Odds and Ends

Wow. If there is any better word to describe the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament, feel free to let me know.

The greatest 12 hours of basketball, and the greatest first day of the NCAA Tournament (ever), since I can remember kicked off what ended up being a truly fantastic four days of hoops. Buzzer-beaters, upsets, one-man performances, close games, clutch shots, dunks, three-pointers -- everything. I could write a reaction/reflection piece on the weekend that was, but I don't think I can sum it up into words. If you want to check out some videos from the top moments, feel free to go over to College Hoops Journal or Ballin' is a Habit and read their recent stuff.

Looking forward, I will have a complete Sweet Sixteen preview beginning tomorrow, broken down region-by-region. It will include players to watch, favorites and sleepers, and much more.

Also, how is everyone's bracket doing? My bracket started off fairly well in the first-round, and I was in the mix heading into the weekend. However, due to Kansas and New Mexico losing on Saturday, I completely fell off after the second round. If you use the typical one point for each first round win and two points for each second-round victory, I would have 39 points. How is everyone else's doing?

Luckily, the NCAA Tournament has been so great thus far that it is difficult to truly care what place I am in or how many points I have in various bracket pools. Double-digit seeds pulling upsets, mid-majors reaching the Sweet 16 and unsung heroes hitting buzzer shots are what makes the Big Dance great -- not picking 12 of the Sweet 16 teams correct, or having all Final Four teams still remaining.

It should be a great next two weeks -- exactly 14 days from today, someone will be crowned the new NCAA champion. I can't wait.