Day 1 of the Big Dance is in the books, and Day 2 is underway.
Day 1 happenings:
The 3 #1 seeds that played (Gonzaga, Baylor, Kansas) all coasted to big victories.
Kentucky became the 10th #2 seed to lose to a #15 seed. St. Peter’s recorded their first win ever in an NCAA tournament. Kentucky coach John Calipari’s salary is more than the basketball budget of St. Peters, which is located in Jersey City, NJ.
As is customary, two #12 seeds defeated #5 seeds. Richmond defeated Iowa, and New Mexico State defeated UConn. Another #12 seed, Indiana, got spanked by #5 St. Mary’s.
#11 seed Michigan, who many felt did not belong in the tournament, had little trouble in beating #6 Colorado State.
3 games went into overtime: Kentucky/St. Peter’s, San Diego State/Creighton, and Murray State/San Francisco.
Of the 16 games yesterday, 6 were won by the lower-seeded team.
The Big Ten, which placed nine teams in the tournament, went 1-2 yesterday. Rutgers lost in the First Four, while Indiana won their First Four game. Five more Big 10 teams play today.
A #1 seed survives. Kansas escaped with a 7-point win over Creighton, which made 12 3-pointers and shot 18-21 from the line. The Jayhawks shot 19-20 free throws.
And let’s not forget that Baylor’s President is (or was last time I checked) Kenneth Starr. Yep.
What a day! St. Peter’s!! MIchigan winning three games to get to the sweet 16. Looks like Arkansas is going to slip by NMSU, but Memphis up ten over Gonzaga in the second half.
Baylor’s current President is Linda Livingstone, who succeeded Starr in 2017.
There could be some more nail-biters today. I expect Houston/Illinois to be close, and Ohio State could give Villanova a game as well. Four Big 10 teams in action today, as Purdue meets Texas, and Sparty faces Coach K for the last time.
When Coach K retires is the NCAA going to keep its tradition of always letting Duke play its first two rounds in the location most convenient for them?
Although, as a Jayhawk fan, I cannot complain too loudly. Kansas regularly plays in Kansas City, Omaha, Oklahoma City, and other relatively close sites.
This year, Wisconsin (a 3 seed), played their first two games in Milwaukee, about a 90 minute drive from campus. Had they won their Round 2 game, they would have had to travel all the way to Chicago, a 3 hour drive from Madison.
For the opening weekend, I think they always slot the high seeds into the closest opening round site. It’s been a long time since being in the “West” or “South” bracket meant anything for where the initial rounds are played.
