Let the Tourney Begin!

Everyone has a story about the Tournament and how they came to love it. I remember a spring evening in 1991 when I was just a kid going out for a bike ride and my dad sitting down to watch the game. I had a UNLV Running Rebels hat that I had got the year before after the Shark and his boys had won the tournament. They were looking strong going into the Final Four against a Duke team that they beat for the National Championship the previous year. Riding around the block I thought that the Rebels were invincible. Then I got home and found out that Duke had pulled off what many argue was the biggest upset in NCAA history. Thus began my love of the Tourney.

So Day 1 at the 2011 Tournament started the way so many opening days do. Right from the outset there were close games. Of the first three games one was tied at half and the other two were two point leads, and continued on til the final buzzer of the night. 16 games yesterday and of them 5 were determined by 2 points or less!

The biggest of upsets was #13 Morehead State taking out #4 Louisville. Now if you had been paying attention to the my invitation e-mail, you would have seen that I totally called that one. Mark and Pete took my encouragement to heart and got that one right saving them the anguish of having to admit that they chose the Cardinals to go deep.

The next big upset of the day was Vanderbilt losing to Richmond. Richmond hasn't been in the tournament for a while but they have a history of upsetting big teams. In 84 they upset Sir Charles and his Auburn Tigers. In 1991, they upset the #2 Orangemen of Syracuse. and in their last appearance they upset #3 North Carolina which included the likes of Jerry Stackhouse, Rasheed Wallace and Eric Montross.

After leading by 11 in the first half, Vandy let the Spiders creep back in and with 13 minutes left in the second half took the lead for good. It remained close for the rest of the game, Richmond's lead never growing to more than 4.

We still have 47 games to be determined but after the first 16, here is how we stand. Al, Mark and myself are sitting at 15 victories. Jeff Stands alone at 14 while Jason M and Pete sit at the middle of the pack with 13 wins. There is a log jam at the 12 victory mark with Andrew, Dick, Elaina and Mr Breakfast Club, Jason. Mr Duggan rounds out our crew but with so many games left to play he'll have a chance to jump to the top as early as this afternoon.

There are a couple of good games underway already today, including a close one between Oakland and Texas. Check back tomorrow for an update on all today's action.