I think we’ve had enough chaos to be OK with favorites winning out today and Sunday, but let’s hope not. By the way, Stephen Curry is the story of the first two days of The Tournament.
EAST:
No. 1 North Carolina 113, No. 16 Mount Saint Mary’s 74. Nantz and Packer’s adoration of Hansbrough’s ability to put the ball through his damn legs was more than a little ridiculous. (Seriously, that happened.)
No. 2 Tennessee 72, No. 15 American 57. American kept it close for most of the game, turning me into as much of a patriot as I’ve ever been, but Tennessee’s athletic/sloppy play pushes them to the next round. (Raftery seemed under the weather early in the day, too.)
No. 3 Louisville 79, No. 14 Boise State 61. Business as usual.
No. 6 Oklahoma 72, No. 11 Saint Joseph’s 64. Given that I’ve already had so many games go against me, I was glad to see the two biggest chic picks—Temple and St. Joe’s—lose in the first round. Oh yeah, and Blake Griffin is the most physical guy in college basketball. Will love to watch him bang with David Padgett on Sunday. (That came out wrong.) Two guys with bad knees and tons of upper-body strength! (Uh…)
No. 7 Butler 81, No. 10 South Alabama 61. I’ll accept. Give it up the Bulldogs, who never had Team USA in their hair the whole game. (Really proving that 7-seed selection.) Pete Campbell (right) is just another Butler player who’s capable of hurting you if you lock in on Mike Green or A.J. Graves. Campbell had 26.
No. 9 Arkansas 86, No. 8 Indiana 72. Depressing output by such a talented team. I picked Indiana because they had the better players, but it’s clear they had nothing left in the tank. Watched this one with a friend who went to IU and that was rather rough. How badly does Arkansas get beat by UNC?
MIDWEST:
–UPSET–No. 13 Siena 83, No. 4 Vanderbilt 62. A lot of people saw it coming, I had it originally picked in my bracket, so shame on me. Siena had control of the whole game, but the nail in the coffin was when Vandy was on the verge of making a comeback and Kevin Stallings wouldn’t shut up and stupidly received a technical foul. The first round exit proves how mediocre this 4-seed was away from Nashville.
–UPSET–No. 12 Villanova 75, No. 5 Clemson 69. Given how athletic and physical Clemson is, it makes this comeback that much more impressive by Villanova. Scottie Reynolds is the most VALUABLE player to any team in this Tournament. I always love when you get a close game in that final pod of Friday night games; it really leads you into that Saturday afternoon with some momentum.
–UPSET–No. 10 Davidson 82, No. 7 Gonzaga 76. A great game to start the day, Stephen Curry stole the show. Surely you know of his 40-point output. Having picked Gonzaga, it was pretty hard to watch because the mojo was clearly with Davidson. The Zags are starting to become March underachievers, you know.
No. 2 Georgetown 66, No. 15 Maryland-Baltimore County 47. Will their size be the differentiating factor against Davidson?
SOUTH:
No. 1 Memphis 87, No. 16 Texas-Arlington 63. That’s my national champion pick.
No. 2 Texas 74, No. 15 Austin Peay 54. Never saw more than 20 seconds of this one, which is just as much a part of the first two days as anything: top-seeds getting it done quickly so you can focus on the more intriguing stuff.
No. 7 Miami 78, No. 10 Saint Mary’s 64. No one really understands Miami, I got this one wrong (how about San Diego being the only WCC team to get a win?), but they’re due for a lashing against Texas on Sunday.
No. 8 Mississippi State 76, No. 9 Oregon 69. It was refreshing to see two teams play almost exactly how I’d expect them to. Mississippi State was too much for Oregon inside, the Ducks eventually lost their shooting touch and the team with the more disciplined style won the game.
WEST:
–UPSET–No. 13 San Diego 70, No. 4 Connecticut 69 (OT). My two biggest regrets of the first two days is not going with my word and my gut. I originally had San Diego and Siena winning their first round games and allowed myself to think myself out of it. Just stupid.
–UPSET–No. 12 Western Kentucky 101, No. 5 Drake 99 (OT). I had The Drake in the Elight Eight (on a hope and a prayer) and pay for it dearly here. It always feels so bitterwsweet when a buzzer-beater goes against you. Dammit. Still sore over this one.
