(Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
Wow, what an exciting first round of the tournament. Tons of upsets, a few scares, and many people's brackets being ruined (including me). As we enter round two today, let's take a look back at what was the beginning round of the tournament.
First and foremost, I must say this is the last time I am picking the Clemson Tigers in any game. Just like last year, the Tigers started 16-0, didn't make the tournament. This time, they did make the tournament, but didn't impress anybody.
It would have figured that when Clemson lost to Georgia Tech in the ACC Tournament, that the Tigers would have enough spark to get past the young Michigan Wolverines, who didn't have much experience.
Somehow, they got behind by 16+ points, and made a comeback to cut it down to three, but that wasn't enough for the victory. This is the last time I am picking the Tigers until they are truly a higher seed and couldn't be easily as predicted.
The top seeds mostly had an easy ride through the tournament. UConn, North Carolina, Duke, Oklahoma, and others handed a beat down to their opponents. That wasn't the case for Memphis and Pittsburgh, however.
The Tigers were able to get past Cal St. North by winning 81-70, putting behind them what could have been. Come on Memphis, you need to be better then that. I have you in my Final Four this year; don't let me down!
Pittsburgh also found some trouble with their opponent, East Tennessee State. I wasn't surprised at the game being somewhat close, yet I was surprised by the two-point lead the Panthers had at halftime.
I still do not buy Pitt as a Final Four berth. They haven't performed in the tournament well, and they need to be on their best game if they want to go to the Sweet 16.
The Midwest Region has been by far the most exciting, and the biggest busts of people's brackets. This was my worst region in my bracket, going 5-3 in the first round. First, the big upset of Cleveland St. over Wake Forest.
This was predicted by many of an upset alert, however, I did think the Deacons were a Sweet 16 this year with the success they had early/midseason. I was wrong though, as they handed Wake a blowout loss of 15 points.
Now they get the chance of a Sweet 16 berth against Arizona, a game where I would favor them.
The two other upsets for me were Dayton over West Virginia and USC over Boston College. I did consider the possibility of Dayton winning, given the experience they had, but after thinking of how tough the Big East was, I didn't see it coming.
The eight-point win over the Mountaineers puts them in the second round vs Kansas, which can be a trap game for the Jayhawks after their close victory over ND St.
Myself, being stubborn about teams being successful in the tourney after winning the conference to get in, backfired as well. I was correct on Day One with Mississippi St. losing to Washington, but I wasn't right with USC beating the Eagles. BC to me was a team on the rise.
After beating North Carolina and Duke in the same season, they sure had enough talent to beat USC. USC pulled off the upset though by the score of 72-55, and will advance to play the Spartans in the second round.
Other Highlights and Notes
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