestrian Pathways that get you from one place to another. Back home we call them sidewalks.

11. While most of the Gator talk up in Indy was about Tebow, there was a nice buzz about Riley Cooper. The team that drafts him is going to love him because he’ll play his rear off on special teams. Remember that he was a special teams star for two seasons at Florida. “I love to play special teams,” he said. There’s no end of the bench in the NFL, but you can play a long time in this league if you excel at special teams. “Riley tried to get off the kickoff team last year,” Brandon James said. “I gave him a hard time. We needed him there.”

Maurkice Pouncey runs a drill at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis. (AP photo)

12. After spending four days at Lucas Oil Stadium (which is nice) and talking to all kinds of people (coaches, GMs and reporters), here’s where I think the 10 Gators who were at the Combine will go — First round: Joe Haden, Maurkice Pouncey and Carlos Dunlap; Second round: Tim Tebow, Brandon Spikes, Riley Cooper, Aaron Hernandez; Third round: Major Wright; Fourth round: Jermaine Cunningham; Seventh round: Brandon James. I wonder if someone will draft Ryan Stamper. If 11 players are taken it will break the UF record set in the 1978 draft.

13. In Indianapolis I couldn’t help but think of the symmetry of what may well be the best two classes ever at Florida. There were five players from the 2006 recruiting class and five from the 2007. You can make an argument that the latter was the better class because five players were good enough to come out early, while only one (Percy Harvin) came out early from the 2006 class. The ‘07 class also had less attrition (’the ‘06 class had seven players leave UF). But the Oh-Sixers can come right back with this — more rings. That usually ends most arguments.

Billy Donovan screams after getting a technical. (AP photo)

14. Florida’s basketball loss should not come as a big surprise to anyone. That’s what the Gators are. There is no team in this league — and maybe in America — that Florida can’t beat. And there are very few that Florida can’t lose to. The margin for error is that small. Florida beats Vanderbilt tonight and they’re in. They don’t and lose at Kentucky, and the SEC Tournament will decide their fate. Just like last season. One thing is clear — these Gators play better with less rest than with more.

15. After the third round in Phoenix, there were four Gators among the top 10. Three of them finished there led by Chris Couch, who has had a solid West Coast swing. He was the only Gator to shoot under par Sunday and finished in a tie for fourth. The way Couch is playing, he might be the comeback player of the year, an award won by another former Gator golfer Dudley Hart two years ago.

Mesler tastes gold. (AP photo)

16. Cool scene in Indy — when the United States scored to tie the hockey gold medal game with 25 seconds left, the press room erupted in cheers. There were guys banging on tables. I thought someone had rolled out a keg. Unfortunately, it was a short-lived celebration. It didn’t bother the Back Nine that Canada won because, well, they needed it more and the Olympics had so many things that went wrong at least Canada had its moment in the sun. And a Back Nine shout out to my man Steve Mesler, who was part of the gold medal U.S. bobsled team. The former Gator decathlete spent a lot of years working for his special day.

17. The NFL is talking about changing its overtime rule for the playoffs. A team would have to score six points to win so they could not win with a field goal. I love the way college football settles overtime games, but that’s as a fan. As a player, it can be brutal if a game goes five or six OTs. But it’s funny how the NCAA puts “student-athletes” in position to play marathon games, but the guys who get paid and don’t have to go to class can’t be asked to stay on the field for too long.

18. Believe me, the iPod made the Combine tolerable between interviews. Try these out and thanks to the readers for keeping those suggestions coming — “Little Lion Man” by Mumford and Sons, “Kick Rocks” by Alkaline Trio and for the old-schoolers “Bell Bottom Blues” by Derek and the Dominoes.

Contact Pat Dooley at 352-374-5053 or at dooleyp@gvillesun.com. You can listen to The Pat Dooley Show weekdays from 4-6 p.m. on 104.9 FM. And follow at Twitter.com/Pat_Dooley.

