NCAA Tourney Day 1

This is one time of year I actually do enjoy watching basketball; and after one day in the NCAA Division I Championship tournament (March Madness), I am fairly impressed, and feel good that the teams I were really wanting/expecting to win did. I'm not in any pools this year; I don't have a "Bracket of Integrity", I just watch the games, and pick a team as I go.

So, a look at the headlines...
Blue Devils need last second magic to beat Belmont
It took the Dukeys the entire game to beat the 15-seeded Bruin. Down 71-70 with 4 seconds left, Belmont had the ball out of bounds under their own basket and mishandled the inbounds pass. Duke will face West Virginia (def. Arizona 75-65) early Saturday afternoon (2 pm Eastern)
No rain delay for Bulldogs, Musketeers advance
One of the best stories this year, the #14 Georgia Bulldogs had to win two games in one day in the SEC tournament to even qualify for the big dance. (The severe weather in Atlanta - don't know if they ever confirmed as a tornado - damaged the arena and forced the schedule back a day.) But the Dawgs ran out of steam against #3 Xavier, losing 73-61.
Bears Boiled
I was kinda hoping for an upset here, but 6-ranked Purdue was 11 points better than #11 Baylor. Was hoping to see a Big XII team advance here, but oh well. Purdue and Xavier are on tap for the later Saturday afternoon game.
Aggies hold off BYU
I did get my wish of a Big XII team advancing in the west regionals, but what a reward huh? As a prize for knocking off the #8 Cougars, #9 Texas A&M will face off against #1 UCLA (def. Mississippi Valley State 70-29).
Wildcats slip past Trojans
Yes, I know it was a 13-point win; but anytime #6 USC plays, the headline has to include some sort of condom reference. Except for a strech midway through the second half, #11 K-State looked really good in the upset. Beasley will play (at least) one more game for the Royal Purple, and it will be against the #3 Badgers of Wisconson.

Kansas beating Portland State doesn't even deserve a headline, though it was closer than I would have liked... they may have a hard time in Saturday's noon game against UNLV.

Games I'm keeping an eye out for today, ...
Assuming of course, that I'm 1) up and 2) in control of the remote. Both of these are fairly doubtful.
7 Gonzaga - 10 Davidson Raleigh, NC; 12:55 pm ET. Intriguing little matchup here, and another good spot for an upset. Davidson is riding a 22-game winning streak, has a better record, averages more points, and allows fewer points than the Bulldogs. Their losses? North Carolina, Duke, at UCLA, at Charlotte, at Western Michigan, and at NC State.
2 Texas - 15 Austin Peay Little Rock, AR; 3:00 pm ET. Austin Peay hasn't won a tourney game in 21 years, and I don't think that streak is going to end this year. Texas will not want to be the first #2 seed knocked off in the first round since '01; and after Duke's scare yesterday, you can bet that Texas coach Rick Barnes is gonna have his guys ready to play.
6 OU - 11 St Josephs Birmingham, AL; 7:10 pm ET. Another homer game for me. I want to see all the Big XII teams do well (because if they do well, then KU/K-State look better by comparison).
8 Indiana - 9 Arkansas Raleigh, NC; 9:40 pm ET. The late game I'm keeping an eye on because of the story surrounding it. If you didn't know, Indiana coach Kelvin Sampson resigned quite suddenly amidst allegations of recruiting violations. Pretty much the same thing he was caught doing at Oklahoma - making calls to recruits in ways that were against NCAA rules. Indiana basketball really hasn't been the same since they parted ways with Bob Knight. One thing I will say about coach Knight. You may not like him, you may not like his coaching style or interview style or on-court persona. But he did his job well, and he did it without the barest whiff of impropriety. So I take a goodly amount of Schadenfreude in IU's recent troubles. But with the resignation of Sampson, I'd like to see them do well.