The first day of March Madness has come to a close. There were no great upsets other than perhaps the great ego that is OJ Mayo falling to the slightly less great ego that is Michael Beasley. The big story of day one is how the once mighty Blue Devils have fallen from grace.

Dana O'Neil of ESPN writes:

"Duke is quickly becoming the Green Bay Packers of college basketball, living more on its faded glory than on current success. The aura is tinged, the mystique has dissipated. This year, with no threatening big man and a team that looks imminently ordinary, what with a bunch of 3-point shooters, Duke was the 2-seed everyone wanted to get."

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/ncaatourney08/columns/story?columnist=oneil_dana&id=3304438

Really? This is a team that has one nearly 30 games with a freshman as arguably its best player. Where were these articles when UNC missed the tournament with a losing record several years back? Where were they today when Kentucky bowed out in the first round?

Anyway, ESPN's disgracing of the journalistic profession aside, there is little else to note from the first day other than how spectacular UCLA looked in a win over Mississippi Valley State. Granted it was a #1 seed against a #16, but 70-29 is embarrassing any way you slice it.

In fact, the old adage that "you should beware any "state" that's not a state" did not bear out on the first day. Both Michigan State and Kansas State won convincingly, while Kent State and Mississippi Valley State were dispatched.

Looking ahead,

Tomorrow we have 16 Games on tap:

Davidson v. Gonzaga

UMBC v. Georgetown

Siena v. Vanderbilt

Villanova v. Clemson

Western Kentucky v. Drake

San Diego v. UConn

American v. Tennessee

S. Alabama v. Butler

St Joe's v. Oklahoma

Mt St. Mary's v. UNC

Boise State v. Louisville

Arkansas v. Indiana

St. Mary's v. Miami (FL)

Austin Pea v. Texas

Oregon v. Mississippi State

Texas Arlington v. Memphis

Post your picks for these games, and we will see who has the most standing when tomorrow's games are said and done. If we have a tie on who has the most teams through to the next round, the winner will be decided on whoever picked the lowest seeded team to advance.

I am going with

Davidson, Georgetown, Siena, Clemson, Drake, Uconn, Tennessee, Butler, Oklahoma, UNC, Louisville, Indiana, Miami, Texas, Oregon, Memphis.

(Collin, can we come up with a prize, or at least a way to announce daily winners?)