Bulletpoint madness: Random Tourney Thoughts

Well the 1st 2 rounds of the NCAA are in the books kids, the immortal question of "How's your bracket holding up?" is floating around everywhere, bubbles have burst, chalk has well...chalked, and moments are starting to shine. After watching as much ball as I could over the weekend there is really only one way to get it all out there. That's right kids, Bulletpoint me:

• Obligatory bracket recap: I have 11 of the Sweet 16 remaining with all of my elite 8s. I admittedly got cute this year due to my "important for reasons that have nothing to do with money RICO enforcing internet robots" brackets having bonuses for upset picks. These of course led me to picking several upsets I shouldn't have.
  
• Blake Griffin is really good. You know you are good when people start trying to murder you in the middle of a game.
  Good effort Morgan St, sadly he still dropped 28 and 13 on you. This then was followed up with a 33 and 17 game against Michigan. While I understand some people questioning his ability to be a great NBA player, I'd certainly prefer him to say an Andrea Bargniani at the top of the draft board.
• Pittsburgh, as my championship pick, is scaring the absolute Bejeezus out of me. While they ended up beating 16 seed E. Tennessee St 72-62, the game was MUCH closer than the score lets on. Their 2nd round 84-76 win over Okie St wasn't much more impressive. Sam Young has been in beast mode, but PG Levance Fields has been sloppy and scared to shoot. Dejuan Blair (co-POTY in the Big East mind you) needs to step it up (only 10pts 12 boards against OSU) if Pitt wants to stay alive.
• Probably the most fun I had watching a game during the 1st round, not saying it was the best mind you, had to be the #2Memphis vs #15 Cal St Northridge game. Again, the final score of 81-70 doesn't do this game justice. This was a four point game with 2:30 left. It also led to one of my favorite "sports as a social aspect" moments possible. I watched the 1st day's games at a sports bar here in Dallas called Frankie's. First off, I have to give them props for having one of, if not the best sports bar set up I've ever seen. But with about 10 minutes left, even with several other games on, everyone in the bar started to take notice of the Memphis CSN game. Because it was the 1st round and we haven't seen a 15 over a 2 since 2001, you could feel a buzz going thru the joint as everyone started to get behind the Matadors. I turned to my buddy when they were down 4 w/ 2:30 left and was concerned because we've all seen this before. The low seed team is still in the game but psyches themselves out and starts chucking ill-advised shots thinking it's their only chance. Sadly that's exactly what happened. While the outcome failed, CSN gave us a hell of a ride. It also brought back the random fun groupthink of everyone in the bar, all with their own allegiances, randomly getting behind a team that most probably didn't know a thing about.
• While Pitt and Memphis got a run from their 1st round no shot seeds, UConn and UNC decided to just blow them out of the water with no remorse. UConn beat the Mighty Mocs of Chattanooga 103-47 in what became a violent dunk show. The thing is, you can't really fault UConn. They had their walk ons in early and found themselves wide open under the basket with no D to be found. They really had no choice but to dunk. These kids barely got a chance to play in the regular season, can't really fault them for wanting to get a lil production out of some rare burn on the biggest stage they'll ever see. UNC, w/o Ty Lawson mind you, handed a 101-58 whooping to Radford. That is how you take care of a 1st round game kids.
• Probably the best 1st round game in my opinion was the UCLA VCU tilt. Eric Maynor, God bless him, is a hell of a player. Sadly his final effort was abraisive. He had 21 pts, 6 boards and 7 dimes, but the shot at the buzzer was ugly. Sadly UCLA had it drawn up perfectly. Here's a short highlight that really doesn't do the end justice.
  Great game, sadly VCU couldn't give me one of the upsets I needed.
  
• Speaking of upsets I needed, I'm never trusting the state of Utah for anything ever again. 0 for 3 Utah?? Seriously?? Including to a team that most say shouldn't have gotten in(Arizona) and the one upset I truly wanted more than any (Marquette sans Dominic James). I hate you Utah, you are a terrible useless state with nothing going for you.
  
• A lot of people complained about not liking the 1st round because there were not enough upsets, etc. While sure, everybody loves upsets, the 2nd round provided some fantastic games. I have a hard time believing this is the OMG WORST TOURNEY EVAHHHH!!!!11!!
  
• Oh Western Kentucky, my hope for this years random low seed sailing through. You have a lovable red mascot and a penchant for upsets. You had #4 Gonzaga on the ropes in what was one of the best finishes so far. While you broke my heart and hurt my pride, it was a hell of an effort and I give you my respect. Here's the last few ticks if you haven't seen it (If you haven't you should be able to check out at least more indepth highlights on cbssports.com, do it now).
  
• Also in great finishes was Marquette-Missouri. This game made me much much much happier for many reasons. I hate Marquette. Most of my hatred is due to 2 men, ex-coach Tom Crean (now busy ruining IU basketball) and Dominic James. I've never seen a more classless player in person. When he played against ND he would talk trash, whine for things that even a homer couldn't give him, got into it with fans and tried to hit a player. Well Mr. James has been out since Feb and decided to try and make his triumphant return. His line: 0 pts, 1 reb, 1 assist, 3 fouls...good effort. However, my favorite has to be the way they lost. Let's look shall we:
  Even Chris Webber thinks you blew it Lazar. While your name is awesome you should be thanking the fates that this game was a 2nd rounder and not further up in the tourney. Otherwise your decision to turn the ball over in one of the stupidest ways possible would be an "agony of defeat" type clip for all time.
• Going forward, since it still exists for now, I've got MSU over UL in the Midwest, UConn over Missou in the West, Pitt over Nova in the East, and OU over UNC in the South. For the Final Four I've got UConn and Pitt moving on with Pitt taking it all. Yes I'm terrified

I want to get another post up sometime this week with some thoughts on the WBC, NBA, and others but who knows. So let's hear your thoughts down in the comments on the tourney so far, and hey, how's your bracket?