We’ve been following four “expert” brackets from around the web to see how they fare at predicting the tournament in comparison with the overall population — as compiled by Yahoo! — and the pros are not winning.

All four analysts and the Yahoo! public had Kansas winning the tournament. Kansas, of course, was eliminated in the second round by No. 9 Northern Iowa. ESPN’s Joe Lunardi, Collegehoops.net and Bracketography have all had especially poor tournaments. Each already has three Elite 8 teams eliminated. Collegehoops and Bracketography have lost Kansas, Georgetown and Villanova, while Lunardi had Brigham Young, Kansas and Georgetown. Check out Lunardi’s picks below (the red lines indicate games he got wrong or can no longer get right, because the team he chose has been eliminated):

Lunardi Bracket

Props to Lunardi for calling Villanova’s second round loss.

The Sporting News’ Mike Decourcy has fared better than the other three, but only slightly. He is missing only two Elite 8 teams, Kansas and Notre Dame. But even Decourcy still can’t complete with the general public. They both have equal Elite 8 and Sweet 16 teams remaining, but Yahoo!’s public got slightly more first round games correct than any of the experts.

Check out the Yahoo! public bracket below (probably best to zoom in a little):

College Basketball Tournament Pick’Em – Yahoo! Sports

Box Score Beat is taking a look at the predictions of some of the internet’s top sports sites, this year.

We checked out the Final Four soothsaying of ESPN’s Joe Lunardi, collegehoops.net, the Sporting News‘ Mike Decourcy and Bracketography.com below. Let’s see if they’re any better than you or me.

NCAA Experts v. Amateurs – Part 1: The Confusing South from BoxScore Beat on Vimeo.

• Before Buffalo’s Dec. 3 game against the Jets in Toronto, cornerback Darrelle Revis indicated that he wanted an invite to Owens’ birthday party. Owens said he would grace Revis with an invite upon scoring a touchdown on him.

• Unfortunately for Revis, he shut T.O. down — limiting Owens to three receptions for 31 yards.

Meanwhile, with all the attention surrounding T.O.’s birthday, his future became a hot topic.

• Owens said he sees himself playing football for another three or four years.

• T.O. said he’s open to a return to Buffalo next season, or even making a second attempt at being a San Francisco 49er — but BuffaloFootballReport says Owens still needs to prove he deserves more time with the Bills.

• No matter where Owens goes next year, he’ll be making some extra dough on the side with his new modeling contract.

In T.O. Twitter News:

• Terrell made new friends.

• He also had to face the grim reality of life in Buffalo.

After last week’s breakout performance against Jacksonville, Terrell Owens enjoyed the lauds he was accustomed to before coming to Buffalo.

• Rochester’s Democrat and Chronicle declared that interim Coach Perry Fewell finally unleashed T.O.’s talents.

• And Brad Evans at Yahoo! Sports said it was time for fantasy owners to grant T.O. a Thanksgiving pardon.

• The AP said Owens proved he is not washed up:

Terrell Owens has been called “a clown” on national television and rendered nearly irrelevant as part of an anemic offense. So when the Bills receiver stopped after making a catch in practice last month and spoke, it seemed like more of a joke than a vow.”I’m bound to have a breakout game one of these days,” Owens said, with a wink to a group of reporters standing within earshot along the sideline.

Turns out, he was serious. And correct.

All that was missing was an “I told you so,”

Then Owens backed up his performance with another solid game against the Miami Dolphins on Sunday (five receptions for 96 yards and a TD), and FINALLY criticized the coach…the old coach that is.

From NBCSports:

And all Terrell Owens could wonder after he helped seal the rout with a 51-yard touchdown catch was what might have been if Bills owner Ralph Wilson had fired Dick Jauron a few games earlier.

“Well, he’s two weeks too late,” Owens said, crediting Fewell who took over when Jauron was fired Nov. 17. “I’ve been wanting to be aggressive all year.”

Oh, and as for that loud personality? T.O.’s new Bufallo-inspired clothing venture says it’s back.

