KALAMAZOO, Mich. – After seeing the first weekend unfold, the best sporting event once again 
comes through with everything a sports fan could ever want in a tournament. The first weekend of March Madness had it all. It started with a double OT game as BYU outlasted Florida and finished with Purdue toppling Texas A&M in another OT game.
There were 4 OT games and 12 games that ended within 3 points of each other. There were upsets with Cornell and St. Mary’s making it to the Sweet 16 and then along came Northern Iowa: the giant slayer that shocked the world and turned brackets upside down when they beat the overall #1 seed Kansas.
Hopefully, this was enough of a wake-up call to the NCAA to leave this tournament just like it is because there is no need to mess with this perfect format.
The best part of all of this is we still have 15 games to be played to determine the 2010 National Champion. Here is what we learned from the first weekend. Everyone has considered the Big East the premier conference in college basketball and they received 8 bids to the tournament but with upsets to Pittsburgh, Villanova, and Marquette, only two Big East schools remain. (West Virginia & Syracuse)
The second best conference the Big 12 received 7 bids and only 2 teams also made it to the round of 16 with upsets to Texas A&M and Kansas only Kansas St. and Baylor advanced.
The most surprising conference would have to be the Big Ten who had three teams survive with only 5 teams getting bids. I had Purdue dead in the water after Robbie Hummel went down with a torn ACL. They fought through and did what Big Ten teams love to do in the tournament. They controlled tempo, played good defense and made clutch shots when they counted.
My all Kingpin Team of the 1st weekend:
Omar Samhan St. Mary’s- 30.5 ppg 9.5 RPG
Jordan Crawford Xavier- 27.5 ppg
Ali Farokhmanesh N. Iowa- 2 game winning shots 16.5ppg
Wes Johnson Syracuse- 24.5ppg 10 RPG
Louis Dale/Ryan Whitman Cornell- 23.5 ppg 22ppg
My Goats of the 1st weekend:
Scottie Reynolds- 4-31 Fg, 1:1 Assist T:O ratio
Sherron Collins- 4-15 0-6 3 pt attempts. 5 To’s vs N. Iowa
Georgetown giving up 97 points to the Ohio University
Predictions of Sweet 16.
Cornell vs Kentucky
Can the Big Red machine continue to dominate in this tournament against the Young flashy Wildcats. Cornell does a great job of controlling tempo and limiting their opponent’s possessions.
I would love to see a team who doesn’t give athletic scholarships beat the coach who always seems to land the top recruits every year who then leave for millions the next year. ESPN’s Jay Bilas picked Cornell into the Elite 8 and I would love to see our second #1 seed go down against an Ivy league school.
Butler vs. Syracuse – In this 5 vs. 1 matchup, I see the Syracuse Orangeman taking advantage of their length and athleticism to cause Butler some issues. I expect their 2-3 zone to suffocate Butler’s shooters and Wes Johnson and Andy Rautins to continue their good tournament play with another victory.
Xavier vs. Kansas St. – In this matchup, I like Xavier to spring the upset and beat Kansas St. in a rematch from Dec. 8 where K-St beat them by 15 at home. In Salt Lake City, I like kingpin Jordan Crawford to continue his strong play scoring the basketball. Xavier has been playing great team defense in the tournament and I think this will continue as they stifle the Wildcats and earn a trip to the Elite 8.
West Virginia vs. Washington – Washington is getting a lot of hype in possibly upsetting the Mountaineers. Washington was ranked 13th in the preseason coaches’ poll and looked to be having a disappointing season before getting their act together and reeling off 7 straight victories and winning the Pac 10 Tournament.
They have two studs in Quincy Pondexter and Point guard Isaiah Thomas. I feel that even though they are playing their best basketball they are playing a far superior opponent then their other two tourney matchups. West Virginia plays incredible team defense and crashes the boards better than any other team. I think they will slow down the 2 headed Husky monster and make it to the Elite 8for the third time in their schools history.
Tennessee vs. Ohio St. – In the Midwest bracket where Georgetown and Kansas have been eliminated can Tennessee add to the list of upsets? I don’t think so, I think the steady hand of Evan Turner and company will end their upset bid and beat the winner of MSU and N. Iowa to make it to their school’s 11th Final Four.
N. Iowa vs. Michigan State – In this matchup where the upset heard around the world is back at it against Tom Izzo’s Spartans who have made it to 7 Sweet sixteen’s in the last decade. I would love the Spartans in this one if their leading 
scorer and floor general Kalin Lucas wasn’t out for the year with a ruptured Achilles tendon. Since he is hurt, I think N. Iowa will win this one in a close game. I wouldn’t count out Izzo’s Spartans because it’s March and he knows how to win in spring.
Duke vs. Purdue – I will say it, I was totally wrong about the Boilermakers. I thought they had no chance to make it through the weekend. They proved to me how tough and competitive their coach and team can be by beating a very good Texas A&M team in the second round. They are one of the biggest surprises for me in the Sweet 16 and have really come together and have played well thus far. I don’t think they can score enough to beat the Blue Devils and so I see Duke advancing to their 18th Elite 8.
Baylor vs. St. Mary’s – In the last of the sweet sixteen games, I like the Bears putting St. Mary’s Cinderella run on hold. I think kingpin Omar Samhan will run into the best interior defender he has ever seen in Ekpe Udoh. Udoh is long and 6’10 and I think will be able to bother Samhan. Baylor also has a number of big bodies they can throw at him to continue to make him work. I love St. Mary’s shooters but I think Baylor’s overall talent is better and I expect them to make it to their school’s 3rd Final Four.
Mateo is the NCAA contributor for SportsClimax.com.
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