Sportz' NCAA Tournament Recap - Round of 64, Day 1

Georgia State's head coach Ron Hunter may have
made the most memorable moment of the 2015
NCAA Tournament.

Just a quick recap of what I saw in my Sportz Room -- filled with TVs that I can watch all four games going on at the same time.

GAME OF THE DAY: Georgia State vs Baylor. Honestly, how hard is it to pick just one game as the Game Of The Day?  There were so many great ones.  But this one barely takes the top due to the sheer upset nature of the result as well as exciting game-winning shot as well as G-State's head coach Ron Hunter falling off his stool.  One of the tournament's great moments.

UPSET OF THE DAY: UAB over Iowa State. First off, UAB was 16-15 when they started play in the C-USA tournament.  They went on to win the automatic bid and then knock off one of the buzziest Final Four picks in the field.  Add in the fact that UAB's athletic department has had a tough time since announcing it was shutting down the football program and the uncertainty that has surrounded the program.  The Blazers win was quite stunning.

CONFERENCE OF THE DAY: Big East. A couple conferences had a nice day, but the Big East did quite well.  Villanova, Georgetown, Xavier and Butler all won their games and, relative to today, did so handily.

CONFERENCE WITH A BAD DAY: Big 12. Rather shocking.  The conference most felt was the best, top to bottom, came out with a thud.  Both Iowa State and Baylor lost as No. 3 seeds to No. 14 seeds.  Also, Texas got beat by Butler.  Also, the state of Texas had a bad tournament as Texas, SMU, Texas Southern, Baylor and SF Austin all lost.  

DUD OF THE DAY: Kentucky vs Hampton. Not surprising, since it was the undefeated team taking on a team that, with the loss, finishes below .500.  It wasn't just a dud because it was a blowout, it was also because Kentucky kind of mailed it in once they took a sizable lead.  Hey, it happens.

DOMINANT PERFORMANCE OF THE DAY: Villanova. These Wildcats won by 41 points over Lafayette.  Not only did they win convincingly, they played very well throughout the entire game.

UNDERLYING STORYLINE OF THE DAY: Close games. As I alluded to earlier, today was an outstanding day of tournament basketball.  We had a record FIVE games decided by a single point.  We had another decided by two points and two more by three points.  I didn't even mention the amazing comeback by Cincinnati with a buzzer beater to force overtime.  Or NC State's buzzer beater to beat LSU.  Or Harvard coming back from down 16 points to nearly beat North Carolina.  Just so many great games today.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

*Ohio has had a nice tournament.  Ohio State, Dayton, Cincinnati and Xavier all won their first tournament games.