Watching two games at once (take 3)

What a day. Friday March 21th is going to go down as one of the most memorable days in NCAA tourney history. It started off rather ordinary, Tennessee taking care of American, Miami looking strong in their beating of St. Mary's, while Gonzaga was holding off Davidson, and Western Kentucky was pulling off the 12-5 upset. Most people probably wouldn't have been all that surprised with the WKU score, especially since Drake lives and dies on the three. Then something happened. Stephen Curry decided to go Glen Rice on us, and put up 30 second half points, and lead Davidson to a rousing upset of sorts over Gonzaga (more on the 'Zags later). I think most fans would have been happy with that finish, only it was just an appetizer for what happened between the 'Toppers and the Bulldogs.

Drake somehow was able to pull their offense out of neutral and start a comeback that brought three's raining from the sky. Tying up the game and sending it to OT. I thought Drake had this one wrapped up when they got up by 4 late in the OT period. But then Ty Rodgers launced what seemed to be a 30 foot 3-pointer with three guys in his face, only to see it hit nothing but net. Truely remarkable how that game finished. If WKU can somehow be this years George Mason, and assuming they don't make another buzzer-beater, that shot will go down as one of the biggest in NCAA first round history.

Like the Davidson ending, I think most fans were now satisfied with their day of hoops. They saw two seeded upsets, two great comebacks, and a buzzer beater 3. What else could college basketball fans ask for. I guess we found out. Over the course of the next 9 hours we saw not just one, but two #4 seeds go down, and a #12 seed making another incredible comeback to cause another upset. In fact the second day of the first round created six seeded upsets, compared to the just two seeded upsets Thursday. Like I said, Friday March 21st might go down as the best day in first round history, but it all depends on how Sunday's second round games play out. However, we are assured at least two double digit seeds will play in the sweet 16. The good news about all of this, it doesn't matter how hard the selection committee tries to diminish the likelyhood of upsets, people will find a way.

That being said, what the hell UConn and Vandy? The players, coaches, fans, and conferences should be embarrased by your performances. There is no way in the world those teams should be playing anywhere near your level, at least that's what were told. I think those two games, along with the Duke/Belmont games show there isn't that big of a drop off as the "experts" like to tell you between the Big conferences and everyone else. It shows up in early season non-conference games, and if shows up in the NCAA tourney. I think it's time we give credit to these smaller conference schools, and show them a little respect in upcoming NCAA tourneys. Did Baylor, Arizona, and Kentucky really belong in the NCAA tourney over VCU a Illinois St. I think the answer to that question is NO!

All right, looking at my picks. If you were smart and followed my lead, you would be sitting very nicely heading into the second round. I've always said it's more important to have as many sweet 16 and elite 8 teams alive as possible, and heading into the weekend, I have 15 sweet 16 teams left and all my elite 8. Yeah there is probably a guy who picked that Siena game correctly, along with a couple of other upsets, but it'll all come down to who makes it out of this weekend.

Let's take a look at today's games. First off is Duke and West Virginia. I've got WVU, and I'll be honest, I'm not nervous about this one, WVU should win easily. KSU and Wisconsin, I've got Wisconsin, and I do think they pull out the victory. KSU played in the biggest hyped first round game in a long while, they have a letdown today. Xavier and Purdue: I'm still very confident in that Xavier pick. ND and Wazzu I'm nervous about. I had Winthrop in the first round upset, so obviously I went with ND in this one. I was impressed with Wazzu's showing, and this one I'm not too sure about anymore. Marquette and Stanford: Marquette should roll, and I expect them to. UNLV and Kansas should be a cake walk for KU if they play to their potential, and I think they will since Jayhawkers will be in abundance. UCLA should roll over A&M. To round out this evening.

So looking at the matchups for today, I'd be very disapointed if more than one of my picks came out the wrong way. They only one right now that I can live with is ND losing, but any of the other picks lose and I'm in trouble. Anyways enjoy today's action. I'll be enjoying the UNLV/KU and KSU/Wisconsin games live and in person in Omaha.