With nothing better to do than sleep at 2:45 a.m., I figured I’d jot a few lines about what’s been happening this evening.

I’m packed up and ready to head to Omaha. Yes, I’m heading out on Thursday. Like tomorrow. For those of you sleeping under a rock, there are more national tournaments than “the big one” in Omaha next weekend. After finishing up with the Division III championships, I’m making a six-hour run from the Twin Cities to Omaha in preparation for the Division II championships hosted at UNO.

I had a chance to write a rather lengthy preview today (you can read it on TheMat.com) and I’m excited for the tournament. UNO, despite my posturing that it’s anyone’s tournament, is the heavy, heavy favorite.

I sat down this afternoon in between boiling ziti and working on some dinner, to fill out roughly half of the Division II brackets. I’ll fill out the rest of them tomorrow (well, later today) and post them here for people to pick apart.

Now, while I’m gearing up for the Division II tournament, Wednesday was the big day for college wrestling fans, as they found out not only the at-large berths into the Division I championships, but the brackets as well. Already, Thursday Morning Quarterbacks (if that is a term, well, it is if you’re a MAC Football fan) are filling out brackets, boldly picking upsets and posturing their opinions as to who will be the ultimate sleeper in Omaha at the Qwest Center.

I again, will be filling out the complete bracket and posting it here for you guys to throw darts at. Why? I dunno, I guess I’m just a glutton for punishment.

Anyway, if you go to TheMat.com, you’ll see the Division I Championship Special Section. In that section, you’ll find some breakdowns with facts and figures provided to me by Pat Tocci at the NWCA. He’s the guy who told you who was in the tournament on the NCAA webcast. He works tirelessly, and I do mean tirelessly, for the sport of wrestling. With my pending marriage coming up in two months, I wonder how Pat’s stayed married all this time, because he puts mountains of effort into promoting and working with factions to help improve the sport and its visibility.

Now, enough about my old boss … I wonder why my sleeping habits are messed up. Could it be the eight years working nights at a daily newspaper? Too much time at Brendee’s in Lancaster shooting darts and watching “just one more inning” of a Mets-Phillies game? Or perhaps the video editing from last year’s Wrestling 411 finally caught up to me.

Nah, it’s that whole glutton for punishment thing again. Sorting, fact-finding and posting information in the wee hours of the morning is nothing new. But it’s not for me to admire, it’s for you, the wrestling fan, to feast upon. So have a look at the coverage section and check out some interesting notes – like a breakdown of the home states (Pennsylvania has the most) and hometowns (guess who’s No. 1 there?) and of course, the brother combos and a breakdown by win percentage.

We’ll be creating the Division II special section tomorrow, as Craig Sesker and I arrive in Omaha.

More updates when we get there, but I’ve gotta be up and out the door in about four hours. Ack. It’s now 2:55 a.m. … do you know where your brackets are?