My thoughts on day one of the tournament

First, I'll tell you I went 11 for 16 on day one. Not too great, but not terrible. I was a point away on Virginia Commonwealth and Butler came close. I picked a lot of upsets and I knew they wouldn't all come through. I did have Western Kentucky as my 12 over 5 seed pick and two of my 10 seeds came through, Maryland and Michigan. Minnesota didn't have it, but oh well. All of my Sweet 16 picks remain in tact and that is what really matters when it comes to having a good bracket. Round one is the most fun, but it bears very little on the results.

As for my thoughts on the games themselves, they were generally uneventful. UConn, Duke, UNC and Oklahoma all cruised as they should. Butler vs. LSU was a good game, except it was painful to watch Butler just shoot themselves in the foot over and over again. They could have easily won. Virginia Commonwealth lost an absolute heartbreaker when Maynor missed that last shot. I really wanted that one, they came so close! I should know better than to pick the upset that everyone in the country is calling.

Memphis had themselves a nice little scare. I am telling you this team just isn't as good as people give them credit for. Last year they were underrated, now they are overrated. Great defensively, but really they have been shutting down teams all year that anyone can shut down. How great are they? We don't really know. I think Maryland will really test them on Saturday.

Mississippi State really let me down. I thought they had all the momentum and they came out entirely flat. Proved they didn't belong. Silly me for thinking that the champions of a weak SEC could do anything.

I only have 3 real upset picks tomorrow; USC, Temple and Utah State. I hope to get at least 13 tomorrow and go 24 of 32 for the opening round. I think that would be pretty solid. My girlfriend actually got 15 of 16 in a bracket she filled out in 5 minutes. She only missed Western Kentucky. Lots of chalk today. Overall not that exciting, but the VCU/UCLA game was a great way to end it.

Now I just have to rant on something that always bugs me. How come when 5:00 roles around and there is still a game on, CBS, who has the rights to every game, puts on Oprah. Is Oprah really more important than the NCAA tournament? You can't give her a couple of days off? They do this every year. I can't stand it. I could be watching that game! Ok, that's my rant. Feel free to comment and share your Oprah frustrations with me.

Good luck tomorrow, and if anyone still has a perfect bracket, congrats!