Day 1 thoughts

Some quick Day 1 thoughts:

• Obviously no one cares, but I got 13 out of 16 games right yesterday. I am neither elated nor disgusted with this number. One game I got wrong was the 8-9 game between UNLV and Kent State. Oh well, who knew the Golden Flashes would show historically epic ineptitude?
  
• Another game I got wrong was the Arizona- West Virginia game. Credit where it is due, more players than just Joe Alexander showed up to play, although he proved to be a huge thorn in Arizona's side as expected. Arizona showed the same inconsistency that has plagued them all year. Perhaps playing for an interim coach can be blamed for these issues? I really see no other excuse for such talent to achieve such mediocrity.
• As for the third game, well, I will let Bob Knight explain:

"Kansas State has not always been a team that comes to play. Tonight they came to play."
Well said, General!

Well, shit. I had USC in the Sweet 16, so that sucks. Bill Walker took over in the first half, despite foul trouble. Also despite foul trouble, Michael Beasley put up a Beasley-esque Double Double, mostly in the second half. This combined with some general ineptitude shown by USC players not named Mayo, Jefferson, or Gibson, led to the K-State win. In fact, USC's big three and K-State's big two scored the same amount of points. The rest of K-State, to my surprise, outplayed the rest of USC.

• Most of the other games yesterday were mediocre. A & M and BYU played a reasonably close game, as did Marquette and Kentucky. Joe Crawford, who I made a bit of fun of in my South region preview, absolutely caught fire, and scored 33 points. It wasn't enough, as the Golden Eagles prevailed.
• Oh yea, Dook almost lost to Belmont. This would have been an epic upset, and was thrilling from start to finish. Every time Dook would start a run, Belmont had an answer. In fact, Belmont even blew some chances to win at the end. Why did no one step in on Gerald Henderson's winning lay up? Why did they fail to execute an out of bounds play so miserably? I cannot even fault them, they are a fifteen seed, and it was an awesome game to watch. I cannot even find the proper words to explain how I would have felt had they won. Orgasmic Elation? Not quite right, but close to that for sure.
• Speaking of Dook, I feel extremely uncomfortable having them in the Elite 8. I actually thought they were somehow being underrated in the past week, but now it looks as if they were overrated. West Virginia, Xavier, or even Purdue all have great shots at them now. And even if it causes my bracket to fall apart, seeing them lose would be great and worth it.
• One final Dook note: I love Brian Zoubek. He is one of the worst players I have ever seen. I cannot understand why Coach rat face keeps playing him. Just because he is a 7 footer does not mean he is a positive contributor. But by all means, keep playing him. The amusement that i get from watching 6'5" Belmont players reject him, or take him to the hole for an "And 1" layup, is unrivaled. If anyone can find a picture of him getting rejected, it would be outstanding.
• Enjoy the games today, I'll be at the Raleigh games this evening to watch UNC and perhaps Indiana. Sweet.