Recap of March Madness Day 1

Continuing with the March Madness, I thought I'd post my thoughts on Day 1. So continue after the jump to read what I liked and disliked from Day 1. What I liked

March Madness on Demand. Whoever came up with this idea is an absolute genius. Whoever then decided not to charge for it is a saint. Obviously this is not a new thing, but this year is by far the best installment. Again, it's perfectly free, yet there was zero wait to watch it this year. Last year I actually watched a lot of games on my computer since my cable connection didn't get CBS. And I remember having to be in the "waiting room" since the server didn't have enough bandwith. But this year there wasn't any problem. Also, I was able to watch games that technically were on TV in my market. That's the first time that that's happened. Lastly, "the boss button" really cracks me up. If you click on it a spreadsheet filled with NCAA statistics blocks the screen. Like that would actually fool a boss.
My predictions of No. 12 Western Kentucky, and Nos. 10 Maryland, Texas and Michigan all upsetting higher seeded teams. As someone raised a Maryland fan, it was especially nice to see Gary Williams get an NCAA Tournament win this year after all the heat he's taken.
No. 15 Cal State Northridge giving No. 2 Memphis all it could handle. I'll admit I never pick them, but I love when two seeds lose to 15s, however rare that is. However in recent years 15 seeds have been doing better. (Think Winthrop vs. Tennessee in '06 or American vs. Tennessee last year.)

What I didn't like

Zero successful buzzer beaters. Only two games came down to a final shot, though in one of those games (10. Michigan vs. No. 7 Clemson) a buzzer beater could only tie the game. But K.C. Rivers air balled the potential game-tying three for the Tigers. And in the other game, Eric Maynor of No. 11 VCU had a chance to win it at the buzzer over No. 6 UCLA, but the Bruins did an excellent job of forcing a bad shot, and the team with the most NCAA titles ever prevailed.
Speaking of Maynor, I didn't like how his night, and by extension career, ended. He played great, leading the Rams in points (21), assists (seven) and steals (one) while tallying a team second-best six rebounds. Considering the senior and two-time CAA Player of the Year had a giant-killer dagger to beat Duke in the 2007 tournament it was only fitting for him to hit the winning shot against another college basketball titan.

But as described above, that was not to be. I don't blame him at all. Instead it was perfect defense by UCLA. In fact, the Rams took about five of the 11.9 seconds left in the game on their last possession to cross midcourt thanks to tough full-court man-to-man by UCLA.

The fact that I didn't get either 8 vs. 9 game right. For some reason I picked two mid-majors to beat power conference teams (BYU and Butler over Texas A&M and LSU, respectively). Same with my stupid selection of No. 12 Northern Iowa -- in the Sweet 16.

What I both liked and disliked at the same time

The Villanova-American game. On the one hand, as a D.C.-area native, as well as someone who has attended a variety of games at AU's Bender Arena, it was nice to see No. 14 American do well against a power conference team. However, considering I have Villanova in the Final Four, I didn't exactly gain any confidence that my pick would hold up. Hopefully Villanova gets it you-know-what together before Saturday's matchup against UCLA.
My bracket. As I said earlier. I had trouble coming up with my bracket. And in fact, I have several different iterations going, though the one I posted yesterday is my official one (at least for DP purposes). So I did ok today, considering I have 15 of 16 Sweet 16 teams and all Elite Eight. Hopefully Northern Iowa won't kill me too much, and hopefully VIllanova can put together a better 40 minutes Saturday. Either way, here's to tomorrow being even more exciting (and please let's have a buzzer beater).