NCAA Tournament Blog: First Round

Welcome to our NCAA Tournament blog, also called “The Legend of Lance Hardwood.” Lance Hardwood is my office pool bracket name. Lance Hardwood might be nothing more than a legend soon, though, as he’s tied for last with 12 of the 16 games picked correctly. Fortunately, the damage was all contained to the first round, and Lance Hardwood still has plenty of time to make a run.

If you’ve been picking straight according to the seedings, then your cowardice has mostly been rewarded. There were no upsets in the early Thursday games. I picked several: #9 Kent State over #8 UNLV, #12 Temple over #5 Michigan State and #11 Kentucky over #6 Marquette. (#9 Texas A&M over #8 BYU doesn’t really count as an upset.) I also took #10 Arizona over #7 West Virginia in a sentimental pick that didn’t pan out. I did have #11 Kansas State over #6 USC, but that was sort of a sexy pick — I have no faith in any basketball team coached by Tim Floyd.

I tend to believe strongly in the 5-12 first-round upset. Perhaps too strongly, based on the fact that I picked three of them in my bracket: Temple over Mich State, Western Kentucky over Drake and Villanova over Clemson. (Everyone seems to love the Drake. I do not.) I did not buy into the George Mason magic this year, and neither did Notre Dame.

With a few exceptions, the games themselves were not all that exciting. I was sweating out the #3 Xavier vs. #14 Georgia game. I have Xavier in the championship game, and with them trailing at half, I could see my whole tournament going up in flames on Day 1. The #2 Duke vs. #15 Belmont game was so close to being a classic upset. I would’ve gladly sacrificed the points to have Duke gone in the first round.

If you haven’t checked it out, CBS March Madness On Demand is much improved this year. It has a larger, widescreen viewer and there are no blackouts.

Friday, March 21

That’s what I’m talkin’ ’bout!! Usually stuff starts to get a little hairier on the second day of the tournament, and Friday’s games haven’t disappointed. #10 Davidson took down #7 Gonzaga, and #12 Western Kentucky beat tournament darling #5 Drake at the buzzer in overtime. Lance Hardwood picked both upsets. Kige Ramsey agrees with me that this was good:

Kige Ramsey also agrees that #13 San Diego’s OT upset of #4 UConn benefits him (and me) greatly, as Western Kentucky gets to face a beatable opponent in the second round. I actually had Western Kentucky upsetting UConn in the second round, so the Huskies’ early exit is very pleasing.

Some great games on Friday afternoon. This is what it’s all about.

Yikes. Is Siena that good or was Vanderbilt just overseeded? Two of the 5-12 upsets came through for Lance Hardwood, and we’re back in the running going into the second round.

About Ryan Berenz 2166 Articles
Member of the Television Critics Association. Charter member of the Ancient and Mystic Society of No Homers. Squire of the Ancient & Benevolent Order of the Lynx, Lodge 49, Long Beach, Calif. Costco Wholesale Gold Star Member since 2011.