Before Sunday’s game –

• The Bills fired Head Coach Dick Jauron and named Perry Fewell interim head coach.

• T.O. tweeted some poor math regarding the NFL’s black coaches.

• The Bills named Ryan Fitzpatrick the starting quarterback.

• Owens said he liked Fitzpatrick a lot (we’d later find out why).

• The New York Daily News advised benching Owens on your fantasy football team:
  

  The popcorn has gone stale. Somewhere, Tony Romo is rapping “How Ya Like Me Now.” Keep him stashed on your pine.

• Bleacher Report’s Eric Stashin said the Bills’ wide receivers were “low-end options” and asked if there was any chance they could regain their form.

During Sunday’s game -

• T.O. caught 9 passes for 197 yards. The game, his best this season, included this 98 yard TD reception:

Also, strong call by CBS’ announcer (either Bill Macatee or Steve Beuerlein) — “T.O. right here, this might be a good time to take a shot up the field.”

After Sunday’s game –

• Same old story for the Bills.

• In what’s becoming a post-game ritual, T.O. turned over his jersey to Mike Sims-Walker.

• And Fanhouse‘s Matt Snyder said T.O. is Alive, but he “doesn’t buy any extended rejuvenation” by Owens.

First, T.O. had a run-in with the couch which resulted in two days of missed practice with a hip strain.

Then Owens was seen yelling at coaches on the sideline during the game (as a brief note: every week this season, there’s been someone who predicted that Owens was on the verge of blowing up — the winner for timing their prediction right is this guy).

Next, having lost a bet with Tennessee’s Chris Johnson over whose team would win, T.O. turned over his gameday jersey.

And after the game, the press conference was rocky.

Buffalo’s coach Dick Jauron was fired today, and Owens had a clumsy day of it on Twitter:

• T.O. gleefully tweeted about the “beautiful day” in Buffalo.
• An hour later, came the recant.

In T.O. charity news:

81 Buffalo families are going to receive the special T.O. treatment.

First Williams noted that he was not seeing the quality or quantity of passes from Dallas QB Tony Romo that a number one receiver should see… and was immediately compared to Terrell Owens.

Then Williams was warned of what happens to Dallas wide receivers who complain. From Vinnie Iyer of the Sporting News‘ “The Trenches” blog:

Is Cowboys receiver Roy Williams aware of the franchise’s recent history with whining wideouts? At least Terrell Owens produced like a No. 1 when he was in town….

Williams needs to just be quiet and do his job, be happy that the team is winning, and that he is still contirbuting in some way. Remember, he was rescued from the winless Lions last season.

The T.O. comparisons were not well received by Williams. From DallasCowboys.com:

“I didn’t complain. I didn’t complain that I didn’t get the ball,” Williams said Thursday. “I got seven opportunities in the (Seattle) ballgame. All I said was that, when it comes to me, it’s not there. I’m not saying it can’t be fixed, because that’s what we do every day. We try to work on it and get it fixed. I’m not a T.O. or I’m not trying to be a T.O. I don’t know why people are trying to put me in that category, because I’m happy to win.

Finally, after compiling 75 yards on five catches, Williams was no longer an Owens lookalike.

Meanwhile, up in Buffalo…

• TMZ reported that “T.O. acknowledges his own irrelevance.”

• Owens’ agent, Drew Rosenhaus, says it’s not T.O.’s fault. The Bills quarterbacks are bad, and the offensive line is the “worst in the league.”

On T.O.’s Twitter account, a real-life drama played out…

• T.O. offered a $1,000 reward for the return of two phones he lost at the Staples Center.
• Owens then set up an email address for tips.
• There was no luck getting the phones back.
• Finally, the obligatory plea for a rolodex refresh.

T.O. told reporters last week that his production this season has been “pathetic.” In order to improve his numbers, Owens has set a couple of goals. Sean Leahy of USA Today wrote:

Terrell Owens is angry with his paltry performance thus far this year. But, buoyed by two straight wins by the Bills, Owens is refocusing his goals.

1. Help the Bills get to 4-4 before their Week 9 bye.
2. Outproduce his former teammate — and presumptive replacement in Dallas — Roy Williams.

