NCAA - Day 1 complete

We finally had our first big upset, and it was an enormous one.  Not just because of who got knocked out, but the way they went out.  Buffalo (from the MAC) absolutely crushed Arizona.  It wasn't even close.  I was watching the game, and Arizona was doing OK, but Buffalo just could not miss.  They were throwing in shots from all over.  You know it's not your night when that starts happening.  I think I like seeing upsets more than I actually like winning games.  I guess there's a limit to that, since I didn't have Arizona going any further than the Sweet 16.  I might not be so enthusiastic if I had them going to the Finals or something.  Speaking of which, 145 people had them in the Sweet 16.  57 people had them in the Elite 8.  40 people had them in the Final 4.  25 people had them in the Championship game.  9 people had them winning the whole thing.  That's a lot of carnage.  Arizona was the 8th most popular pick to win it all this year, and to get no points out of that is pretty devastating to most brackets.

It should be pretty obvious, but no one has a perfect bracket anymore.  We actually only have 2 people that even went 15/16.  That was a pretty quick drop in the last set of games.  There are now only 42 people that have managed to make it through the first day with all 16 of their Sweet 16 teams intact.

The Alabama / Virginia Tech game was pretty good, which is what you'd expect for an 8/9 game.  It was the first game to finish, and it think it knocked the number of perfect brackets down to 2 as soon as it was done.  As I mentioned before, that game was a nice coin toss if you got it wrong, but I'm not holding out much hope that Alabama can beat Villanova.

I watched the horrible Montana / Michigan game as well. Montana jumped out to pretty good lead early on, and I was hoping for a big upset, but at some point in the second half, Montana had gone 10 minutes of game time without scoring a point.  They looked terrible.  Michigan wasn't pulling away really, so I found myself saying, "If Montana can get on a run, they could maybe pull something out here".  Then I remembered that I hadn't seen them score in about 30 minutes of real time and I abandoned that pipe dream.  I'd chalk Michigan's poor play on the looooong delay since the Big 10 tournament, which was inexplicably held a week early in New York, despite no Big 10 teams even close geographically to New York.  That was stupid if you ask me.

St. Bonaventure looked like it was overmatched by Florida.  I guess my prediction that the play-in winner always wins a game will depend on Syracuse tomorrow.  I'm not optimistic, although I guess they have a better chance based on point spreads.  Too bad.  I like St. Bonaventure.  Wish they could've stuck around for a little longer.

Here is the updated standings:

