March Madness Round 1 Recap and Round 2 Preview

Vanderbilt didn't see Murray State coming. Did you?

It’s been an exciting two days, hasn’t it?

Now that the first round is in the books, I’m going to hold myself accountable and evaluate how my picks turned out. And like I said, I’m going to compare my bracket to my wife’s, who chose her picks largely based on feminine intuition. (She watched exactly one basketball game this year, a Blazers-Sixers game I dragged her to in Portland over Christmas.) Let’s review.

Through 32 games, I’m looking at a record of 27-5, putting me in the 99.8^th percentile. I managed to avoid most of the more devastating upsets, correctly picking Murray State over Vanderbilt, Old Dominion over Notre Dame, and Washington over Marquette. Like most of the country, I didn’t see Ohio’s shocker over Georgetown coming, although I only had Georgetown making the Sweet Sixteen. I also botched most of the 5-12 picks, only getting Michigan State’s nailbiter correct. (You’d think I could have done a bit better, considering Roger broke those matchups down pretty thoroughly on Tuesday. Alas.)

My wife, however, posted a record of 26-6, only misfiring on Georgetown, Vanderbilt, Temple, Marquette, Louisville, and Notre Dame. She’s also only missing one team from her Sweet Sixteen (compared to my three), although she did have Georgetown in the Final Four. She’s currently sitting in second place in the HTWS bracket group. Pretty impressive stuff.

While the first round had some epic games, the second round isn’t lacking for excitement. Let’s take a look at the biggest games and I’ll give you my picks.

5 BUTLER (8.0 ASM, #25) VS. 13 MURRAY STATE (8.9 ASM, #16)

The Racers are already the talk of the tournament with a thrilling buzzer beater to knock off Vanderbilt. Wanna bet they can make it two in a row? Butler is an incredible team, but a big part of their win was the fact that UTEP inexplicably failed to take the court for the second half. (Wait, you mean they were actually out there? Yikes.) I’ll take Murray State here, but I expect this to be another game that comes down to the wire.

6 XAVIER (9.1 ASM, #15) VS. 3 PITTSBURGH (6.0 ASM, #42)

Much has been made out of the dominance of the Big East this year, but they’ve failed to impress so far in the tournament. I expect Pitt to continue that trend. The Panthers were sleepwalking in the first half against Oakland before finally coming to life in the second half. Xavier, however, battle and put away a tenacious Minnesota squad. If Pitt shows up with that same attitude on Sunday, the Musketeers should steamroll them. Even if they don’t, I don’t expect Pitt to make much headway against Xavier. Fear the X.

7 BYU (12.8 ASM, #4) VS. 2 KANSAS STATE (9.6 ASM, #12)

Admittedly, I’m a BYU alumnus, but I’m 100% on board the Jimmer Fredette bandwagon. In postseason play, he’s averaging over 35 points a game. The Cougars were atrociously underseeded this year, and figure to be a much tougher draw for K-State than the typical 7 seed would be. I like BYU’s chances here, though I see this one coming down to the wire. Maybe not double overtime again, but it’s going to be close.

11 WASHINGTON (7.8 ASM, #27) VS. 3 NEW MEXICO (7.7 ASM, #28)

Don’t let the seeding fool you – this is about as close a matchup as you’ll see in this tournament. (Thursday’s UNI-UNLV tilt was closer; the numbers said the two teams were exactly evenly matched.) This game will probably come down to the condition of New Mexico’s Darington Hobson. He took a nasty fall against Montana, and if he’s not 100% for the game, I expect Washington’s Quincy Pondexter and Isaiah Thomas to take over. As it is, I have the Lobos in my bracket. My fingers are crossed for Hobson.

10 MISSOURI (9.8 ASM, #8) VS. 2 WEST VIRGINIA (8.7 ASM, #18)

Seems like a slam dunk for Missouri, right? Normally, I’d say yes, but this Tigers team is a completely different bunch now that Justin Safford is out with a torn ACL. Their double-digit loss to Nebraska in the Big 12 tournament shows as much. I expect the Mountaineers to roll on Sunday.

11 OLD DOMINION (8.2 ASM, #24) VS. 3 BAYLOR (9.2 ASM, #14)

Baylor is a trendy Final Four pick out of the South region, but this is going to be a vicious matchup for them. Old Dominion is a sneaky tough team. They’ve already finished off a resilient Notre Dame squad, and I expect them to make things tough for the Bears. Tough enough to come out with a win? Well, I don’t know that I’d go quite that far. Baylor is a full point per game better than the Monarchs. Baylor wins here, but it’ll be closer than most will expect.

10 ST. MARY’S (9.3 ASM, #13) VS. 2 VILLANOVA (8.5 ASM, #20)

I expected to have to make an impassioned case for why the Wildcats are grossly overrated as a 2 seed. Fortunately, they made that case for me as the staggered their way to an overtime win over Robert Morris. Meanwhile, the Gaels looked impressive as they dispatched a tough Richmond squad. If Villanova plays like they did on Thursday, they’ll lose by 25 to St. Mary’s. Looks like another big loss for the First Bracket.

For those eager to see how the HTWS team’s brackets are doing, as well as our other blogging comrades, take a look at our bracket group on ESPN.