The Bottom Line is going into the prognostication business with a mini mock draft. This is how I think the first 5 picks of tonight’s draft will shake out. Feel free to comment with your own top 5.

1. Greg Oden - C - Ohio State

2. Kevin Durant - F - Texas

3. Al Horford - F - Florida

4. Corey Brewer - F- Florida

5. Mike Conley Jr. - Ohio State - G

The Worldwide Leader’s Andy Katz is reporting that sources close to Ohio State center Greg Oden have told Katz that the freshmen will declare for the NBA Draft. And I died with shock.

What irritates me about this announcement isn’t that he’s going to the NBA. I can’t begrudge this kid the opportunity to make a life for himself and if the door is open then he should take it. What irritates me is that he was pretending and mugging for the press like he was actually entertaining the thought of staying in school. Come on. Everyone knew that as soon as Ohio State was bounced from the tournament, it wouldn’t be soon after that Oden would declare for the draft. There’s just too much money on the line. But the real question is who was the money too much for? By all appearances, Oden was seemingly happy living the college life. Was it the people around him that have wanted to cash in  Oden’s abilities from a very young age? I certainly wouldn’t discount that as a possibility.

On other Buckeye news, freshmen guard Daequan Cook has also announced that he will test the NBA market. Yeah, the same Daequan Cook who came off the bench for Ohio State to average about 10 points and 4 boards for Ohio State. Whoever is in this kid’s ear, telling him that he’s ready for the NBA is doing him a serious disservice. Stay in school, young man.

A very interesting AP article in the San Diego Union-Tribune, Greg Oden’s dad told the Indianapolis Star that Oden was leaving Ohio State to enter the NBA draft (duh!) but today, the man who hopes to be Oden’s agent, Mike Conley, Sr. (father of Mike Conley, Jr — Oden’s teammate and best friends) said not so.

Here’s a quote from Conley that, to me, gives a little insight into what these kids go through and how poorly the adults around them behave.

“‘No. Definitely not. Not to say he’s not going to decide that – but, 100 percent, as of this moment, he hasn’t decided,’ Conley, father of Oden’s teammate Mike Conley Jr., told The Associated Press.“

It gets worse.

“‘The process for Greg Oden is, he’s going to talk to his mom today, he’s going to talk to me tomorrow and he’s going to talk to (Ohio State coach) Thad Matta on Monday,’ Conley Sr. said. ‘And after that, he’s going to decide what he’s going to do and when he’s going to report it.’”

I don’t care if Oden leaves, I think he had the game of his life against Florida and the market for him is higher than ever. You certainly can’t begrudge someone that amount of money, regardless of how old they are (or look). My problem is with the adults, I have no reason to believe that Greg Oden is sincere when he says that he loves college life and would like to stay at Ohio State. But we all know that’s not going to happen. The adults in his life, including the press, will tell him that he’d be stupid not to go and to get while the gettin’s good. If anyone cared about this kid’s well-being, and not their own, this decision would be Oden’s and his alone. But it’s not. And that’s a shame.

With March Madness tipping off Thursday (sorry play-in game participants).. everyone in your office or class becomes Andy Katz or Digger Phelps. But I guess that’s what makes this event great, right?

After looking at the brackets, there are certainly some interesting match-up possibilities. Of course, those matchups could be completely torched by upsets (i.e. last year) but here’s a couple as my bracket predicts.

Midwest Regional: Oregon/Wisconsin - Drinking the Pac-10 Kool-Aid is something I vowed never to do again but I’m awfully impressed by this Oregon team. The chance to see the Ducks, who handled any and all comers in the Pac-10 tournament, square off against the Badgers (see: POY-candidate Alando Tucker) is a game I’d pay to see. Oregon/Florida - Every one of the Worldwide Leader’s talking heads are picking the Gators to return to the Final Four but I’m not sold. The SEC fielded an unspeakably weak field this year and I’m not sure the Gators have what it takes to beat Arizona, Maryland and Oregon but this game could potentially be a classic. Taj Porter, Aaron Brooks and Bryce Taylor vs. Joke-kim, Brewer and Horford.

West Regional: Of the four regionals (go Hoosiers) this is probably the weakest and least exciting (go Hoosiers). The only potentially exciting matchup would be the elite 8 showdown between Kansas and UCLA. Though I have Kansas in the Final Four, I think they’re the most enigmatic. Bill Self’s resumé in Lawrence has been far from excellent and but I think the Jayhawks will have a relatively easy time disposing of everyone in their half of the bracket. The possible Pitt/UCLA storyline has people excited but I think Saturday night Pitt showed that if they don’t get good looks from the perimeter and Aaron Gray is defended well in the post, they’re easily beatable.

East regional: Hands-down the most exciting bracket in the tournament. Anyone of these match-ups will be worth watching: Texas/USC, Texas/UNC, BC/Georgetown, Washington St./Georgetown, Georgetown/UNC. If this weekend proved anything, it was that Georgetown is the real deal. The low-post combination of Jeff Green and Roy Hibbert might be the best in the country. I’m picking Georgetown to emerge from this impressive pack but I wouldn’t be at all surprised I were wrong.

South regional: O-H-I-O. That’s really all you need to say about this bracket. Memphis is the hottest team in the country, Texas A&M and Acie Law could be a tough out but the Buckeyes will be Georgia-bound when it’s all said and done. This is the bracket with the least amount of intriguing potential match-ups. Ohio State’s biggest challenge will be its own youth and inexperience and even though they’re awfully young — they’re awfully good.

My final four picks:

This story has been unavoidable for much of the past couple days and I expect that with no new developments expected, it’ll fizzle and die out and become a highlight that ESPN shows when trying to promote the game. This morning I read two fairly good pieces, effectively eulogies on the story, and barring any new developments, I expect that this will be my last post on it as well.

The first was by New York Daily News columnist Bob Raissman. In the column, Raissman blasts CBS analyst Billy Packer for his blatant and borderline repugnant defense of Duke and Gerald Henderson in the moments after the foul.

What’s worse isn’t that Packer says this wasn’t a dirty foul in the seconds after it happened, it was that he insisted it wasn’t (Jim Nantz, coincidentally remained silent on the matter) even after they replayed the play 9 times. What I thought was comical when listening to Packer’s call was that he insisted that Henderson was going for the ball despite the fact that Hansbrough had been stripped of the ball before Henderson even left the ground.

And the coup de gras was when Henderson was ejected from the game, Packer said, “This a poor piece of officiating.”

Boy, who can wait for March Madness? But wait, you don’t have to wait for two more weeks to see Packer behave like a moron. This Sunday, he’ll, no doubt, be confronting the head of the NCAA Selection Committee on whatever teams they pick, or don’t pick, for the field of 65 and pretty much anything else he feels like criticizing.

Billy Packer has a place alongside sometime-Chicago Sun-Times columnist and ESPN talking head Jay Mariotti in the Blowhard Hall of Fame and I think his defense of Duke and Henderson in this case is reprehensible.

Here’s a link to Raissman’s column.

That’s it. I’m done. No more on Tyler Hansbrough, Coach K, Roy Williams, Gerald Henderson.

Pretty good piece on Coach K’s subtle spin of the incident by Yahoo! Sports’ Dan Wentzel. 

Best of the rest…

Great story in the New York Times today on George and Coby Karl.

The Detroit Free Press’ Drew Sharp on Greg Oden’s freshman experience.