NCAA Basketball Opening Round Results

The first round of the 2010 NCAA tournament is complete. There were a number of upsets today that upset a lot of the bracket picks that fans made in their office pools and online brackets. The day started with ODU upsetting Notre Dame, #13 seed Murray State upsetting Vandy, and Ohio defeating the Georgetown Hoyas. #1 Seed Kentucky trounced ETSU as the Wildcats have rediscovered how to shoot the 3 ball which could spell trouble for the other teams in the East region bracket.

NCAA Tournament Match ups - Kentucky Wildcats vs. Wake Forest Demon Decons

Wake Forest survived Texas tonight primarily due to the Longhorns inability to shoot free throws down the stretch and won in OT, 81-80. The Demon Decons were led by Ismael Smith who flirted with a triple-double most of the game and star big man Aminu who had 20 points. They will now be facing the #1 seed Kentucky Wildcats in the East region second round on Saturday. Smith will have to contend with the star backcourt of Kentucky in John Wall (17 points, 11 assists against ETSU) and Eric Bledsoe (29 points) who have found their outside shots again in the opening round as the Wildcats coasted to a 100-71 victory. Bledsoe and Will connected on 11-13 3's between the two with Bledsoe knocking down 8 of 9 3's. Kentucky has the inside game to matchup with Wake so the difference may come down to who performs the best between Smith and Wall. If the Wildcats hit 50% from 3 again, the game won't be close. If they don't, Kentucky will still likely win, though it could be by less than 5 points.

NCAA Tournament Match ups - Old Dominion Monarcs vs. Baylor

ODU's upset of Notre Dame was the school's first NCAA Tournament victory in a long, long time. The game against Notre Dame was a slow, deliberate affair. When the Monarchs take on Baylor, expect to see a more up-tempo game than against Notre Dame. In order to have a shot at another upset, ODU will need to connect at or above their season average for 3 pointers. That being said, Baylor's athleticism will likely prove the difference in the ballgame. Baylor should win the game by 5-10 points.

NCAA Tournament Match ups - Kansas State vs. BYU

BYU somehow survived 2 OT's today against Florida to advance to the 2^nd round. The Gators had good success against BYU going inside but missed potential game winning shots at the end of regulation and the first overtime in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. Jimmer Fredette led BYU with 37 points and two key three pointers in the 2^nd OT of the game to help notch the win over Florida. K-State on the other hand, won by 20 points after an initial rough start against North Texas. They were led by Denis Clemente who had 17 points and 6 assists with Pullen and Kelly adding 15 points. If K State can contain Fredette's teammates and pound the ball inside, they should come out with another relatively easy victory in the 2^nd round over BYU.