“I have been looking at my stats compared to Roy E. Williams’ stats over there with the Cowboys and my goal is to have better stats than him by the end of the season,” Owens said Wednesday. “I am looking forward to it. I can feel the momentum on this team.”

Owens made progress with regards to his second goal on Sunday. While both T.O. and Williams scored touchdowns, Owens had more receiving yards and scored his TD on a 29 yard rush.

In response to the touchdown, SBNation declared “We Have a Terrell Owens Sighting.” Meanwhile, Rotowire advised fantasy owners to be wary…

T.O. did show a very nice burst of speed on the score, but he’s not someone you can rely on until this offense starts to figure things out.

In other T.O. news:

• Bleacher Report‘s Anothony Emerson called Owens the fifth craziest athlete ever.
• On Twitter, T.O. was giving out tickets to Sunday’s game.

The Associated Press declared Austin “the big play threat Dallas lost when it cut Terrell Owens.”

Cedric Golden of the Austin American-Statesmen says that Austin is like T.O., but with a smile.

Golden writes:

Of course it wouldn’t be fair to call Austin the second coming of Owens because he isn’t. What’s pretty obvious is that he has a similar skill set with the big frame (Austin is 6-3, 215 pounds), the big hands, and that natural ability to take a simple pass and turn it into something monstrous. Something about Austin suggests he won’t blast offensive coordinator Jason Garrett and quarterback Tony Romo if he doesn’t get enough balls thrown his way.

Thomas George of Fanhouse says Austin is the remedy for Dallas’ Terrell Owens hangover.

While Austin may be Dallas’ new T.O., offensively, Sports Illustrated‘s Peter King says that the Cowboys may need to start treating Roy Williams like a T.O. personality:

If Terrell Owens were in Dallas now, the team would have to figure a way to tiptoe around him and keep him happy. Romo eventually may have to do a little of that with Roy Williams, The Invisible Man in the Dallas offense (more on this in Stat Of The Week). But all Romo cares about, from watching him, is set up, survey the field, find the open guy. That’s it. And as long as that continues, Dallas is going to play well on offense.

In Other T.O. News:

• Scott Stinson of the National Post says the failures of Owens and Bills head coach Dick Jauron have just added to the despondency of the Buffalo fan base.
• On Twitter, @LetsG0Buffalo asked Owens about a rumor that he doesn’t travel with the team. T.O. responded that he doesn’t improve of the fan’s sourcing.

There are those who are still waiting for the entertainer to arrive…

Bill Simmons wrote of T.O. last week:

We’re just sitting here on the edge of our seats waiting for things to blow up. It’s nerve-racking. Don’t rephrase that question about his role in the Buffalo offense. Don’t do it! No!

Some have moved on and accepted a new T.O….

Newsday’s fantasy football analyst, Adam Ronis, says Owens “isn’t getting open like he used to.”

Meanwhile, Will Leitch, writing for New York magazine says the new T.O. has not quite won over his critics:

OK, so everybody hates Terrell Owens; even Peter King hates Terrell Owens, and that guy probably finds something lovable about Glenn Beck. But this year, Owens has been quiet, respectful and even a little humble. He seems to enjoy the quiet poverty ‘burg that Buffalo has become.

In Texas, at least one reporter says the Cowboys offensive problems are inextricably linked to the absence of T.O….

Larry Bump of the Austin American-Statesman wrote that Dallas is still a T.O. show:

Even in his absence, Terrell Owens’ soap opera is making itself felt at Valley Ranch. The question is still: Who should be his successor as Dallas’ No. 1 receiver?

In Other T.O. News:

• Despite Owen’s poor numbers this season, Garth Woolsey of the Toronto Star says the Bills have focused the promotions for their December rematch with the Jets in Toronto on the game being T.O.’s first appearance up North.
• T.O. won the “Really Favorite Performer of the Year” honor at the Fox Reality Channel Really Awards last week.
• On Twitter, Owens accused NCAA refs of cheating during Florida’s 38-7 victory over Arkansas on Saturday.