NCAA Opening Round Friday and I hope you were able to get off work like I was. I'll be sitting in my La-Z-Boy today and enjoying the games all while blogging using my Palm Treo Pro. Throw in the fact that I have access to Sprint TV and the Sprint Digital Lounge and I'll be in blogger heaven. So, check back to this post throughout the day for the latest updates on the games as well as my thoughts on what is happening.
The good news is that we do have live stats for ALL NCAA games. Check out the NCAA Tournament Scoreboard here.
Here are the matchups you can look forward to in the ACC...
- #7 Boston College vs #10 USC 7:20 ET Live Stats
- #4 Wake Forest vs #13 Cleveland State 9:40 ET Live Stats
- #5 FSU vs #12 Wisconsin 9:55 ET Live Stats
Updates on the Games will follow below when the games begin. Tell me, are you as excited as I am?!?
Updates
- 12:36 ET: First update of day 2. The first sessions games are Oklahoma St/Tennessee, Syracuse/SF Austin, Kansas/North Dakota St, and Marquette/Utah State.
- 2:00 ET: Three close games in the first session, the only exception is Syracuse who is taking care of SF Austin. Like a lot of smaller schools, North Dakota State is using the three point shot to stay in the game.
- 2:11 ET: Another name you now know...Ben Woodside. 29 points so far for ND State against Kansas with 6 minutes remaining. That said, Kansas is now up 8.
- 2:26 ET: Kansas seems to be in control now, but Tennesee/OK St are tied at 72 while Utah State is up 1 (49-48) with 2:20 left.
- 2:33 ET: Kansas and Syracuse in with wins. Tennessee can't make a game-winning three, and Ok Stat wins. Utah State still has some life down 56-54 with 23 seconds left.
- 2:40 ET: Marquette holds on to beat Utah State 58-57.
- 2:41 ET: The next session gets started soon and it has Temple/Arizona St, ETSU/Pitt, Dayton/West Virginia, and Cornell/Missouri
- 3:12 ET: I'm watching that WVU game closely. I like the Mountaineers to make a run in the tourney. Of course they're down early 9-6.
- 3:22 ET: The more I see of Arizona State, the more I like. Herb Sendek's team may just make a run in the tournament. ASU is now up 9 on Temple.
- 3:45 ET: The 1/16 upset is going to happen at some point. That some point might be today. East Tennessee State is down just 2 to Pitt with 2:25 remaining in the first half. Unlike the other small schools, ETSU is just 1-11 from behind the arc. The reason they are staying in the game is because Pitt is turning the ball over on 35% of their possessions.
- 3:50 ET: Speaking of upsets, Cornell is giving yet another 3 seed a scare as Mizzou trails by 1 with 3 minutes remaining.
- 3:56 ET: ETSU down 3 at the half and Cornell down 4 at the half.
- 5:15 ET: The only upset of session 2 appears to be Dayton over West Virginia. I'll be back around time for Session 3 where BC will be representing the ACC.
- 5:54 ET: The Friday night primetime session gives us Louisville/Morehead St, Arizona/Utah, USC/BC, and Xavier/Portland St.
- 8:05 ET: Louisville is making the news in the primetime session as the #1 overall seed is getting a fight from Morehead St. In the other games, BC is tied with USC with 30 seconds remaining in the first half. As most expected 12 seed Arizona is up on Utah by 5 at half while Xavier is up 8 late in the first half in their matchup against Portland State.
- 8:32 ET: Louisville now up 10 with 14 minutes remaining and playing smarter.
- 8:42 ET: Only the BC/USC game has a scoring margin less than 10 as BC is up 3 at the moment. Arizona, Louisville, and Xavier are in control of their respective games for the moment.
- 8:50 ET: USC just keeps hitting shots as their effective field goal % sits at 55% (compared to 43% for BC) and is now up 50-44. Taj Gibson leads the way hitting all 8 shots he has attempted. Tyrese Rice has been invisible thus far with just 7 points and 4 turnovers.
- 9:20 ET: USC, Arizona, Louisville, and Xavier will all move on.
- 9:21 ET: In the final session of the first round we get Wake Forest/Cleveland St, Siena/Ohio State, Michigan St/Robert Morris, and FSU/Wisconsin.
- 10:04 ET: Wake Forest is stinking up the place, down 18-6 after 6 minutes of action.
