Biggest Upset
The biggest Cinderella story thus far is easily Cleveland State over Wake Forest. This is the third time this season that the Vikings surprised the college hoops world by knocking off a highly-ranked opponent. First was Syracuse, who lost to Cleveland State when Cedric Jackson hit a 60-foot desperation heave at the buzzer. Next was Butler, dropped by the Vikings in the Horizon League final. Wake Forest, welcome to the club.Near-Miss
Several of the top seeds struggled in their openers, but the biggest surprise was one seed Pittsburgh, who struggled to get by ETSU before finally winning by ten.Honorable mention goes to Eric Maynor of VCU, whose attempted game-winner rimmed out in the UCLA game.
Biggest Shot
Siena's Ronald Moore hit a three to force a second overtime, then hit another three -- from the same spot, no less -- to beat Ohio State.Biggest Non-story
While UConn was dismantling Chattanooga, Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun was in a Philadelphia hospital for tests. Any sudden trip to the hospital will raise concerns -- especially for a man that has has beaten cancer three times. But as of Friday morning, Calhoun was back with the team and feeling fine -- the official explanation for his illness was simple dehydration. Conspiracy theorists are already claiming that Calhoun faked the whole thing -- the last two times he missed an NCAA Tournament game due to illness, the Huskies went on to win the national championship.Curious Use of the Home Court Advantage
Villanova, playing in Philadelphia, let American University hang around for far longer than expected. But that's nothing compared to Ohio State, who lost in the first round despite playing a virtual home game in Dayton.Redemption Song
The critics had little love for the selection committee after they gave at-large bids to second-tier schools from BCS conferences over little guys like St. Mary's and Creighton... but Michigan, Wisconsin and Arizona all won their first-round games.Top Player
Ben Woodside, we hardly knew ye. Woodside played all 40 minutes of North Dakota State's 84-74 loss to Kansas, single-handedly keeping the Bison in the game. He finished with 37 points.Record by Conference
The Big 12 was undefeated in the first round, with all six teams advancing. The Big East went 6-1, with West Virginia the only casualty. And the Pac 10 went 5-1 -- Cal's loss to Maryland is the only blemish on their record.The Big 10 went 4-3, and the ACC was an unimpressive 3-4, with only UNC, Duke and Maryland winning their first-round matchups. And the SEC's down year continued -- only three teams made the field, and LSU is the only one remaining after Tennessee and Southern Miss were lost their openers.
It was a one-and-done tournament for the America East, MAC, MEAC, MVC, Atlantic Sun, Mountain West, NEC, OVC, Big Sky, Patriot, Big South, SoCon, Big West, Southland, Colonial, Summit, Ivy and WAC. Conference USA (Memphis), the MAAC (Siena) and the WCC (Gonzaga) are batting 1.000.
First Round Recaps
- (1) Pittsburgh 72, (16) ETSU 62 - (East Region/Dayton)
- (12) Wisconsin 61, (5) Florida State 59 (OT) - (East Region/Boise)
- (2) Duke 86, (15) Binghamton 62 - (East Region/Greensboro)
- (3) Villanova 80, (14) American 67 - (East Region/Philadelphia)
- (4) Xavier 77, (13) Portland State 59 - (East Region/Boise)
- (6) UCLA 65, (11) VCU 64 - (East Region/Philadelphia)
- (7) Texas 76, (10) Minnesota 62 - (East Region/Greensboro)
- (8) Oklahoma State 77, (9) Tennessee 75 - (East Region/Dayton)
- (1) Louisville 74, (16) Morehead State 54 - (Midwest Region/Dayton)
- (10) USC 69, (7) Boston College 55 - (Midwest Region/Dayton)
- (11) Dayton 68, (6) West Virginia 60 - (Midwest Region/Minneapolis)
- (12) Arizona 84, (5) Utah 71 - (Midwest Region/Miami)
- (13) Cleveland State 84, (4) Wake Forest 69 - (Midwest Region/Miami)
- (2) Michigan State 77, (15) Robert Morris 62 - (Midwest Region/Minneapolis)
- (3) Kansas 84, (14) North Dakota State 74 - (Midwest Region/Minneapolis)
- (9) Siena 74, (8) Ohio State 72 (2 OT) - (Midwest Region/Dayton)
- (1) North Carolina 101, (16) Radford 58 - (South Region/Greensboro)
- (10) Michigan 62, (7) Clemson 59 - (South Region/Kansas City)
- (12) Western Kentucky 76, (5) Illinois 72 - (South Region/Portland)
- (2) Oklahoma 82, (15) Morgan State 54 - (South Region/Kansas City)
- (3) Syracuse 59, (14) Stephen F. Austin 44 - (South Region/Miami)
- (4) Gonzaga 77, (13) Akron 64 - (South Region/Portland)
- (6) Arizona State 66, (11) Temple 57 - (South Region/Miami)
- (8) LSU 75, (9) Butler 71 - (South Region/Greensboro)
- (1) Connecticut 103, (16) Chattanooga 47 - (West Region/Philadelphia)
- (10) Maryland 84, (7) California 71 - (West Region/Kansas City)
- (2) Memphis 81, (15) Cal State Northridge 75 - (West Region/Kansas City)
- (3) Missouri 78, (14) Cornell 59 - (West Region/Boise)
- (4) Washington 71, (13) Mississippi State 58 - (West Region/Portland)
- (6) Marquette 58, (11) Utah State 57 - (West Region/Boise)
- (9) Texas A&M 79, (8) BYU 66 - (West Region/Philadelphia)
- (5) Purdue 61, (12) Northern Iowa 56 - (West Region/Portland)
