I am one confused girl. March madness is upon us -- that is for sure. As a women's basketball writer, I like to think I can figure how the women's tournament will shake out -- that, too, is for sure. I have to pick 63 men's games for three NCAA pools with little to no idea where to begin -- that is lastly, and regrettably, also for sure.

Stellar.

Add on top of that the trademark indecisiveness of Libras, and you've got a girl who is, for once, more torn than when faced with 20 magenta sandal options in the Nordstrom shoe department.

So, with my trusty ESPN.com bracket in hand, I've been wandering around since Sunday evening with a hovering uncertainty. When will St. Joe's lose? Who are the Cinderella teams? Where are the upsets lurking? And how in the world can I pick the final score of a game that is three weeks away?

Pride aside, I sought out help.

Stop 1: ESPN.com. Surely they will have the advice for me!

Indeed, bracketologists and senior analysts await me. I read Andy Katz's predictions. Not bad, not bad. He likes Stanford winning it all; I can like Stanford winning it all. After writing the Cardinal in all the way to the title, I go back to the men's tourney home page. Wait, Dick Vitale likes Kentucky? I erase my way back to a clean bracket. I decide to a) stick with the pencil and b) scout some more.

Stop 2: One of my fellow Collegian women's basketball writers, the one who taught me that "dime" is street-ball slang for an assist.

"Florida will go far," he assures me.

"Really?" I asked, ready to pencil them in to the Elite Eight.

"Well, I'm kind of biased," he admits. "My friend plays for them." Oh, wonderful. There's the objective opinion sportswriters love.

The East Rutherford bracket remains blank.

Stop 3: Collegian assistant night sports editors. "I'm picking Monmouth, Illinois-Chicago, Liberty and Texas-San Antonio for the Final Four," the first one proclaims. Thanks, but no thanks. The second one holds up the insert The Philadelphia Inquirer puts out.

"This is exactly why I read this paper today," he says, with a huge grin. "I can scout all the teams. It's great!"

I glance through it. Great, indeed. But all the words and numbers make my head spin.

The whole bracket remains blank.

Stop 4: The lab I work in. Scientists do still follow sports.

"Paul, your Final Four?" I anxiously ask one of the other undergrads. He's got Georgia Tech, Duke, Connecticut and Pittsburgh -- but that's subject to change. OK, so why Georgia Tech? "I've watched them a bunch this year, and I really like them." Then we go to the computer so I can see his complete bracket. The headline story on ESPN.com when the page loads: Why Georgia Tech could lose in the first round. "Well, everybody has his own opinion," he says, shrugging it off. No kidding!

The St. Louis bracket remains blank.

I go to one of the grad students.

"Jordan, there are too many choices," I whine.

"Well, that's why you enter two different brackets in each pool," he suggests.

The Phoenix bracket remains blank.

Stop 5: My dad. After all, as my mom likes to note, he watches basketball all the time. He convinces me to stick with Duke in Atlanta. Ready to scribble it in, I consider that this is the man who cost me 10 points of extra credit in my fifth grade math class by offering me ill-advised picks.

The Atlanta bracket remains blank.

Two days and countless opinions later, I am still one confused girl. So I switch to a pen and haphazardly attack the bracket. Cute mascots result in Elite Eight appearances. Schools in warm locales have an edge. Soon enough, my bracket is full, and it took only five minutes.

Because, let's be honest: Despite the authority of all the bracketologist research analysts, senior sportswriters and self-proclaimed college basketball buffs, things get crazier than anyone can predict in the Big Dance. We all know that No. 1 and No. 2 seeds are pretty much safe in the first round, yes, but after that, any reason -- lovely school colors perhaps -- can be the right reason to pick a team.

With that being said, Salukis of Southern Illinois tear it up! A natural pick as my parents hail from the Land of Lincoln; you went all the way in my final submission. You won't let me down?