1. David W. #2: 15 (-1)

2. Taima #1: 15 (-3)

3. Bosun S.: 14 (-2)

3. Missy W. #1: 14 (-2)

5. Ben S. #4: 14 (-4)

5. Howard S. #1: 14 (-4)

7. Todd K. #1: 14 (-6)

8. Irene H. #5: 14 (-8)

9. Chad L. #3: 14 (-16)

9. Luis B. #2: 14 (-16)

9. Luis B. #3: 14 (-16)

12. Ava S.: 14 (-32)

12. Luis B. #1: 14 (-32)

12. Taima #2: 14 (-32)

15. Brad R.: 14 (-64)

16. Dennis R.: 13 (-3)

16. E Rucker #2: 13 (-3)

16. Eric V. #1: 13 (-3)

16. Gigi I.: 13 (-3)

16. Irene H. #6: 13 (-3)

16. Jeff Sag. #2: 13 (-3)

16. Josh D. #2: 13 (-3)

16. Scott Her. #2: 13 (-3)

16. Suki I.: 13 (-3)

25. Alex N. #2: 13 (-5)

25. Chad L. #2: 13 (-5)

25. Chad L. #4: 13 (-5)

25. Craig G.: 13 (-5)

25. Dan S. #1: 13 (-5)

25. Dan S. #2: 13 (-5)

25. David S.: 13 (-5)

25. David W. #1: 13 (-5)

25. Elizabeth N. #1: 13 (-5)

25. Irene H. #1: 13 (-5)

25. Irene H. #4: 13 (-5)

25. Jay H. #1: 13 (-5)

25. Jeff M.: 13 (-5)

25. Jim D. #3: 13 (-5)

25. Larry G. #5: 13 (-5)

25. Malcolm X #1: 13 (-5)

25. Malcolm X #2: 13 (-5)

25. Nikolajs B.: 13 (-5)

25. Paul W.: 13 (-5)

25. Ray W. #3: 13 (-5)

25. Scott K.: 13 (-5)

25. Tomas L. #1: 13 (-5)

25. Tomas L. #2: 13 (-5)

25. Wayne D. #3: 13 (-5)

49. Chad L. #1: 13 (-7)

50. Adam E.: 13 (-9)

51. Joe D. #1: 13 (-11)

52. Larry G. #2: 13 (-17)

53. Mike S. #2: 13 (-33)

54. Brett G. #4: 13 (-35)

55. Ben J. #3: 13 (-65)

55. Mike S. #1: 13 (-65)

55. Uproxx: 13 (-65)

58. Amaris S.: 12 (-4)

58. Andrew D. #2: 12 (-4)

58. Becca T.: 12 (-4)

58. Ben P.: 12 (-4)

58. Brad E.: 12 (-4)

58. Brent E. #1: 12 (-4)

58. Brent E. #2: 12 (-4)

58. Brent E. #3: 12 (-4)

58. Irene H. #2: 12 (-4)

58. Jay H. #2: 12 (-4)

58. Jeff Sag. #1: 12 (-4)

58. Ken Pom: 12 (-4)

58. Kirt R. #1: 12 (-4)

58. Missy W. #2: 12 (-4)

58. Pete J. #2: 12 (-4)

58. Scott Her. #1: 12 (-4)

58. Scott K. #2: 12 (-4)

75. Barack O.: 12 (-6)

75. Ben J. #1: 12 (-6)

75. Brett K. #2: 12 (-6)

75. CSU #1: 12 (-6)

75. Damien R. #2: 12 (-6)

75. Dustin B.: 12 (-6)

75. Eric V. #2: 12 (-6)

75. Irene H. #3: 12 (-6)

75. Joel S.: 12 (-6)

75. Josh D. #1: 12 (-6)

75. Josh D. #3: 12 (-6)

75. Kate G.: 12 (-6)

75. Kirt R. #2: 12 (-6)

75. Michelle L. #5: 12 (-6)

75. Pete J. #1: 12 (-6)

75. Scott Has.: 12 (-6)

75. Seth D.: 12 (-6)

75. Stefan K. #2: 12 (-6)

75. Todd K. #2: 12 (-6)

75. Trent L.: 12 (-6)

95. Ben J. #2: 12 (-8)

95. Damien R. #1: 12 (-8)

95. Dan D. #2: 12 (-8)

95. Larry G. #4: 12 (-8)

95. Matt M.: 12 (-8)

95. Michelle L. #3: 12 (-8)

95. Michelle L. #4: 12 (-8)

95. Rob S. #2: 12 (-8)

95. Virginia L.: 12 (-8)

104. Ben S. #1: 12 (-10)

104. Chad L. #5: 12 (-10)

104. Jim D. #2: 12 (-10)

104. Max A. #1: 12 (-10)

104. Mindi W.: 12 (-10)

109. Brett K. #3: 12 (-12)

109. Hal R. #2: 12 (-12)

111. Jim D. #1: 12 (-14)

111. John M. #3: 12 (-14)

111. Mike W.: 12 (-14)

111. Pete J. #4: 12 (-14)

111. Ray W. #2: 12 (-14)

