Madness: Day 2

What we hope is the last snowstorm of the season in the northeast prevented Bleeding Sports from posting its viewers guide for the early games here for Day 2 for the NCAA Tournament. So before we get to tonight’s action let’s recap the first day and a half.

Day 1 of the NCAA Tournament left much to be desired as only one favorite lost. With that being said, VCU taking down Duke and literally pummeling them in the process nearly made up for the rest of the day’s underwhelming action. The fact that I completely forgot to mention that game as one to watch yesterday is unforgivable.

Secondly, Bleeding Sports would like to take this time to recognize the selection committee because without them the viewing public would have missed out on a chance to see the Stanford’s feeble about to prove they belong in the field of 64. While we’re at it let’s thank the Cardinal for showing up. It showed a lot of guts on their part to even return to court for the second half after the beat down Louisville gave them. Louisville could have won that game by 50 if they had wanted. It’s funny because just last West Virginia has Louisville all but beaten in the Big East tourney. The game probably cost the Mountaineers a trip to the big dance. West Virginia is now busy blowing teams out in the NIT, which is exactly where Stanford should have been. So who still believes the Pac 10 is better than the Big East? Anybody?

The early games here on day 2 have been much more competitive than yesterday. However, that statement isn’t saying much. The second upset of the tourney came by another 11 seed as everybody’s new favorite team, Winthrop, blew a 20-point lead before pulling the upset over Notre Dame. It was a nice comeback by the Irish, but performances like today are the reason everyone and their mother picked Winthrop in this game. Wisconsin looked terrible in the first half against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi before finding their shooting stoke in the second 20 minutes. The Badgers looked destine to be upset for much of the game and had to expend a lot of energy to comeback. It should be interesting to see how they come out on Saturday against a tough UNLV squad who squeaked by Georgia Tech after blowing a seven-point halftime lead.

Looking at the remaining games today, it is unbelievable to me just how many mediocre teams made the tournament this year. What is even more amazing is how many of them are actually matched up against one another. Try staying awake watching these classics:

7:10pm – (12) Illinois vs. (5) Virginia Tech

I’ve heard a few analysts as of late rave about how the Illini are a strong defensive team. I’d say you’d have to be good defensively with the offense they possess. Like Stanford, not sure why Illinois made the tournament. Their opponent Virginia Tech, a former Big East cellar dweller who moved to the ACC and became a perennial tournament team almost overnight, is the ultimate Jekyll and Hyde. They can beat North Carolina, but they can also lose to any team in the country.

7 :20pm – (9) Purdue vs. (8) Arizona

A match-up of two non-descript teams that have no chance of making any noise in this tournament yet one of them has to advance. The tournament committee may as well have given #1 overall seed Florida a bye into the Sweet 16.

9:40pm – (12) Arkansas vs. (5) USC

Saying that Arkansas sucks is an understatement. Seriously, the fact that the Razorbacks are in the NCAA tournament is indefensible. Their “impressive” run through the SEC tournament consisted of wins against juggernaut South Carolina, Vanderbilt, and the basketball powerhouse Mississippi before Florida exploited them for the fraud they are. Does the committee even watch any games? God only knows what to expect from USC considering they come from the same conference as Stanford.

Other than the #8 vs. #9 match-up between Kentucky and Villanova (9:30 pm), your best bet for a quality college basketball game tonight is the second round NIT battle between Marist and NC State. 9:30 pm on ESPNU.

The good news: Tomorrow the snow ends and the second round begins.