Happy Thursday, Sweet Sixteen

It's a Bastard Edition of the Thursday Thirteen, hereby proclaimed the Thursday Sixteen, in honor of the NCAA Basketball Tournament. It's my Sweet 16 list, and if history is any indication, almost all of these selections will be wrong.

To allay any sports-post-related fears, I am adding an interesting fact about each school next to its name, to fight eye-glaze and general disinterest.

THE MIDWEST REGION:

Florida – The mascot’s name is Albert E. Gator.
Maryland – Currently, about 10% of Maryland's student body are involved in Greek Life.
Oregon – The film Animal House was filmed on the University campus and the surrounding area.
Wisconsin – Wisconsin has recently held the distinction of being rated the nation's number one "party school", according to the 2005 Princeton Review's annual survey and the May 2006 issue of Playboy magazine.

THE WEST REGION:

Kansas – Tuition at KU is 13 percent below the national average, according to the College Board, and the University remains a best buy in the region.
Southern Illinois – Notable alum: Patti McGuire, Playmate of the Year 1977, and later in a failed marriage to Jimmy Connors.
Pittsburgh – Pitt is ranked #20 among public universities in the country by U.S. News & World Report in their 2007 university rankings edition.
UCLA – UCLA received 50,694 applications for the Fall 2007 freshman class.

THE EAST REGION:

North Carolina – A total enrollment of over 183,000 students and confers over 75% of all bachelor degrees in North Carolina.
Texas – Numero Uno law school in the nation for Hispanics. (September 2004 edition of Hispanic Business magazine).
Washington State –The nickname is Wazzu.

Georgetown – The 1973 film The Exorcist was set and filmed in Georgetown.

THE SOUTH REGION:

Ohio State – OSU's "Buckeye Bullet" electric car broke the world record for the fastest speed by an electric vehicle on October 3, 2004 with a speed of 271.737 MPH) at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah.
Tennessee – Although it is the most famous song played, "Rocky Top" is not the official fight song for the university.
Texas A & M – Officially the letters "A&M" no longer have any explicit meaning, but they are retained as a link to the university's past.
Memphis – Home of Elvis and an intercollegiate rifle team, so don't piss them off.

Final Four: Kansas, Texas A & M, Texas and Florida.
Final: Kansas vs. Texas
Winner: The Jayhawks in a rout.

Bury Kansas.
Screw you, buddy.