NCAA Tournament Diary, Day Two

Day Two
Friday, March 18

11:30
Sixteen more games today. How can you NOT love this? Today is not starting as well as yesterday, though. N.C. State is getting used by Charlotte. Florida and OSU appear to be taking care of business. The game I'm getting is Iowa State vs. Minnesota. ISU is utilizing a press, which always makes things interesting. Stinson and Blalock are quality guards. This will be a fun game to watch. Certainly more fun than overhyped CBS TV movie "Spring Break Shark Attack." Seriously, who do they expect will watch this?

12:20
The Cyclones take control over the last five minutes and go up 10 at half. Minnesota is having a tough time negotiating the zone. N.C. State claws their way back to be down only seven at half. Florida is allowing Ohio to stick around. And OSU isn't really dominating SE Louisiana, though they're up by nine. Today is providing the usual feeling I have during tournament time: doubt, anxiety, butterflies. There weren't any out-of-this world upsets yesterday. I have a feeling today may be different.

1:10
N.C. State finally remembers how to play basketball as they put the clamps down on Charlotte. My fortunes have turned and Julius Hodge bears much of the responsibility. He scores, dishes, rebounds and handles the basketball. It's tough to reduce his impact on the game. Meanwhile, OSU is sleepwalking against SE Louisiana. They're only up six with four to go. Only four 15 seeds have ever won a first round game since the tourney went to 64 teams. This would be a monumental upset if the Lions could pull it off.

1:25
Minnesota is within five with a minute and a half to go. They shoot a three that misses everything, but their big man jumps out of bounds, grabs the ball and calls timeout before he hits the ground. I wish they wouldn't allow this play. Shouldn't you have to actually be in bounds to call timeout? I don't get it.

1:30
Holy crap. Ohio has come back from 20 down to tie Florida with two minutes left. More quality SEC play.

1:40
Florida survives. And Day Two starts out like Day One: 4-0. I'm now 19-1 with my only loss being Creighton in a nail-biter. Besides rooting for Kansas, the main reason for taking two vacation days to watch 24 hours of basketball is to see how well I filled out my bracket. So when I see the NCAA's commercial telling me "Don't Bet On It," I have to laugh. What are they getting at? Illegal office pools? Betting the sports books at Vegas? I'd have to think that 90% of interest in the tournament has to do with some sort of betting. Is this just a token message to make us think that the NCAA is really looking out for the best interests of the student-athlete? All I have to do is watch a Cincinnati game to realize that's not the case.

2:35
Looks like an afternoon snoozer. UConn's up 14, 'Nova's up 10, UNC's up 16 and the Salukis are up 15. My 10 game losing streak in Spider Solitaire is more interesting at this point. But all four of those games are in my favor, so life is good.

3:00
On the 20th anniversary of Villanova's improbable championship victory over powerhouse Georgetown, the Wildcats are crushing New Mexico, 34-11 at half. Villanova is a very solid team. They certainly waxed the Jayhawks earlier this year and they could very well knock off Florida, setting up a potential Sweet Sixteen matchup with Carolina. This is a team that could make a lot of noise.

3:30
My solitaire losing streak comes to an end. My boredom does not. The only remotely interesting fact about these four games is that New Mexico has cut Villanova's lead to 19. Never mind; that's not even interesting.

3:50
Time to wake up. St. Mary's has tied Southern Illinois with six minutes to go. This is a matchup of unusual mascots: the Gaels vs. the Salukis. You almost have to be college educated to have any idea what those are.

4:00
Now it looks like Central Florida and New Mexico have awoken as well. UConn's lead has shrunk to five. And 'Nova's lead is down to nine. UNC has won, leaving Duke as the only available #1 seed to make history and lose their first round game. Delaware State? A 19-13 record? I won't be wagering on that one.

4:05
UConn looks a little shaky in closing beating CFU. This is good news as the Huskies look to be the toughest potential opponent in the way of a fourth straight Elite Eight appearance for the Jayhawks. With any luck, N.C. State will knock them off.

