Live blog: NCAA Tournament Round 1 Day 1

The ball is tipped
And there you are
You're running for your life
You're a shooting star

At long last, the 2010 NCAA Tournament has arrived. I am not traveling to any venues this year, so I'll be taking in March Madness on TV along with all of you. I will be hosting live chats all day today and tomorrow, starting when CBS goes on the air and not ending until Greg Gumbel calls it a night.

In addition to the chat, you'll want to keep our live scoreboard open as another tab in your browser. It includes a dynamic bracket that will update automatically as results come in.

There's one more thing I need to do before today's games tip off: tell you who I think will win the national semifinals and the championship game. It's pretty simple.

National Semifinals

M1. Kansas over W3. Pittsburgh
E2. West Virginia over S2. Villanova

National Championship

M1. Kansas over E2. West Virginia

I have seen all four of these teams in person this season. As Kansas and West Virginia both played in Philadelphia this season, I'm sure many of you have seen them in person as well.

It has become clear that the Jayhawks are the best team in the country. By winning the Big East Tournament, and considering the teams they beat in doing so, I believe the Mountaineers proved themselves to be the best team in the nation's best conference.

It's fitting, then, that these two programs should play for the national championship. They will bring a spectacular array of talent to the floor of Lucas Oil Stadium, and hopefully they will produce an entertaining contest.

A knockout-style tournament carries the inherent risk that the best team will not win on account of one bad game out of several in a season. But especially in this recent years, the best team in the field has stood atop the mountain in the end.

My pick is easy, but it's also the right one to make: Kansas wins the title.

Now, finally, the wait is over. Shall we dance?