116. Bhav D. #2: 12 (-18)

116. Brett K. #1: 12 (-18)

116. Hutch H. #2: 12 (-18)

116. Joe D. #3: 12 (-18)

120. Jared B.: 12 (-20)

121. Max A. #3: 12 (-34)

121. Stefan K. #1: 12 (-34)

123. Jay H. #3: 12 (-66)

123. Julie S.: 12 (-66)

123. Kiah H.: 12 (-66)

123. Larry G. #3: 12 (-66)

127. Chris T. #2: 12 (-68)

128. Ally H.: 11 (-5)

128. Andrew D. #1: 11 (-5)

128. Jay C.: 11 (-5)

128. Joe D. #2: 11 (-5)

128. Matt N.: 11 (-5)

128. Michelle R.: 11 (-5)

128. Mike McQ.: 11 (-5)

128. Pete J. #3: 11 (-5)

128. Pete J. #5: 11 (-5)

128. Rob S. #1: 11 (-5)

128. Valerie D.: 11 (-5)

139. Becky H.: 11 (-7)

139. Brett G. #1: 11 (-7)

139. Brett G. #3: 11 (-7)

139. Brett W.: 11 (-7)

139. Chris M.: 11 (-7)

139. Damien R. #3: 11 (-7)

139. Daniel C.: 11 (-7)

139. Dylan B.: 11 (-7)

139. Jaxon S.: 11 (-7)

139. Mason A. #1: 11 (-7)

139. Mike N.: 11 (-7)

139. Veronica A.: 11 (-7)

151. Chrissy I.: 11 (-9)

151. Elizabeth N. #2: 11 (-9)

151. Hutch H. #1: 11 (-9)

151. Jim W.: 11 (-9)

151. Josh C.: 11 (-9)

151. Kansas C.: 11 (-9)

151. Michelle L. #1: 11 (-9)

151. Wayne D. #2: 11 (-9)

159. Daisy N. #1: 11 (-11)

159. Hal R. #1: 11 (-11)

159. Howard S. #2: 11 (-11)

159. Klei R.: 11 (-11)

159. Larry G. #1: 11 (-11)

164. Mason A. #2: 11 (-13)

165. Adam S. #1: 11 (-15)

166. Ben S. #2: 11 (-19)

166. CSU #2: 11 (-19)

168. John M. #1: 11 (-25)

169. Adam S. #2: 11 (-31)

170. Andrzej R.: 11 (-35)

170. Brett G. #2: 11 (-35)

170. Scott K. #1: 11 (-35)

170. Wayne D. #1: 11 (-35)

174. John M. #2: 11 (-37)

174. Ray W. #1: 11 (-37)

174. William G.: 11 (-37)

177. Grant F.: 10 (-6)

177. Miguel D.: 10 (-6)

179. Alyssa B.: 10 (-8)

179. Arianna S.: 10 (-8)

179. Brent S. #1: 10 (-8)

179. Daisy N. #13: 10 (-8)

179. Daisy N. #2: 10 (-8)

179. Daisy N. #7: 10 (-8)

179. Hal R. #3: 10 (-8)

179. Sulbum H.: 10 (-8)

187. Daisy N. #3: 10 (-10)

187. Jackson I.: 10 (-10)

187. Marc R.: 10 (-10)

187. Rob I.: 10 (-10)

191. Bhav D. #1: 10 (-12)

191. Jace D.: 10 (-12)

193. Allison C.: 10 (-14)

194. Ben J. #4: 10 (-16)

194. Nick I.: 10 (-16)

196. Roth W.: 10 (-20)

197. Daisy N. #5: 10 (-22)

198. Dane R.: 10 (-24)

198. E Rucker #1: 10 (-24)

200. Brent S. #2: 10 (-36)

201. Chris T. #1: 10 (-38)

202. Irene H. #7: 10 (-68)

203. Daisy N. #11: 10 (-74)

204. April K.: 9 (-9)

204. Karen C.: 9 (-9)

206. Michelle L. #2: 9 (-13)

206. Ryan W.: 9 (-13)

208. Joe D. #4: 9 (-17)

209. Daisy N. #12: 9 (-19)

209. Daisy N. #6: 9 (-19)

211. Tim N.: 9 (-21)

212. Szecho L. #2: 9 (-23)

213. Alex N. #1: 9 (-25)

214. Alex N. #3: 9 (-29)

214. Daisy N. #9: 9 (-29)

216. Szecho L. #1: 9 (-47)

217. Daisy N. #10: 8 (-18)

218. Alex N. #4: 8 (-22)

219. Stephen N.: 8 (-44)

220. Ben S. #3: 7 (-19)

220. Dan D. #1: 7 (-19)

220. Max A. #2: 7 (-19)

223. Daisy N. #8: 7 (-33)

224. Daisy N. #4: 6 (-58)

...and the net points:

