Democratic Reps. Alan Mollohan, of West Virginia, and Raul Grijalva, of Arizona, sit on the same side of the aisle, but come this weekend, they won't be speaking much. In fact, one of the two is likely to cast a disparaging eye toward fellow Democrat David Price, of North Carolina, later this weekend. That's because Mollohan's West Virginia University and Grijalva's University of Arizona face off in the first round of the NCAA tournament for the right to face Price's Duke (barring an upset by 15th-seeded Belmont, in Tennessee Rep. Jim Cooper's district).

The tournament is a great excuse not to work for a few days, and it gives members of Congress yet another reason to make bets, shipping local delicacies to their foes if they lose. Roll Call [pdf] has the bracket, broken down by Congressional district, giving everyone a healthy excuse to call their rivals (especially if they're the higher seed). We don't know what it says that 43 of the 65 teams in the field are represented by Democrats, but it gives the majority party plenty of chances to bet against their fellows.

Price, who represents a college-heavy district in a basketball-heavy state, has the best chance of coming out on top. His two entries into the tournament, North Carolina and Duke, are a one- and two-seed, respectively, and will at least survive the first weekend. However, either Rep. Elijah Cummings or Rep. Roscoe Bartlett, both of Maryland, will lose their team tonight when Coppin State, in Cummings' district, faces Bartlett's Mount St. Mary's in the play-in game. Their prize: Facing UNC.

Our sleeper member of Congress: Washington State Republican Cathy McMorris Rodgers, whose seventh-seeded Gonzaga Bulldogs face North Carolina Rep. Mel Watt's 10th-seeded Davidson, while her fourth-seeded Washington State Cougars take on South Carolina Rep. John Spratt's Winthrop.

Roll Call isn't the only one having fun with the tourney. John McCain is also putting up a bracket challenge, where for the price of your email address you, too, can compete for McCain for President paraphernalia like fleeces, hats and pins. As an added bonus, McCain's bracket will be publicly available after tipoff Thursday, and contestants get to match their point totals against the Arizona Senator. McCain got some heat for the bracket pool last year, as some suggested the contest wasn't exactly in keeping with his historic opposition to betting on college sports.

The NCAA tournament is a good reminder that games, like politics, aren't played on paper. At some point, there will be an upset, and polls and seeds give only part of the picture.