How about some late night live blogging? Sussman's got ya! Our own Matt Sussman is here to take you through some more gaming. The games are UCLA vs. Mississippi Valley State, Wisconsin vs. Cal State Fullerton, West Virginia vs. Arizona and Notre Dame vs. George Mason. Enjoy.
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12:00 — Ah, the stroke of midnight. With all the non-upsets today, even a Cinderella pun is below me. Wisconsin beat up on Cal-Fullerton 71-56, and the only upset of the day was Kansas State over USC, which again, didn't seem like much of an upset. So that was the the first day, which pretty much blew noxious vapors. Although that 10-minute nap I inadvertently took during the first half of the Arizona-West Virginia game rather energized me. Thanks for playing along, mates.
11:56 — This isn't necessary. We're back to the UCLA-Mississippi Valley game. Show something else. Show Montana high school basketball. Show ballet. Show Ben Howland picking his nose. UCLA won 70 to 29. Highlights of this game are rumors at best.
11:54 — That final minute just game out of nowhere. And it went by just like that, with no timeouts or "hafta fouls." My kinda finish. West Virginia moves on, 75-65.
11:51 — Chase Budinger gets three free throws after getting fouled shooting one of those "long basketball shots." Budinger not only resembles Seth Rogen, he is the Seth Rogen of basketball. Much like a dumb comedy, Budinger can kind of carry this basketball team, but sorta not really.
11:46 — Poignant question, for once. So Enterprise Rent-A-Car is apparently sponsor for the NCAA. So here's a thought. If the NCAA doesn't have an official beer sponsor ... how come rental car companies can get away with it? Some college students can drink at 21. But we all have to wait until 25 to rent a car.
11:43 — It's fair to say that WV's three-point basket there was ... wacky. Even Plinko boards have seen fewer bounces.
11:42 — Well, Arizona's down 60-59 under five minutes. Let's see if the pace of this one continues into something engaging.
11:34 — West Virginia really wants to pull away from Arizona. (As do the rest of us, so we know who wins all four games tonight.) But Arizona just keeps hovering around the five-to-eight point deficit range.
11:31 — WV's backup center's last name is Smalligan. That surname just reeks of scrappiness.
11:25 — The announcer just said that at this point of the game, player fatigue sets in and the quality of play goes down. So these last 10 minutes should be just dreamy.
11:17 — The Hillsfolk are now atop the Deserters by nine points. And 'Sconsin suddenly jumped on Cal-Fullerton by 11 points. No good team wants any fan to watch something competitive tonight.
11:12 — Giving credit where credit is due, in a cyber world rife with cynicism, that Burger King bed-is-jealous-of-man commercial elicited audible laughter.
11:08 — Hey, folks, that Wisconsin-Fullerton games looks like it's the best one of the 9:30 set. This is what it's come to.
11:03 — So that was weird. They showed the five leading scorers for Arizona, and Jawann McClellan was listed as "fifth" with zero points. Was that necessary? Hell, they could've put my name up with zero. They could've put Lute Olsen's marriage at zero. Why Jawann McClellan?
11:01 — Breaking news out of Commercialville, a family of five just burned to death because a firefighter got acid reflux from a Hardee's Jalapeño Thickburger.
10:59 — Ach. Even the commercials are like watching a 1 vs. 16. I haven't seen many of these, so I seriously hope they're saving the big league ads for the Final Four.
10:54 — And I'm saved by Notre Dame-George Mason, who's begun the second half. This isn't the same Mason team we came to know and love back in 2006, so I'm not even going to try and send my heart out for them. ND's pulling away 40-23.
10:47 — We're in the middle of three halftimes right now, and I gotta say ... can first round NCAA basketball get more boring than this? Save for Belmont's near-win, the other seven games have been seven fathoms shy of interesting. And just as I close down the mini-rant, CBS swings us back to UCLA-Mississippi Valley State. That wasn't asked for.
10:42 — Yes, I did just fall asleep for 10 minutes. Who are you going to tell?
10:26.30 — God, this is creepy. "And now we bring you Arizona-West Virginia." There is a Gumbel after all.
10:26 — UCLA increases their lead to 21-6. If I just ... stop ... talking about this game, does that count as a noble silent protest?
10:20: — I believe I just watched 86 consecutive misses and/or turnovers by the Delta Devils. I know I'm exaggerating. It's more like 79.
10:17 — MVSU gets powerfully blocked, and UCLA breaks for another basket. It's a 12-4 game in favor of the Bruins. CHANGEITCHANGEITCHANGEITCHANGEITCHANGEIT.
10:11 — Most famous alum for MVSU: Jerry Rice. Three minutes in, and we're already at the "notable people who went to the school" portion of the game. Yep, cool, they won the SWAC. Let's move it on to another game, shall we?
10:07 — Well, I'm certainly glad they're sending me to UCLA-Mississippi Valley State. That's one of the perks of visiting Wyoming.
10:03 — It's time to go around the tournament for some updates. George Mason trails 23-7. Commonwealth? More like Notre Dame is hogging all the wealth! Heh? Yeah?
And Fullerton and Wisconsin already began. Wisky will do their best to keep this game under 5 total possessions.
9:57 — And we're magically whisked to Arizona-West Virginia. Doo-da-lee-oo. Doo-da-lee-oo. Doo-da-lee-oo. Doo-da-lee-oo.
9:50 — This game couldn't get uglier if Luke Harangody was in the ... oh.
9:45 — Hey, remember George Mason and their NCAA tournament history? 'Cause ya won't forget by the end of this game!
9:35 — A&M will advance, as does Kansas State and Washington State. (Again, that K-State win may be an 11 over a 6, but it had absolutely no underdog sizzle. Not with Michael Beasley on the court.
9:34 — It might be fair to call this one for Texas A&M, being up 67-60 with half a shot clock left.
Pregame Babble
I'm being told to give a deuce about these final four games of the night. Little may top Duke-Belmont, but I think the optic nerves are looking at the Fullerton-Wisconsin game for the next possible upset. Oh, and this BYU-A&M game is still going on, as the Aggies have a three point lead with a minute left in the game.