Bring On The Cats

The first day of March Madness was not kind to our eighth-seeded opponents, Texas and UNLV — both of which fell to No. 9 seeds on the final shot of the game.

But Baylor and Kansas both survived and advanced, and K-State of course rolled, so the Big 12 still is looking pretty good as long as Oklahoma State takes care of business tonight. Missouri winning would be a bonus. I'd just hate to lose all three opening-round games against mediocre ACC opponents.

Speaking of mediocrity, the Big East fail has reached epic proportions. First, Seton Hall lost at home to Texas Tech in embarrassing fashion — and then its coach got gassed. St. John's lost at Memphis — and its coach got gassed.

If I was Mike Brey, John Thompson III or Buzz Williams right now, I'd be a little nervous. Three jobs in that conference already are open and I still can't figure out how Fred Hill kept his job.

So far today, West Virginia stubbed its toe early, but recovered and dominated from there on out. But the way things are going, would it really shock you if Syracuse became the first No. 1 seed to lose its opener? This tournament is doing bad things to the Big East's reputation of invincibility...

AP Ranking = 7

ESPN/USA Today Ranking = 7

NCAA Seed = 2 (West Region)

Record = 27-7

• Loyola Chicago (14-16)
  
• Western Illinois (13-17)
  
• Boston University (20-13)
  
• No. 2* seed Ole Miss (22-10)
  
• No. 3* seed Dayton (21-12)
  
• IUPUI (25-10)
  
• FHSU (22-7)
  
• Washington State (16-15)
  
• No. 6 seed Xavier (24-8)
  
• No. 8 seed UNLV (25-9): Loss to No. 9 seed UNI (69-66 in the NCAA Tournament)
  
• Alabama (17-15)
  
• No. 16 seed UAPB (18-15)
  
• Cleveland State (16-17)
  
• South Dakota (22-10)
  
• No. 10 seed Missouri (22-10)
  
• No. 5 seed Texas A&M (23-9)
  
• Colorado (15-16)
  
• No. 8 seed Texas (24-10): Loss to No. 9 seed Wake Forest (81-80 in overtime, in the NCAA Tournament)
  
• No. 7 seed Oklahoma State (22-10)
  
• No. 3 seed Baylor (26-7): Win over No. 14 seed SHSU (68-59 in the NCAA Tournament)
  
• No. 1 seed Kansas (33-2): Win over No. 16 seed Lehigh (90-74 in the NCAA Tournament)
  
• Nebraska (15-18)
  
• Iowa State (15-17)
  
• Oklahoma (13-18)
  
• No. 5* seed Texas Tech (18-15)
• No. 15 seed North Texas (24-9): Loss to No. 2 seed Kansas State (82-62 in the NCAA Tournament)
• No. 7 seed BYU (30-5): Win over No. 10 seed Florida (99-92 in double overtime, in the NCAA Tournament)

*NIT