Just a quick recap of what I saw in my Sportz Room -- filled with TVs that I can watch all games going on at the same time.
GAME OF THE DAY: Michigan vs UC San Diego. This wasn't the best day for nail-biting games, but the Michigan-UCSD game eventually turned into one. The Wolverines jumped out to a 10-0 lead and held a 15 point advantage early in the second half. But the Tritons went on a 17-3 run to cut the lead to a single point. Michigan went on their own run to build up some breathing room before San Diego came storming back to actually take the lead with just over two minutes remaining. Michigan scored the final five points of the game and held on to the win. Arkansas-Kansas was the most fun game of the day.
UPSET OF THE DAY: McNeese State vs Clemson. McNeese State isn't your typical mid-major. Head coach Will Wade once was the head coach at LSU and will be the head coach at NC State once this season is over and he could be taking some of the Cowboys with him. It isn't that they beat Clemson -- they demolished them. Clemson was never in this game until a frantic run at the end of the game made it kind of close.
CONFERENCE OF THE DAY: Big Ten. The Big Ten went 4-0 today, with Michigan, Purdue, Wisconsin and UCLA all advancing to the second round. Purdue and UCLA were trendy upset picks but both held off any thought that their seasons would be done.
CONFERENCE WITH A BAD DAY: ACC. The ACC had a bad day. With only four teams getting into the tournament, much of the focus was on Duke as a title favorite and North Carolina as a controversial addition. The key to the narrative of the conference was going to be what Louisville and Clemson did this month ... and they disappointed. Louisville got ran out of the gym by Creighton in their home state. And as I've mentioned, Clemson fell down huge to McNeese State before their comeback ran out of time. Now the ACC is reliant on its two powers to save the day once again.
DUD OF THE DAY: UCLA vs Utah State. This game was a popular upset pick, but the Bruins just mauled the Aggies and this one never got a chance to happen. UCLA's 72-47 win was one of the most impressive of the tournament.
DOMINANT PERFORMANCE OF THE DAY: Houston vs SIUE. Top seeds cooking a No. 16 seed isn't really newsworthy, but there's been a lot of strays that have headed Houston's way so far. They are routinely mentioned as the weakest of the No. 1 seeds and people aren't convinced that they actually have a championship level offense. But the Cougars ripped SIUE (the pre-tournament little guy everyone was rooting for) and made a statement that they should be feared. Gonzaga's win over Georgia was also eye-opening.
UPSET OF THE DAY: McNeese State vs Clemson. McNeese State isn't your typical mid-major. Head coach Will Wade once was the head coach at LSU and will be the head coach at NC State once this season is over and he could be taking some of the Cowboys with him. It isn't that they beat Clemson -- they demolished them. Clemson was never in this game until a frantic run at the end of the game made it kind of close.
CONFERENCE OF THE DAY: Big Ten. The Big Ten went 4-0 today, with Michigan, Purdue, Wisconsin and UCLA all advancing to the second round. Purdue and UCLA were trendy upset picks but both held off any thought that their seasons would be done.
CONFERENCE WITH A BAD DAY: ACC. The ACC had a bad day. With only four teams getting into the tournament, much of the focus was on Duke as a title favorite and North Carolina as a controversial addition. The key to the narrative of the conference was going to be what Louisville and Clemson did this month ... and they disappointed. Louisville got ran out of the gym by Creighton in their home state. And as I've mentioned, Clemson fell down huge to McNeese State before their comeback ran out of time. Now the ACC is reliant on its two powers to save the day once again.
DUD OF THE DAY: UCLA vs Utah State. This game was a popular upset pick, but the Bruins just mauled the Aggies and this one never got a chance to happen. UCLA's 72-47 win was one of the most impressive of the tournament.
DOMINANT PERFORMANCE OF THE DAY: Houston vs SIUE. Top seeds cooking a No. 16 seed isn't really newsworthy, but there's been a lot of strays that have headed Houston's way so far. They are routinely mentioned as the weakest of the No. 1 seeds and people aren't convinced that they actually have a championship level offense. But the Cougars ripped SIUE (the pre-tournament little guy everyone was rooting for) and made a statement that they should be feared. Gonzaga's win over Georgia was also eye-opening.
UNDERLYING STORYLINE OF THE DAY: Big schools had a day. The Big Ten, Big East and Big 12 had a near perfect day. Texas Tech, Houston, St John's, Wisconsin, Purdue, Michigan, BYU, UCLA and Creighton all won their games with only Kansas losing. With the SEC's power (they watched Texas, Missouri and Georgia already go down) and the ACC's weakness being conference stories of this tournament, the other big leagues seemed to have been left in the dust.
