Between internet and server problems, this has been a frustrating few days. But we’ll roll with it and let Mr. Marthaler take it away with a look back at yesterday’s NCAA action and today’s games, which of course are already in progress. We also promise a fun-filled report in a couple hours from St. Louis, where the Gophers are getting pummeled in NCAA wrestling. Seriously, this morning has been brutal for them. But first, Jon:

The entire first day of the NCAA tournament was summed up by the final session of the evening. We here in the Twin Cities were treated to the Wisconsin / Cal State Fullerton matchup, which displayed all of the organization, flow, and tempo of a rec-league basketball game being played on a Nerf court. Not only is this Badger basketball, the Valium of men’s hoops, but the teams combined to turn the ball over 30 times and shoot
39.3%from the floor. Sadly, not only was no one arrested for crimes against the sport of basketball, CBS chose to gamely stick with the show all the way to the bitter end, including the final 35 seconds of dribbling out the clock — even as we could see from the scorebox in the corner that West Virginia and
Arizona were going down to the wire.

Finally, the game ended, Bo Ryan finished up screaming the last of his usual 1,000 expletives at the referee, and CBS cut to WVU and Arizona — just in time to watch the Mountaineers dribble out the clock! Feel the Madness! We got a chance to see the coaches shake hands again, and CBS managed to get us one final cut, to — no kidding — the sight of Mississippi Valley State and UCLA dribbling out the clock. What excitement, what joy, what zzzzzzzzz …

With the exception of mildly exciting wins by Xavier, Marquette, Texas A&M, and Kansas State, this is how the entire day went. Only the last of those even qualifies as a minor upset, and the Wildcats have the nation’s best player in Michael Beasley. The selection committee must be getting good at their jobs, because the whole day was boredom up and down the floor — except for one game.

So thank you, Belmont.

Thank you for taking Duke down to the wire. There’s no team in the country more hated than the Blue Devils, and somehow the Dookies had unfairly grabbed a too-high #2 seed, a level at which upsets are so rare that everybody remembers them all (Richmond, Santa Clara, Coppin State, Hampton — the Big Four.) Thank you for putting a scare into Duke so complete that the arrogant Blue Devils were lucky to win this one, so complete that there’s no doubt that Dick Vitale was ready to scratch “DICKIE V WAS HERE” into the ceiling and go the way of Brooks Hatlen.

Last year, all that saved the best two upset days of the year was Virginia Commonwealth’s win over Duke; this year, we’ll have to settle for what might have been from the Belmont Bruins, at least for day one. But with Boise State and Siena and Davidson and Western Kentucky still lurking today — who’s to say that’s all we’ll settle for?

Today’s local broadcast schedule:
11:25 - Davidson vs. Gonzaga (Sioux Falls and Mason City get Drake vs. Western Kentucky)
1:35 - South Alabama vs. Butler (The above, and Fargo, get Austin Peay vs. Texas)
6:10 - Mount St. Mary vs. North Carolina
8:30 - Arkansas vs. Indiana

Once again, none of the broadcasts are “constant” (except for the Drake game if you’re in the Mason City area), so we’ll be getting better games if any of these turn into blowouts. (That Siena - Vanderbilt game looks particularly enticing, instead of MSM vs. UNC.) One day is done, one day to go, of the best two sports days of the year. Here’s hoping you’ll get a chance to experience the Madness, wherever you may be.

And here’s hoping that we get something better than a near-upset of a hated school.

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