The NCAA Tournament is the Real Greatest Show on Earth

The last two days have re-confirmed why the NCAA Tournament is quite simply the best event there is. The first round was two straight days of wall-to-wall excitement, upsets, near upsets, and sheer joy to watch, with th epossible exception of having to listen to Billy Packer. Here are some of my takeaways from the first round:

• Of course I will start with the #1 team in the land, the Dukies. In 40 minutes against a #16 seed, their entire roster not named J.J. or Shelden scored a grand total of two, that's right, TWO, field goals. In addition, their point guard had seven turnovers. This team has about an hour to get its act together or J.J. Redick and Shelden Williams will be playing their last game ever for Duke today. That being said, I think they will come out and play much better today, J.J. will take advantage of GW's lack of discipline on the defensive end and score 30+, and Duke will survive and advance. But man did they look shaky Thursday.
• The Criminals of UConn had their typical non-focused performance last night, almost putting themselves in a hole that they could not dig out of against #16 seed Albany. By the way, after watching Albany, that team deserved better than a #16. If they had a #14 seed, they would have had a great shot at an upset last night. Great effort.
• The team that should be most ashamed of itself is Iowa. Iowa lost 14 point leads in both the first and second halves to lose to Northwestern St. How do you go through a year getting battle tested in the Big 10, then win the Big 10 tourney, only to choke like that (twice) against a #14 seed.
• Allan Ray looks like he is fine. But Villanova has to play better in round 2 to beat an Arizona team that played great in round 1. They will.
• UW-Milwaukee and Bucknell advanced to the second round for the second straight year. Can UW-M utilize their old coach Bruce Pearl's model to beat Florida like Pearl's volunteers did twice this year. A definite maybe, as I do not think the Gators have an answer for Joah Tucker.
• Bradley and Wichita St. proved that the Missouri Valley belongs in this tourney, beating Kansas and blowing out Seton Hall, respectively. Look for Wichita St to keep that run going against a shaky Tennessee squad today in round 2. Northern Iowa could have made it three for the Valley except they went cold in the second half against Georgetown, scoring only 8 points in the first 17+ minutes of the second half, and still only losing by 5.
• It was fun seeing Carolina sweat it out big time against murray St. I was also nice to see the ACC, which got bashed all year, go 4-0 in round 1. I think three of four could easily make it past this weekend into the Sweet 16. Not bad for a league in a down year.
• Do you think Jimmy Boeheim and Bill Self are going to start a support group for coaches whose teams get upset multiple years in a row? It is as if the year Syracuse beat Kansas in the finals was somebody's way of making up for all those 1st and second round exits for those programs over the years.
• Texas A&M was actually favored as a #12 over Syracuse as a #5. As well as they have played in the past six weeks, I do not believe they have the answers for a very strong LSU club today.
• Do you think Pacific's coach and players are still nauseous after letting BC escape with a win after being up 6 in overtime? I am guessing that one will sting for a few more weeks.
• My Final Four is still in tact after Round 1: Duke, UConn, Pittsburgh and Florida. I think Florida faces the toughest task in round 2, but Duke will not have it easy either. Florida will eek out a close one, Duke will pull away late, and Pitt and UConn will have an easy time of it in Round 2.
• Check back for more frequest updates (maybe just quick hitters) over today and tomorrow. Enjoy the action.