2015 NCAA Tournament: What Do 1st-Round Games Tell Us About Thursday and Friday?

It is that time of year again. You can have Christmas, Easter, the Fourth of July and the rest of your holidays, but I’ll take March Madness every time.

With Tuesday night’s action in Dayton, Ohio, the tournament has officially started, which means it is time for brackets, upsets, comebacks and storylines we have no way of predicting because nobody is clairvoyant enough to predict everything that is bound to unfold.

The first two games are in the books, with two more scheduled for Wednesday night, before the glorious all-day basketball bonanzas that are Thursday and Friday. Two teams have already been sent packing. These are a few takeaways from March Madness’ opening salvo.

Hampton drew the short straw

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I’ve always found the First Four as unfair treatment of the No. 16 seeds. Despite winning their conference tournaments, and thus earning a spot in the field, four of the bottom teams by the committee's judgment are forced to duke it out for the right to likely get obliterated by a No. 1 seed two days later.

These No. 16 seeds should just be placed into the bracket and be allowed to start their tournament on Thursday or Friday like the rest of the teams. Designate all four play-in games for at-large bubble teams.

Alas, despite the injustice in the treatment of No. 16 seeds everywhere, one team has been handed a legendarily difficult task this Thursday.

The only team with a losing record in the field heading into Tuesday, Hampton dispatched Manhattan in a game that was only close for short stretches, and it advanced to the second round.

The only problem? The Pirates are rewarded for their big win with a shot at undefeated Kentucky on Thursday, a game that isn’t likely to end well for the No. 16 seed.

I am in the camp that believes that someday there will be a No. 16 seed that shocks the world and takes down one of the top seeds—a string of No. 15 seeds pulling off victories in recent years—but it is not this game. Kentucky is too tall, too talented and too physical for the Pirates and will likely waltz into the next round.

Ole Miss should be considered a serious threat to make a run

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BYU was a sleeper pick by many, myself included, to turn some heads as a double-digit seed. With an explosive offense and one of the best players in the country in Tyler Haws, the Cougars would have scared any team they had to play.

But that was until the Rebels of Ole Miss decided they would put up more points in the second half than some teams average per game and mount an epic comeback in Dayton.

When the draw for the First Four was announced, the Rebels were written off, with many expecting BYU to advance to Thursday and challenge No. 6 seed Xavier.

Huge games from Stefan Moody and M.J. Rhett—who had 26 and 20 points, respectively—keyed the rally that sent Ole Miss into the second round of the tournament, with a decent chance of pushing past the Musketeers.

The Rebels should have garnered a little more respect heading into the tournament than they did. With a 14-point win against Arkansas and a three-point overtime loss to Kentucky—both on the road—Ole Miss showed it is capable of playing with anybody and should be considered a serious threat moving forward.

Since the play-in games were expanded to include teams that were on the bubble a few years back, it feels like there is always one that challenges the established powers and advances further than anyone believed was possible.

If Ole Miss gets past Xavier on Thursday, watch out: There might be no stopping the Rebels.

Perhaps college basketball isn’t as boring as we thought

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Let's get down to the most important part of Tuesday night’s games: They were awesome.

Seriously, did you watch those games? BYU scored 41 points in the second half, and it still lost by four. There are teams in the field that failed to score 41 in an entire game this year (I’m looking at you, San Diego State), and the Cougars did it in a half and lost.

The first game wasn’t quite as entertaining, but it was close with 10 minutes remaining before Hampton went on a run that put the game out of reach for good.

So much for the death of college basketball. All season, the prevailing thought was that college basketball was in a sad state. Too many fouls, too many timeouts, too little scoring and a lethargic response from the public even when the top teams were involved.

But Tuesday proved that not only is the sport alive and well, but this could be one of the most entertaining tournaments in quite some time. Sure, the final result has been pretty much decided already with Kentucky looking like an unstoppable force, but, as the saying goes, it’s the journey, not the destination.

March Madness is always the exception when it comes to college basketball, with the magic of the tournament finding a way year in and year out.

Rule changes are still a huge possibility in the future of the sport, but for now, let's just enjoy the greatest tournament in sports and the chaos it brings.