Small.To’s pool got considerably more crowded when norcaldoll screamed to a 14-2 second day. The next best outings were 13-3 days from mwc and cq, while dbsmall, myself, veglia and hendu all came up with 12-4. Soildork had an 11-5.

Those results leave dbsmall and the mysterious mwc tied at 52 points for the lead after the first round of action. Norcalfella, hendu and cq are tied for third with 50 points. Norcaldoll and veglia are tied for sixth with 48 points. Soildork has dug a hole in the soil with 42 points in eighth place.

The results didn’t really surprise me. Butler I felt had the chance to beat 5 seed Mississippi State, so I picked them on one of my two bracket sheets. Their buzzer beater produced a 47-46 win and set up a meeting with 4 seed Louisville who crushed 13 seed Austin Peay 86-64. Watch out for a Butler upset. Also in the East, 6 seed Oklahoma State dumped 11 seed Pennsylvania, which I saw as an upset chance. Instead the Cowboys will advance to face 3 seed Syracuse who took Manhattan 76-65. The other East pod features 10 seed Auburn, who beat 7 seed St. Joseph’s 65-63 in OT, taking on 2 seed Wake Forest, a 76-73 winner over East Tennessee State. Both teams escaped, and now I expect Wake to wake up and crush Auburn.

The Midwest saw defending finalist Indiana dispatch 10 seed Alabama 67-62 with a huge second half effort. They advance to meet 2 seed Pittsburgh who demolished Wagner 87-61. Watch for the Hoosiers to catch the Panthers overconfident and make it a good game. Top seed Kentucky rolled IUPUI 95-64 and meets 9 seed Utah, who upset Oregon 60-58.

In the South, 2 seed Florida had no problem with Sam Houston State in a 85-55 win and now faces 7 seed Michigan State, who polished off Colorado 79-64. Top seed Texas walked on N.C. Asheville 82-61 and now faces 9 seed Purdue who scored a rather stunning 80-56 whooping of LSU. The other pod features 3 seed Xavier, a 71-59 winner over Troy State, against 6 seed Maryland who got a breath of life following a buzzer beater that catapulted them past N.C. Wilmington 75-73.

Enjoy the games, and tune into hoops, not military conflict. It’s more fun to watch.