We’re waiting for the first player or coach to come in and subject himself to scrutiny. Mike Singletary of the 49ers is coming first. I should get Aaron Hernandez and Maurkice Pouncey today.

So far, it’s been pretty uneventful except that I brought the wrong sneakers and my feet are killing me. Oh, and there is snow on the ground with occasional flurries. Back to you, Tom.

Coming here does bring back memories even though the arena where the Gators played two Final Fours and won their first national title is gone and Lucas Oil Field sits near the site of the old arena. But the Marriott is still here when my buddy Brandon Zimmerman almost had to sleep outside because he couldn’t figure out how to get in the building one night. Luckily for Brandon, someone opened a door for him. It really wasn’t that complicated but there is this great martini bar …

It’s cold here and it’s a different kind of cold than what we’ve been experiencing in Gainesville. It’s a biting cold. Already looking forward to coming home. The big question here is whether I can find the Florida-Georgia game on a TV. There’s always GameTracker.

Not a miracle, just a big win (AP photo)

The Back Nine comes at you after a wonderful weekend that was. How nice was the day Sunday? Depends on who you were rooting for. Eh, Canadians?

10. Really nice win for the American hockey team. I watched the end because it took me awhile to find it on MSNBC after I watched “Frost/Nixon” on HBO. Yes, I do lead quite an active life. Had the Americans not scored a late empty-netter, it would have been the same score as the Miracle on Ice 30 years ago almost to the day. But puh-lease do not equate Sunday night’s U.S. win to the Americans win in 1980 over the Soviets at Lake Placid. The two events aren’t in the same stratosphere. The next announcer I hear make the comparison or call it Miracle on Ice II is going to receive the ultimate punishment from the Back Nine. He or she will be tied to a chair and forced to watch the first movie about the 1980 hockey team with Karl Malden playing Herb Brooks with about as much passion as a bag of wet towels. It’s not close, peeps. Stop it. And stop complaining about the hockey being on MSNBC while ice dancing was being shown on the big boy network. I have some news for you, hockey fans, you are not the demographic that is bringing NBC killer ratings this Winter Olympics. But your wife or girlfriend or significant other is.

11. The hockey was a nice way to end a fantastic weekend of watching sports in our area. And it was an incredible weekend for Florida, which went unbeaten for this huge weekend. The biggest win was the narrow escape by the men’s basketball team at Ole Miss, but right behind it was gymnastics’ win over Georgia and women’s basketball’s over the Bulldogs. Baseball swept and gave the fans some walk-off drama. I made it to softball and gymnastics Friday, baseball and Urban Meyer’s golf tournament Saturday and just sat back and enjoyed Sunday with my parents, who came over from St. Augustine. The great thing about the weekend was that the stadiums were packed.

Another rare Mack Attack for Florida (AP photo)

12. Which wasn’t the case Thursday night when Florida’s men played Auburn. Hey, it’s just the way it is. One thing you have to say about this Gator team is that you shouldn’t leave early. Eight of UF’s games have been decided on the final possession. The Back Nine didn’t think Florida played particularly well Saturday at Ole Miss but gutted out the win. What was baffling was the way CBS labeled it an elimination game. Yeah, for Ole Miss. Had Florida lost and won out, it would have been a lock for the tourney. Arkansas-South Carolina last week was an elimination game. One thing the NCAA committee has to look at is Florida’s 6-0 record against the West. You can’t consider a West team over Florida. You just can’t. I think Florida is in right now, just like the Gators were out last week. If Florida splits these last four regular-season games, Billy Donovan is back in the tournament. Tuesday night’s game is ginormous for that reason and because a win over Tennessee would move UF closer to that East No. 3 spot that is ideal if you’re not getting a bye in Nashville.