1. David W. #2 (14)

2. Taima #1 (12)

2. Bosun S. (12)

2. Missy W. #1 (12)

5. Ben S. #4 (10)

5. Howard S. #1 (10)

5. Dennis R. (10)

5. E Rucker #2 (10)

5. Eric V. #1 (10)

5. Gigi I. (10)

5. Irene H. #6 (10)

5. Jeff Sag. #2 (10)

5. Josh D. #2 (10)

5. Scott Her. #2 (10)

5. Suki I. (10)

16. Todd K. #1 (8)

16. Alex N. #2 (8)

16. Chad L. #2 (8)

16. Chad L. #4 (8)

16. Craig G. (8)

16. Dan S. #1 (8)

16. Dan S. #2 (8)

16. David S. (8)

16. David W. #1 (8)

16. Elizabeth N. #1 (8)

16. Irene H. #1 (8)

16. Irene H. #4 (8)

16. Jay H. #1 (8)

16. Jeff M. (8)

16. Jim D. #3 (8)

16. Larry G. #5 (8)

16. Malcolm X #1 (8)

16. Malcolm X #2 (8)

16. Nikolajs B. (8)

16. Paul W. (8)

16. Ray W. #3 (8)

16. Scott K. (8)

16. Tomas L. #1 (8)

16. Tomas L. #2 (8)

16. Wayne D. #3 (8)

16. Amaris S. (8)

16. Andrew D. #2 (8)

16. Becca T. (8)

16. Ben P. (8)

16. Brad E. (8)

16. Brent E. #1 (8)

16. Brent E. #2 (8)

16. Brent E. #3 (8)

16. Irene H. #2 (8)

16. Jay H. #2 (8)

16. Jeff Sag. #1 (8)

16. Ken Pom (8)

16. Kirt R. #1 (8)

16. Missy W. #2 (8)

16. Pete J. #2 (8)

16. Scott Her. #1 (8)

16. Scott K. #2 (8)

58. Irene H. #5 (6)

58. Chad L. #1 (6)

58. Barack O. (6)

58. Ben J. #1 (6)

58. Brett K. #2 (6)

58. CSU #1 (6)

58. Damien R. #2 (6)

58. Dustin B. (6)

58. Eric V. #2 (6)

58. Irene H. #3 (6)

58. Joel S. (6)

58. Josh D. #1 (6)

58. Josh D. #3 (6)

58. Kate G. (6)

58. Kirt R. #2 (6)

58. Michelle L. #5 (6)

58. Pete J. #1 (6)

58. Scott Has. (6)

58. Seth D. (6)

58. Stefan K. #2 (6)

58. Todd K. #2 (6)

58. Trent L. (6)

58. Ally H. (6)

58. Andrew D. #1 (6)

58. Jay C. (6)

58. Joe D. #2 (6)

58. Matt N. (6)

58. Michelle R. (6)

58. Mike McQ. (6)

58. Pete J. #3 (6)

58. Pete J. #5 (6)

58. Rob S. #1 (6)

58. Valerie D. (6)

91. Adam E. (4)

91. Ben J. #2 (4)

91. Damien R. #1 (4)

91. Dan D. #2 (4)

91. Larry G. #4 (4)

91. Matt M. (4)

91. Michelle L. #3 (4)

91. Michelle L. #4 (4)

91. Rob S. #2 (4)

91. Virginia L. (4)

91. Becky H. (4)

91. Brett G. #1 (4)

91. Brett G. #3 (4)

91. Brett W. (4)

91. Chris M. (4)

91. Damien R. #3 (4)

91. Daniel C. (4)

91. Dylan B. (4)

91. Jaxon S. (4)

91. Mason A. #1 (4)

91. Mike N. (4)

91. Veronica A. (4)

91. Grant F. (4)

91. Miguel D. (4)

115. Joe D. #1 (2)

115. Ben S. #1 (2)

115. Chad L. #5 (2)

115. Jim D. #2 (2)

115. Max A. #1 (2)

115. Mindi W. (2)

115. Chrissy I. (2)

115. Elizabeth N. #2 (2)

115. Hutch H. #1 (2)

115. Jim W. (2)

115. Josh C. (2)

115. Kansas C. (2)

115. Michelle L. #1 (2)

115. Wayne D. #2 (2)

115. Alyssa B. (2)

115. Arianna S. (2)

115. Brent S. #1 (2)

115. Daisy N. #13 (2)

115. Daisy N. #2 (2)

115. Daisy N. #7 (2)

115. Hal R. #3 (2)

115. Sulbum H. (2)

137. Brett K. #3 (0)

137. Hal R. #2 (0)

137. Daisy N. #1 (0)

137. Hal R. #1 (0)

137. Howard S. #2 (0)

137. Klei R. (0)

137. Larry G. #1 (0)

137. Daisy N. #3 (0)

137. Jackson I. (0)

137. Marc R. (0)

137. Rob I. (0)

137. April K. (0)

137. Karen C. (0)

150. Chad L. #3 (-2)

150. Luis B. #2 (-2)

150. Luis B. #3 (-2)

150. Jim D. #1 (-2)

150. John M. #3 (-2)

150. Mike W. (-2)

150. Pete J. #4 (-2)

150. Ray W. #2 (-2)

150. Mason A. #2 (-2)

150. Bhav D. #1 (-2)

150. Jace D. (-2)

161. Larry G. #2 (-4)

161. Adam S. #1 (-4)

161. Allison C. (-4)

161. Michelle L. #2 (-4)

161. Ryan W. (-4)

166. Bhav D. #2 (-6)

166. Brett K. #1 (-6)

166. Hutch H. #2 (-6)

166. Joe D. #3 (-6)

166. Ben J. #4 (-6)

166. Nick I. (-6)

172. Jared B. (-8)

172. Ben S. #2 (-8)

172. CSU #2 (-8)

172. Joe D. #4 (-8)

176. Roth W. (-10)

176. Daisy N. #12 (-10)

176. Daisy N. #6 (-10)

176. Daisy N. #10 (-10)

180. Daisy N. #5 (-12)

180. Tim N. (-12)

180. Ben S. #3 (-12)

180. Dan D. #1 (-12)

180. Max A. #2 (-12)

185. John M. #1 (-14)

185. Dane R. (-14)

185. E Rucker #1 (-14)

185. Szecho L. #2 (-14)

185. Alex N. #4 (-14)

190. Alex N. #1 (-16)

191. Ava S. (-18)

191. Luis B. #1 (-18)

