March 20, 2008

Mike Huguenin
Rivals.com College Basketball Editor

MORE: NCAA TOURNAMENT CENTRAL

The first day of the NCAA Tournament is done, and it was ? well, it was boring.

There were 16 games, and the favorites won 14 of the 16. The one "upset" was a No. 11 seed beating a No. 6 seed - but the No. 11 was a team from the Big 12 (Kansas State). The other "upset" was a No. 9 seed beating a No. 8 seed - and the No. 9 was another Big 12 team (Texas A&M).

One true upset was averted when No. 2 Duke held off No. 15 Belmont 71-70. The Bruins, who lost for the third consecutive season as a No. 15, actually had a chance to stun the Blue Devils but blew a couple of chances in the final two minutes.

To make matters worse, just three of the 16 games were decided by less than 10 points.

All in all, not a first day to remember.

Two No. 1 seeds were in action and both won comfortably: Kansas over Portland State in the Midwest and UCLA over Mississippi Valley State in the West. The other No. 1s begin play Friday night: North Carolina in the East against Mount St. Mary's, which won Tuesday night's play in-game, and Memphis in the South against UT Arlington.

Of the "Big Six" conferences, the Pac-10 and SEC each lost twice and the Big 12 once Thursday. No. 6 USC and No. 10 Arizona were the Pac-10 losers. But that league also had three winning teams: UCLA, No. 3 Stanford and No. 4 Washington State. The SEC lost No. 11 Kentucky and No. 14 Georgia and had nobody else play Thursday. The Big 12 had winners in Kansas, K-State and A&M, while No. 11 Baylor was a loser.

The other 11 losers were from non-Big Six leagues: teams from the Atlantic 10 (Temple) and Mountain West (BYU) and the lone representatives from the Atlantic Sun (Belmont), Big Sky (Portland State), Big South (Winthrop), Big West (Cal State Fullerton), Colonial (George Mason), Ivy (Cornell), Mid-American (Kent State), Southwestern Athletic (Mississippi Valley) and Summit (Oral Roberts).

As for other winners, the Big East had four, the Big Ten also had three, and the ACC, A-10 and Mountain West had one each.

Mike Huguenin is the college sports editor for Rivals.com. He can be heard on Rivals Radio every Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. ET and can be reached at mhuguenin@rivals.com.

MORE: NCAA TOURNAMENT CENTRAL

Mike Huguenin is the college sports editor for Rivals.com. He can be reached at mhuguenin@rivals.com.