Friday, Day 1 of the Round of 64, was not exactly overpopulated with upsets. Virginia, Minnesota, and Villanova, that’s it. Otherwise pretty much what you would expect. Tennessee got a Century, good for them. Doesn’t look quite so impressive now, does it?
Unfortunately Lady’s Basketball does not have the financial support and development it deserves and that results in a wide range of teams appearing in the tournament. This is good and bad. Good because it makes the game more egalitarian and eclectic and provides encouragement to teams that are not rigid program factories of dismal similarity, and bad because they tend to be one and done cannon fodder.
I really liked St. Francis and I’ll bet Geno did too. They played their game which is run and gun and UConn didn’t grind them down with D (something they are fully capable of, take a look at some of the other results and you’ll see what I mean). They too got a NCAA record for number of 3 Point Attempts and had a game plan that might have worked against another team.
Geno likes Quinnipiac, last year’s Cinderella. Their draw is… unfortunate because Geno won’t let sentiment stand in the way and they looked really good against Miami.
Friday’s Results
| Seed | Team | Record | Score | Seed | Team | Record | Score | Region |
| 5 | Maryland | 26 – 7 | 77 | 12 | Princeton | 24 – 6 | 57 | Mid West |
| 5 | DePaul | 27 – 7 | 90 | 12 | Oklahoma | 16 – 15 | 79 | West |
| 1 | Louisville | 33 – 2 | 74 | 16 | Boise State | 23 – 10 | 42 | South |
| 6 | Oregon St. | 28 – 3 | 82 | 11 | Western Ky. | 24 – 9 | 58 | South |
| 4 | NC State | 25 – 8 | 62 | 13 | Elon | 25 – 8 | 35 | Mid West |
| 4 | Texas A&M | 25 – 9 | 89 | 13 | Drake | 26 – 8 | 76 | West |
| 8 | Marquette | 24 – 9 | 84 | 9 | Dayton | 23 – 7 | 65 | South |
| 3 | Tennessee | 25 – 7 | 100 | 14 | Liberty | 24 – 10 | 60 | South |
| 7 | California | 21 – 11 | 62 | 10 | *Virginia | 19 – 13 | 68 | East |
| 1 | Notre Dame | 30 – 3 | 99 | 16 | CSUN | 19 – 16 | 81 | West |
| 7 | Green Bay | 29 – 4 | 77 | 10 | *Minnesota | 24 – 8 | 89 | West |
| 7 | Michigan | 23 – 9 | 75 | 10 | Northern Colo. | 26 – 7 | 61 | South |
| 2 | South Carolina | 27 – 6 | 63 | 15 | N.C. A&T | 23 – 9 | 52 | East |
| 8 | South Dakota St. | 26 – 7 | 74 | 9 | *Villanova | 23 – 8 | 81 | West |
| 2 | Oregon | 31 – 4 | 88 | 15 | Seattle U | 18 – 5 | 45 | West |
| 2 | Baylor | 31 – 1 | 96 | 15 | Grambling | 19 – 13 | 46 | South |
Do we have favorites? Of course we have favorites.
Marquette because Michigan. DePaul and Maryland because program. Oregon State because Tennessee. Villanova because Muffy. Michigan because… well, Michigan.
I have given up wondering about how and why ESPN is screwing with the schedule and am simply taking everything the NCAA is saying on faith at this point. It makes my head ache less.
Good luck to your teams. It’s much more competitive in this round and unlikely you’ll see any Century blowouts.
Except from UConn.
Today’s Games
| Time | Network | Seed | Team | Record | Seed | Team | Record | Region |
| 12:00 pm | ESPN 2 | 1 | Louisville | 33 – 2 | 8 | Marquette | 24 – 9 | South |
| 2:00 pm | ESPN 2 | 4 | Texas A&M | 25 – 9 | 5 | DePaul | 27 – 7 | West |
| 2:30 pm | ESPN 2 | 4 | NC State | 25 – 8 | 5 | Maryland | 26 – 7 | Mid West |
| 2:30 pm | ESPN 2 | 3 | Tennessee | 25 – 7 | 6 | Oregon St. | 28 – 3 | South |
| 7:00 pm | ESPN 2 | 1 | Notre Dame | 30 – 3 | 9 | Villanova | 23 – 8 | West |
| 8:30 pm | ESPN 2 | 2 | Baylor | 31 – 1 | 7 | Michigan | 23 – 9 | South |
| 9:00 pm | ESPN 2 | 2 | South Carolina | 27 – 6 | 10 | Virginia | 19 – 13 | East |
| 10:30 pm | ESPN 2 | 2 | Oregon | 31 – 4 | 10 | Minnesota | 24 – 8 | West |