March Madness: Round of 32 (Day 1)

First off, I'd like to invite our readers (if there are any), to check out Captain Montana's most recent post. Commodore Finnegan and I welcome the Captain back from his sabbatical and look forward to future posts. I'm thinking the Married Guy's Friday Night Post angle has promise. Kind of like a weekly Rick Reilly piece that doesn't make you wish you were dead. Now back to the madness...

Day Two of the Round of 64 was not kind to my bracket. After going 14-2 on Day One, I could only muster a 10-6 mark on Friday, leaving me at 24-8 for the first round. So where did I go wrong on Day Two? Well, I had Utah over Arizona, Wake Forest over Cleveland State, Tennessee over Oklahoma State, Florida State over Wisconsin, Temple over Arizona State, and West Virginia over Dayton. While I liked Dayton all season, the West Virginia loss surprised me. In fact, I thought the Mountaineers would reach the Elite Eight. Still, the biggest upset of the day had to be 13 seed Cleveland State's upset of 4 seed Wake Forest. Rumor has it that immediately following the game, a spontaneous, citywide reenactment of the Drew Carey Show's opening sequence took place on the streets of Cleveland. By way of full disclosure, I should also note that, while I predicted Kansas' victory over North Dakota State, my prediction that Sherron Collins would take Ben Woodside to the woodshed was just a tad off the mark. Collins got his 32, but Woodside dropped 37 on the Jayhawks. Overall, not a good day for Ivan Renko's Upside (the name of my bracket).

Before I reveal my first set of round two picks, let's take a look at how the power conferences stack up after round one.

Big 12: 6-0
Big East: 6-1
Pac-10: 5-1
Big Ten: 4-3
ACC: 3-4
SEC: 1-2

After I called out the Pac-10 for its Day One performances, I'm eating crow in light of Arizona, Arizona State, and USC picking up wins on Day Two. The Atlantic-10 actually managed a 2-1 first round record, placing the "mid-major" just ahead of the SEC.

Now, on to a batch of round two picks in which I pick the lower seed in every game.

3 Villanova vs. 6 UCLA [1:05 ET]
The Pick: Villanova
-Part of me wants to take UCLA here. The Bruins had the scare against VCU, which can be a good thing. Plus, there's the whole three straight trips to the Final Four thing. In the end, though, I have to take Nova. Jay Wright's squad has too many weapons on the offensive end. UCLA's strength is their perimeter defense, but there's only so much that you can do against the Wildcats' ballhandlers. Plus, Nova had its own scare against American U and should be ready to go.

10 Maryland vs. 2 Memphis [3:20 ET]
The Pick: Memphis
-Memphis has far too many weapons for Gary Williams' club. Maryland got past California, but the Tigers defense will be the difference in this one. Look for Calipari to apply pressure early and often to Terp point guard Greivis Vasquez. With Vasquez worn down by the second-half, I expect Memphis to roll (despite their first-round difficulties against CS Northridge).

9 Texas A&M vs. 1 Connecticut [3:35 ET]
The Pick: Connecticut
-A&M actually has the length to contend with the Huskies. The bruising style of Chinemelu Elongu could cause problems for Hasheem Thabeet. Ultimately, however, the Aggies' lack of a dynamic scorer will be their undoing.

5 Purdue vs. 4 Washington [5:40 ET]
The Pick: Washington
-Two very evenly matched opponents. If both teams play their best, Purdue wins. But Washington is more consistent and gets the nod.

8 LSU vs. 1 North Carolina [5:45 ET]
The Pick: North Carolina
-This one has the potential to be very close. And that's with a healthy Ty Lawson. With Lawson out (or at least hobbled), an upset is by no means out of the question. Still, I expect the Heels' stars to will their team to victory.

10 Michigan vs. 2 Oklahoma [5:50 ET]
The Pick: Oklahoma
-Manny Harris and DeShawn Sims have a chance against Blake Griffin and Willie Warren. But the Wolverines' uninspiring supporting cast simply can't match the production of Austin Johnson, Tony Crocker, Taylor Griffin, and Juan Pattillo.

12 Western Kentucky vs. 4 Gonzaga [8:10 ET]
The Pick: Gonzaga
-Western Kentucky has a great shot at making it two Sweet 16s in a row. Gonzaga looked vulnerable against Akron, and no one outscraps the Hilltoppers (especially the sometimes lackadaisical Zags). In the end, I give Mark Few's squad the edge, but it's a slight one. I just think the post tandem of Josh Heytvelt and Austin Daye is going to cause all sorts of problems for the under-sized Toppers. I'm looking forward to the Jeremy Pargo versus Orlando Mendez-Valdez matchup at the point. Two of the nation's best at dictating the flow of the action.

7 Texas vs. 2 Duke [8:15 ET]
The Pick: Duke
-Texas definitely has the horses to pull this one off. However, Duke has played well as of late, and Texas is maddeningly inconsistent. Duke gets the nod, but, if Damion James rises to the occasion and outplays Gerald Henderson, the Longhorns could prevail.