The NCAA Tournament 1st round is in the rear-view mirror, and there was a nice share of madness. In fact, over 5,000 entries in USA TODAY’s NCAA Men’s Tournament Survivor Pool were eliminated in the first 2 days.
Major upsets of No. 3 seed Kentucky (by 14th-seeded Oakland) and 4th-seeded Auburn (by 13th-seeded Yale) knocked out a bunch of those entries. Losses by 5th-seeded Saint Mary’s (to 12th-seeded Grand Canyon) and 5th-seeded Wisconsin (to No. 12 seed James Madison) also bumped many to the exits.
After the opening round, I learned a hard lesson. Don’t trust the SEC, at least this season.
I was bitten by G Jermaine Couisnard (40 points) and his 11th-seeded Oregon Ducks, who rolled past the 6th-seed South Carolina Gamecocks, who just never were able to get on track in their 1st-round Midwest Region game.