Filling out brackets is a time of great joy, optimism and long hours spent dissecting match ups and possible performances. People spend days on ESPN and other websites looking at points per game averages, good wins and bad losses rather then doing the work their being payed for. Most people expect after the first couple days to be at least in the 70 percent to 80 percent range for correct picks. Well we were all wrong when it came to this years round of 64 play. The first day of the big round brought us tight play and huge upsets! Who could have guessed.
To start the action, Georgia State led by former Louisville point guard, Kevin Ware, led to a amazing upset of Baylor on a three-pointer from the parking lot. Who better to hit the shot then the coach's son, R.J Hunter. Needless to say, coaches love their players, but coach Hunter particularly loves that player.
Let's not forget about Ohio State pulling off the upset of VCU. While this was actually a popular pick, an upset is an upset and credit to the Buckeyes. I knew Dayton was a good team and the stats proved it, but I just didn't see them upsetting six seed Providence. Dayton showed they came to play and the 11th seeded Flyers advanced. The 11th seeded UCLA Bruins advanced on a highly controversial goal tending call in the final seconds against the SMU Mustangs. In the past days, refs have admitted to a bad call, regardless UCLA advanced to the round of 32. And in the most surprising game of the round of 64, the underdog 14th seed UAB Blazers shocked the nation and three seed Iowa State Cyclones. No one could have seen this one coming. UAB fought hard and stuck around all game and ended up winning by one, 60-59.
This is what I love about basketball and March Madness. Unlike football, where you can predict a performance pretty accurately week by week, basketball is totally unpredictable. A sixth man off the bench can have a phenomenal shooting day and a starter can shoot like there is a lid on the hoop. Along with the classic Dickie V. commentary, basketball provides a air of excitement that other sports cannot match.
According to ESPN, 11.5 million brackets were entered into their annual bracket challenge. After the round of 64, only one bracket was 100 percent correct. That was 1/1 trillionth of a percent; yeah, good day to be that person. The madness is all over the country and it is a time when people can take a break from their everyday lives, sit down and just worry about how much money their gonna make from everyone else in their leagues. Personally, my chances are dying after Iowa State got knocked out, but I'm still tied for first so I'm gonna keep my eye on the rest of these games. Here's to more great basketball and more incredible upsets. It's a good time to be a sports fan.
