The 7-10/8-9 games are murder

For the first 15 games of Day 1, the tourney seemed to be missing the Madness everyone is so accustomed to seeing. It wasn't until the 16th game, the final game of the night, when the first upset was recorded. 12 seed Western Kentucky took down 5 seed Illinois, 76-72, to advance to the second round, where the Hilltoppers will face 4 seed Gonzaga.
Not only did the Hilltoppers repeat last year's feat of defeating a 5 seed in the tourney, (WKU defeated 5 Drake at the buzzer in OT) but they also kept the intensely appealing 5-12 upset trend going. Since the 64 team bracket was introduced in 1985, there have been only three years where a 12 seed has not upset a 5 seed (1988, 2000 and 2007). I chose WKU to KO the Fightin' Illini early. Tab one big RIGHT for Shiny.
And while we're keeping score, tab five big WRONGS for Shiny. Three 7-10 matchups were played today, with 10 Maryland, 7 Texas and 10 Michigan beating 7 Cal, 10 Minnesota and 7 Clemson, respectively. The significance of those three matchups? I decided to bet on 7 Cal, 10 Minnesota and 7 Clemson, having picked Clemson into the Sweet 16. Quick word of advice: Probabaly not a good idea to root for a certain team (Clemson) while wearing the opponent's hat (Michigan). This was the unusual situation I put myself in tonight; Michigan is, and always will be, one of my all-time favorite programs. Don't ask why I picked against them, especially a team I generally despise (Clemson). I guess that's what the Madness can do to you.
The other matchups that killed me were the 8-9, which, technically, isn't really a killer because the 8-9 games are always a crapshoot anyway. Of the two games played (8 BYU - 9 Texas A&M and 8 LSU - 9 Butler), I missed...both. The Butler loss might actually save me down the road because I really believe the Bulldogs could have seriously contested with a Ty Lawson-less Tar Heel squad (I picked the Heels to cut down the nets in April). The BYU game, on the other hand, was a little more painful. Bracket-wise, it wasn't a killer, either, because neither team had-or has-any kind of prayer against UCONN and the Giant (7'3" Hasheem Thabeet).
It was the simple fact that the Cougars bowed out in another first round in the NCAA Tournament. The loss to the Aggies was the second consecutive loss to A&M in the tournament (9 TAMU 67-8 BYU 62 in 2008) and extended the Cougars first round exits to seven in a row. The last time BYU actually won a game in the tournament was in 1993 when it defeated 10 SMU 80-71. Quick advice to coach Rose and the Cougs: Just WIN, baby!
That's about all I got for tonight. Tomorrow, I hope, the Madness will truly begin!

-Potential Upset Alert! 13 Portland State over 4 Xavier/ 12 Wisconsin over 5 Florida State/ 12 Arizona over 5 Utah/ 13 Cleveland State over 4 Wake Forest/ 11 Temple over 6 Arizona State/ 11 Utah State over 6 Marquette/ 14 North Dakota State over 3 Kansas.