191. Taima #2 (-18)

194. Mike S. #2 (-20)

194. Adam S. #2 (-20)

194. Alex N. #3 (-20)

194. Daisy N. #9 (-20)

198. Brett G. #4 (-22)

198. Max A. #3 (-22)

198. Stefan K. #1 (-22)

201. Andrzej R. (-24)

201. Brett G. #2 (-24)

201. Scott K. #1 (-24)

201. Wayne D. #1 (-24)

205. John M. #2 (-26)

205. Ray W. #1 (-26)

205. William G. (-26)

205. Brent S. #2 (-26)

205. Daisy N. #8 (-26)

210. Chris T. #1 (-28)

211. Stephen N. (-36)

212. Szecho L. #1 (-38)

213. Brad R. (-50)

214. Ben J. #3 (-52)

214. Mike S. #1 (-52)

214. Uproxx (-52)

214. Daisy N. #4 (-52)

218. Jay H. #3 (-54)

218. Julie S. (-54)

218. Kiah H. (-54)

218. Larry G. #3 (-54)

222. Chris T. #2 (-56)

223. Irene H. #7 (-58)

224. Daisy N. #11 (-64)

Games start again tomorrow, and I'll do the updates just like today.  I'll do them after every 2 games in the morning, and after every 4 games at night.  Let me start with the first 4 games:

Texas A&M vs Providence

Vegas Line: Texas A&M by 2.5

Texas A&M picks:  96

Providence picks: 127

Seems like we don't like conventional wisdom on this one.  Texas A&M is similar to Texas Tech for me.  I can't name a single player in the team.  Providence, on the other hand, just had a really good run in the Big East where they beat Xavier and almost beat Villanova.  Maybe that was fresh in people's minds with this pick.  Maybe everyone just likes Providence and there isn't any point in finding any more broad explanation.  Based on point spreads, this looks like the only good game of the first 4.  Every other game has a double digit point spread.

Purdue vs CS Fullerton

Vegas Line: Purdue by 20.5

Purdue picks: 219

CS Fullerton: 4

I have a quasi-connection in this game.  My brother, my Dad and I went to see CS Fullerton play back in December.  It was part of the Wooden Classic.  We watched all 4 games on the last day, and CS Fullerton was playing in front of a largely empty gym, so we had great seats.  At the time, I didn't think we were seeing any kind of tournament caliber team, but here they are.  Actually, Washington State won that tournament over San Diego State, and they didn't even come close to making the tournament.  I also get to wear my CS Fullerton T-shirt, since they are the team that is the biggest underdog that I have a T-shirt for.  Go Titans!

Wichita State vs Marshall

Vegas Line: Wichita State by 11.5

Wichita State picks: 211

Marshall: 12

I have a rooting interest in this game for a few reasons.  One, I love upsets, which I believe is well established by now.  Second, the Wichita State mascot, WuShock is creepy.  It's a shock of wheat with a face.  Third, I put some money on Marshall to win the Conference USA tournament at 10-1, so I am a fan already.  It also means that I have a problem, since who puts money on the C-USA conference tournament?  That's just stupid.

Cincinnati vs. Georgia State

Vegas Line: Cincinnati by 13.5

Cincinnati picks: 221

Georgia State: 2

Maybe this is about right.  13.5 point spreads amounts to about a 99% pick rate for Cincinnati.  Then again, I bet teams that are 13.5 or more point underdogs have better than a 1% win rate, so maybe this could be a good value bet.  Then again, I actively told people not to take #15 seeds.  I would like to see this happen.  That might make the South the wacky bracket, since 2 of 3 upsets today were there, including the 2 biggest upsets (Loyola-Chicago & Buffalo, Alabama was the third, but they barely count).  The last time Georgia State made the dance, they won a first round game in spectacular style.  Maybe they can do that again, although I think they were a #14 seed at that time.  I do like their coach though.  He gives a good press conference if you've never seen him.

Anyway, good luck tomorrow.  I rallied today, so I'm going to go to my brothers place tomorrow where we'll have the 4 TVs going and I can enjoy some donuts.