First Round Observations

For the last two days, I have basically watched more television than any person should be legally able to do. I've watched basketball at my house, on a computer, at a bar, at a restaurant and even attempted to on my cell phone. Here are some observations from a guy who has watched too much basketball but still can't get enough.

-- If you're a Tennessee fan you probably should go ahead and start the fire Bruce Pearl talk. At one point in their first-round loss to Oklahoma State on Friday, the announcers said that the players didn't know a timeout had been called and were seen waving to family in the stands. In the second half! Of a close NCAA Tournament game! That team continues to underachieve on a massive level yet nobody is in an uproar about Pearl. His team shot 33 3-pointers yesterday, making just 11 of them, and had the opportunity to pound it inside at will. That team is a disaster and if I'm a Tennessee fan, I'm writing very nasty things on message boards today.

-- If Dayton wins one more game, expect a lot of "Chris Wright is the 2009 Stephen Curry" talk. He had 27 points on Friday in a dominating performance against West Virginia.

-- The Arizona Wildcats have some good karma going right now. Just six days after being put in a tournament nobody thought they deserved to be in, Russ Pennell's crew destroyed Utah and now have Cleveland State up next, a 13 seed. This might be one of the most unexpected Sweet Sixteen runs if Arizona can win on Sunday, but it obviously justifies them making it in the tournament as one of the 65 best teams in the nation.

-- Speaking of the Pac-10, James Harden had just nine points in Arizona State's first round defeat of Temple. If he can find his shooting touch again with the way his teammates are playing right now, Syracuse could be in for a long, long afternoon.

-- Oh, one more thing on the Pac-10 ... it is 5-1 so far. Just throwing that out there President Obama.

-- Things I will not do next year: pick mediocre basketball teams that rely heavily on 3-point shooting. We've seen it with Duke the last few years and we saw it with Butler and California. Nope, not going to do it.

-- Money-line bets with all the 12 seeds? Yeah, that is basically what you want to do for the rest of your life. The 12 seeds went 3-1 this year, making this column look a hell of a lot more justified.

-- Sans the Siena game, buzzer beaters were few and far between. The best one of the weekend came on a three by Utah State at the end of a game it lost by one.

-- If you are a one seed, hope to the heavens you don't see East Tennessee State in your bracket. The game against Pittsburgh was the second time ETSU gave a one seed a run for its money, and with a few more made free throws, might have been the first team in 100 tries to knock off a top dog.

-- Teams that are likely to make the Sweet Sixteen that nobody thought would: Xavier, Arizona, and Western Kentucky.

--Name me better second-rounds games in recent years than this list : UCLA vs. Villanova, Texas vs. Duke, Connecticut vs. Texas A&M, Gonzaga vs. Western Kentucky, Oklahoma vs. Michigan, and Pittsburgh vs. Oklahoma State. I bet you can't. March Madness is awesome.