4:20
Villanova hangs on to defeat a rejuvenated New Mexico club. And like yesterday, I've managed to achieve perfection through the morning and afternoon games. Overall record: 23-1. That's the good news. The bad news: My potentially disastrous Austin bracket hasn't played yet. I took #13 Vermont over #4 Syracuse. Not only that, I took Vermont again to advance to the Sweet Sixteen. If they beat Syracuse, they can get past the MSU/ODU winner. That's a big "if". It's a high risk/high reward pick. If the Catamounts can somehow get the ball to Taylor Coppenrath within the jaws of the Syracuse zone, I'll look like a genius. Otherwise, I'll remain at "mere mortal" status.

6:10
The real test begins now. Vermont is my sleeper team to get into the Sweet Sixteen, but they have to face the renowned zone defense of Syracuse. What stinks is that I got to see the first four minutes of the game, but then they switched over to a game I'm supposed to be "interested in," Wisconsin vs. Northern Iowa. I have nominal interest in this game, only because this will be the Jayhawks second round opponent. I guess that's what you have to put up with, though, when you don't buy the cable package or go to a sports bar.

6:30
CBS just showed a promo for the latest episode of "CSI: Miami". I don't watch any of the "CSI" TV shows, but I think it's cool that Tony Hawk is going to be in the Miami version. Not only does he get killed, but they find clues in his skateboarding video game. That guy is just the epitome of cool.

6:40
Boy, Chris Rock really gets around. He hosted the Oscars last month, he's going to be in the remake of "The Longest Yard", and now he's starting at guard for the Wisconsin Badgers. He could be a poor man's Jamie Foxx.

7:10
Vermont is hanging in there. They've only scored 19 points at half, but Syracuse has but 23. Genius status is still within reach. Of course, that won't be the case if Louisville doesn't ramp it up. They have a narrow one point lead over Louisiana-Lafayette. And Duke is struggling with Delaware State. What's great is that the crowd in Charlotte is pro-UNC and backing Delaware State. It's probably just a blip, but it's fun to dream.

7:30
Foster comes over with burgers. We watch the current round of games go to half. All the games are close. We head over to Chad's, on the way over to Mai's. Vermont actually goes ahead in the second half while we get the pleasure of watching Wisconsin take on Northern Iowa. Granted, it's a close game and has minute regional interest, but no game has a greater impact on my bracket at the moment than Vermont/'Cuse.

8:15
The 13th seeded Vermont Catamounts have knocked off the 4th seeded Syracuse Orange in overtime. Let me repeat that for all you non-geniuses out there: the 13th seeded Vermont Catamounts have knocked off the 4th seeded Syracuse Orange in overtime. Both Chad and I picked Vermont to get to the Sweet 16 and we couldn't be more ecstatic. This is easily the greatest pick I've ever made. My job doesn't require that I carry business cards, but I need to print some up anyway. I need to carry some sort of card that certifies my genius status after this nugget of brilliance. Now, on to Mai's for a semi-concerning viewing of KU vs. Bucknell.

9:00
Jeremy has the projector set up for maximum viewing pleasure. Lots of folks have gathered. Small bits of nervousness flit about the room, but the general aura of confidence exists as it does in most pro-Kansas crowds.

10:00
This is not particularly enjoyable. The Jayhawks are only up three at halftime, mostly because of 10 turnovers and some iffy officiating. But I'm sure we'll pull away in the second half. No one can remember the last time KU lost in the first round of the tournament. The fact that that issue has even come up is a bit disturbing, but I don't have any real reason to believe we'll lose this game.

10:55
We're down five with a minute remaining. I've watched the better part of 10 games in the last two games and haven't noticed the officiating. This game, however, has been one of the most poorly officiated games I've ever seen. Phantom calls against our guards and at least a dozen no-calls in favor of Bucknell. But Michael Lee gets a steal and is fouled at half court from behind. Finally! A call that goes our way! It's whistled an intentional foul, two shots and possession. Lee nails both free throws! And we score to pull within one! We're going to win this game!

11:05
It will take a miracle to win this game. We have the ball with 2.4 seconds left under our own basket. Only a perfect re-enactment of the Laettner shot vs. Kentucky will save us now. Lee heaves it to the opposite free throw line where Simien catches it cleanly. He turns, shoots...and it hits the front of the rim. Season over. Senior class gone. Bracket ruined. Column ended.