As a religion writer, I believe faith and religion play an important part in practically every story out there. The NCAA Tourney may be something of a stretch, but just hold on:

There are at least six Roman Catholic schools in the tournament this year: Boston College, Gonzaga, Marquette, Seton Hall, Villanova and Xavier. At least three of those teams -- B.C., Gonzaga and Villanova -- have a decent shot to make some waves. Do you think Pope Benedict XVI will be watching?

There also is a died-in-the-wool evangelical school in play - Oral Roberts University, founded by the noted televangelist. It's a 16th seed, but apparently has a pretty good collection of outside shooters and could potentially pull an upset. Gambling is typically frowned upon by the evangelical community. Do you think that, this year, Oral Roberts U. is turning a blind eye to college bracket pools?

The Duke Blue Devils are a No. 1 seed and have won three national titles. Should antichrist watchers take note?

Next year, I'm rooting for the Hustlin' Quakers of Indiana's Earlham College to make it in. Maybe they can play the Praying Colonels of Kentucky's Centre College.