The Mourning After: NCAA Tournament Round 1 Observations

Well it took two days for the most of us, to see a really exciting game in the NCAA tournament.

The Siena/Ohio St. game took two overtimes to complete. And Ronald Moore of Siena gets all the credit for Siena's win. Down by 3 in the first overtime, Moore hit a 3-pointer to tie the game and send it to another overtime.

Then Siena was down by 1 with 3.9 seconds left in the second overtime, when Moore hit another 3-pointer from the same exact spot to send Siena to the second round to face Louisville.

Evan Turner of Ohio St. forced a shot and missed, which would have sent the game into another overtime. Ohio st. blew an 11-point 2nd half lead in the game.

Besides this game and a handful of others, the 1st. round of the NCAA tournament was mostly a bust. The games were predictable and slow. Especially in the first day. But the second day saved us, with some exciting games and one almost huge upset.

- It took everything Pittsburgh had to beat 16th seeded East Tennessee State. A 16 seed has never beaten a 1 seed but it was that close.

Pitt struggled throughout most of the game. It took them to the final minutes of the game to put ETS down.

What does that say about Pitt? Did they deserve the number 1 seed in the East bracket? Are they overrated? These are all questions Pitt has too ask themselves before their game against Oklahoma St. on Sunday.

- 23 years after Cleveland St. shocked the world, they did it again. They beat Wake Forest 84-69. I don't know about you, but I bet Wake Forest destroyed a lot of brackets tonight.

Norris Cole had a huge game for Cleveland St. scoring 22 points in the game. They caught Wake by surprised and never let their foot off of the peddle.

- North Dakota St. also gave Kansas all they wanted. Kansas barely escaped with the 84-74 game.

The former division II powerhouse, proved they belonged with the defending champions.

- One of the more exciting games was the Oklahoma St, Tennessee game. Bobby Eaton scored a 3-point bucket with 7.2 seconds left to give the Cowboys the win. The Cowboys are extremely athletic and they might give Pitt some major problems.

- I am not calling the Western Kentucky victory over Illinois an upset. W. Kentucky beat Louisville earlier in the year. Also Illinois was ranked way too high. They never deserved the 5 seed. They would have been better off as a 10 seed.

- Both West Virginia and California proved why you should never choose teams in your bracket that relies on three-point shots. Both teams struggled with their shots and both teams where knocked out of the tournament.

- I can't figure out who is going to win the Villanova, UCLA game. Both teams struggled in their 1st. round games.

American gave Nova all they wanted, and VCU was a last-second shot away from beating UCLA. But with these two teams meeting means we will get more Ben Howland going crazy on the UCLA sidelines.

- The Washington, Purdue game will most likely be the most intriguing game tomorrow. Washington had no problems with Mississippi St. And Purdue handled Northern Iowa just fine. These two teams will have an great game tomorrow.

- Also Texas, Duke should also be a fun game. A.J. Abrams of Texas versus Jon Scheyer of Duke. This should be a great match up to watch tomorrow.

- The NCAA tournament sure did Arizona a favor by placing them in a game against Utah. I don't want to hear that Arizona belonged in the tournament. They didn't. St. Mary's would have beat Utah, who should have never been given the 5th seed.

And with Cleveland St. beating Wake Forest, Arizona can make a run to the Sweet 16. Arizona needs to give the NCAA selection committee some sort of gift for the generosity they showed them.

- Taj Gibson of USC was perfect against Boston College. Gibson was 10-for-10 in field goal attempts. USC can make a deep run in the tournament. They have great athletes all-around. Michigan St. will struggle with their athleticism on Sunday.

Hopefully we receive some excitement from the games this weekend. Until then, enjoy the 2nd round games.