First Impressions of the First Day

For one of the first times in my life I woke at an early hour during what I'm considering vacation time. And for what purpose? The opening round games of the NCAA tournament. To put it lightly, I was mildly pleased with the entertainment linked to the excitement involved in these first games. Belmont hung with Duke in a contest that concluded with a missed half court shot by a Belmont player to win the game. Duke held on 71-70. The highly anticipated phenom freshmen game, consisting of star guard OJ Mayo and unstoppable forward Michael Beasly was a game that I viewed as one of the most evenly matched 11 and six matchups. Beasly prevailed with 80-67 and prevented my bracket from remaining perfect for the first 16 games (15/16).

Higher seeds like Wisconsin, Stanford, Notre Dame, UCLA, Purdue, Wasington State, UNLV, Marquette, West Virginia Pittsburg, and Michigan State all moved on with convincing wins. Xavier received a momentary scare when SEC tournament champion Georgia took control in the first half. The Muskateers would put together impressive runs to take an advantage. Xavier put an end to Georgia's impressive postseason run 73-61. Big Sky representative Portland State went down in what seemed to be an easy 1-16 game against Bill Self's Kansas Jayhawks.

I was left to stress the Gonzaga Bulldogs first round game (with them not playing until Friday). Gonzaga, a seven seed, will play 22-game in a row winner (yes, like the Rockets) Davidson. Outstanding shooting guard Stephen Curry, who's averaging 25 points a game this season, will lead #23 ranked Wildcats.

And on one last thought, BSU will attempt to take down Rick Pitino's Louisville Cardinals in a 3-14 game. I don't have enough manly hairs (like my boy Phil Good) to pick an upset like this, but I will share one interesting fact with you. The Cougars of BYU, who went down today against Big 12 opponent Texas A & M (sorry prof.), beat Louisville in November and Boise State would later beat BYU 73-70.

It could happen.