Closer Nick Maronde struggled. (Photo by Jasmine Luoma/Special to Gatorsports)

13. While Florida baseball swept South Florida and it’s obvious the No. 1 recruiting class in America is going to have a major impact on this season, it was baffling to see Florida fall behind 6-3 on Sunday because of the performances of closer Nick Maronde and set-up man Greg Larson. The two combined to allow five hits and five runs in one-third of an inning. The Back Nine will chalk it up as just one of those days. Other than those two, Florida pitchers allowed four runs in 27 2/3 innings. And it appears Matt den Dekker (.462 for the weekend) is ready to have a bounce-back season at the top of the lineup. It will be interesting to see which team ends the season with a better batting average — baseball (.279 after three games) or softball (.306 after 10 games).

Tiger's got his own rules (AP photo)

14. Now that I have had some time to digest and reflect on Tiger Woods’ robotic performance last Friday, it seems to me that he still feels entitled. He said his feeling of entitlement was the reason for his multiple infidelities. He showed off on Friday that he feels he’s entitled to have different rules with the way he dealt with the “gathering,” that he waited so long to speak and that he demanded the media treat him differently than any other celebrity. Tiger has been treated with kid gloves during his time on the Tour and has been standoff-ish with the media. Find one writer who covers golf who feels like he really knows Woods. He doesn’t need the media and he knows it. And he shows it every chance he gets. That’s fine, but it’s possible to be a big shot and still treat people nicely. Like, you know, signing autographs.

15. After seeing video of Tim Tebow’s version of “Extreme Makeover” I am more convinced than ever that he will go in the first round. Tebow has drastically changed his throwing motion, so much so he could even play for Steve Spurrier now. It’s not so much that he has changed his motion, and watching the grainy Zapruder-like film on ESPN only showed you that he can do it in workouts, but the fact that Tebow is willing to put this much work in to change something that had been very successful is going to impress NFL teams. Florida could very easily have five first-round draft picks in Joe Haden, Carlos Dunlap, Aaron Hernandez, Maurkice Pouncey and Tebow. The most Gators ever selected in the first round was three in 1989. Can you name them?

Camilo Villegas isn't happy with his driver (AP photo)

16. I can’t think Camilo Villegas slept well after missing a two-foot putt that would have sent him to the final of the Match Play Championship. His first drive the following day against Paul Casey landed in the desert and that was that. You have to give the former Gator golfer credit for coming back to hammer Sergio Garcia in the consolation match Sunday. Could be a big year for Villegas.

17. The Back Nine was startled to see this headline Monday — “Meyer will retire.” Again? Turns out it was Northern State hoops coach Don Meyer. It’s still a big deal because he has won more games than any coach in college basketball history. For extra credit on trivia, where is Northern State?

18. Just downloaded the new album from the B-52s. No, I didn’t know they were still around either. It’s vintage — campy but entertaining. The Back Nine recommends it. Also, get Stevie D and the No Shows “Time Will Tell.” Really good stuff. And old schoolers need to have “Jessica” by The Allman Brothers, the best song ever to play with the top down.

19th hole: Trivia answer — Trace Armstrong, David Williams and Louis Oliver were first-round picks in ‘89. And Northern State is in Aberdeen, S.D.

Contact Pat Dooley at 352-374-5053 or at dooleyp@gvillesun.com. You can listen to The Pat Dooley Show weekdays from 4-6 p.m. on 104.9-FM. And follow at Twitter.com/Pat_Dooley.

More than 300 accredited media members sitting in a ballroom hacking out tweets and blogs while waiting for the television to come on for the Tiger Woods infomercial.

Supposedly, Michael Jordan will be there. Hey, if you’re going to apologize for infidelity what better person to have in the room than another adulterer? There will be media there, but only a handful and not members of the Golf Writers Association of America who are boycotting the gathering.

So we sit here speculating and damning. Would you be in the room if you were invited? Would you be here if you weren’t assigned to be here? Who were those two women outside Sawgrass with signs that I can’t relay to mixd company?

What a zoo. Cameraman are scurrying around the ballroom trying to find the best angle for Tim Finchem’s post-commercial press conference. Photographers are taking pictures of the two dozen satellite dishes who are filming the photographers who are taking pictures of writers registering for the bizarre deal.