The late Friday games proved to be interesting for a couple of lower seeded teams. Arkansas beat an Indiana team still shell-shocked by events of this year. Indiana will now have to look long and hard at what direction they will take the program. There really hasn't been that much stability in the program since Bobby Knight left (one Final Four appearance notwithstanding). For Villanova, they came from WAY back to beat Clemson, and a second Sweet Sixteen is gone for me. Lousiville and Memphis had little trouble in their games.

First Round Recap:

So what did we learn?

-The upset returned to the Madness this year. While only 8 lower seed teams won, 6 of them were double digit seeded teams (2 were #12, 2 were #13).

-In Tampa, it was the first time ever that all four lower seeded teams advanced and they were either a #12 or a #13 team.

-The key favorites-UNC, Kansas, Memphis, Texas and UCLA- each had easy times. Tennessee struggled, but pulled away. Duke looked very vulnerable; Washington State, Wisconsin, Louisville,, Pitt, Michigan State and Purdue all made cases that they could advance well into the tournament.

How did Jared do in the First round?

-Not great. As mentioned in my last post, it would have been helpful to win all of the last four games. That didn't happen, as I split the those four and finished the First Round 23-9.

14 out of my Sweet Sixteen remain, but my whole Elite Eight, Final Four , Finalists and champion remain.

From an earlier post: Which high seeded team will most likely have trouble? Vanderbilt. I could repeat Thursday's bet with my wife and say Vanderbilt will win by less than 10 points. Maybe I should keep my mouth shut about teams I pick with regard to their performance. I did this with the Duke game and almost lost the game (I won the bet).

What should we expect on Saturday?

What I'm hoping for is more normalcy. If the pattern is similar to what we saw on Thursday, then expect the expected. One thing (even as it goes against my pick) I would not be surprised by is Duke losing to West Virginia. This could be one of the better matchups of the day. The other game I find interesting is the Wisconsin-Kansas State matchup. Will the K-State super frosh be stopped by a tough Wisconsin defense? That question will be answered later on.

Jared's picks for Saturday: Notre Dame, Kansas, Wisconsin, Pittsburgh, Marquette, UCLA, Xavier and Duke.

I will be once again in DC tomorrow to witness second round action. I will recap the day later on tonight.