Butler, West Virginia Advance to Final Four

West Region
Using stellar defense and timely execution on offense, the Butler Bulldogs are going home- to the Final Four. Gordon Hayward led #5 Butler with 22 points and 9 rebounds, as they defeated #2 Kansas State 63-56 in the West Region Final yesterday in Salt Lake City to advance to their first ever Final Four. Ironically, the site of this year's Final Four, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis is only five miles from the Butler University campus. Senior Denis Clemente led Kansas State with 18 points, but both he and fellow star guard Jacob Pullen struggled mightily from the field, shooting a combined 11 of 30.
East Region
And then there were one. Only one #1 seed remains after #2 West Virginia (pic, below) upset #1 Kentucky 73-66 last night in the East Region Final in Syracuse. Mountaineers guard Joe Mazzulla scored a career-high 17 points, while Da'Sean Butler added 18 points as West Virginia advances to its first Final Four in 51 years. The tale of the game could be told easily from the three-point line, as West Virginia did not score a two-point field goal in the first half, yet still led because of 8 three-pointers. Meanwhile, Kentucky struggled mightily the entire game from behind the arc, hitting just 4 of 32 shots. Freshman sensation John Wall had 19 points, but in the end, the lack of experience in dealing with adversity doomed the Wildcats.

Elite Eight Schedule

Today
West Region
3:30 PM CT #5 Butler vs. #2 Kansas State
East Region
6:05 PM CT #2 West Virginia vs. #1 Kentucky
Sunday
Midwest Region
1:20 PM CT #6 Tennessee vs. #5 Michigan State
South Region
4:05 PM CT #3 Baylor vs. #1 Duke

My picks: Kansas State, West Virginia, Tennessee, Baylor

All games on CBS and March Madness on Demand.

Kansas State Outlasts Xavier

In the most exciting game so far in this year's NCAA Tournament, last night, in the West Region, #2 Kansas State held on to beat #6 Xavier 101-96 in double overtime. Highlights of the classic are below.



In other action, #5 Butler upset #1 Syracuse in the West, while in the East Region, #1 Kentucky and #2 West Virginia advanced to the Elite Eight.

Sweet Sixteen Schedule

Tonight
West Region
6:07 P.M. CT #5 Butler vs. #1 Syracuse
8:37 P.M. CT #6 Xavier vs. #2 Kansas State
East Region
6:27 P.M. CT #11 Washington vs. #2 West Virginia
8:57 P.M. CT #12 Cornell vs. #1 Kentucky
Friday
Midwest Region
6:07 P.M. CT #6 Tennessee vs. #2 Ohio State
8:37 P.M. CT #9 Northern Iowa vs. #5 Michigan State
South Region
6:27 P.M. CT #10 St. Mary's vs. #3 Baylor
8:57 P.M. CT #4 Purdue vs. #1 Duke

All games on CBS and March Madness on Demand.

Down Goes Kansas

Wow. That's all I can say. #1 Kansas, my pick to win the national championship, falls 69-67 to Northern Iowa last night in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Kansas becomes the first #1 seed to fall in the biggest upset in this year's tournament. Ali Farokhmanesh led the Panthers with 16 points, including a dagger three-pointer with 35 seconds left, to lift Northern Iowa to the Sweet Sixteen in St. Louis next week. "This team has done such a great job of turning the page to what's next, and this would be the biggest challenge of the year," Northern Iowa coach Ben Jacobson said. "A lot of positive things have happened because of the way these guys played. For Kansas, their season ends prematurely as many, including the President of U.S. had them winning it all on their brackets. But KU fell behind early and could never climb over the hill as senior guard Sheron Collins had just 10 points in his college career finale.

Day One Recap/Thoughts, Day Two Schedule

I have to go somewhere soon so I'll make this brief. What a day one of the NCAA Tournament.

• Three overtime games took place, which surpassed last year's two overtimes in the whole tournament.
  
• #1's Kansas and Kentucky were impressive in dispatching their #16 opponents.
• Embarrassing day for the Big East Conference. Georgetown, Marquette, Notre Dame all upset by double-digit seeds, and #2 Villanova needs OT to squeak by #15 Robert Morris.
• Several game winning shots in the #13 Murray State-#4 Vanderbilt game, #11 Washington-#6 Marquette game, and the #9 Wake Forest-#8 Texas game.
• Did you see the three-point barrage Ohio put on Georgetown? Simply incredible.

Day Two Schedule:
(All times U.S. Eastern, games on CBS and March Madness on Demand)

12:15 p.m.: West Virginia (2) vs. Morgan State (15)
12:25 p.m.: Xavier (6) vs. Minnesota (11)
12:30 p.m.: Temple (5) vs. Cornell (12)

2:30 p.m.: Purdue (4) vs. Siena (13)
2:35 p.m.: Clemson (7) vs. Missouri (10)
2:45 p.m.: Pittsburgh (3) vs. Oakland
2:50 p.m.: Wisconsin (4) vs. Wofford (13)

4:45 p.m.: Texas A&M (5) vs. Utah State (12)

7:10 p.m.: Gonzaga (8) vs. Florida State (9)
7:15 p.m.: Oklahoma State (7) vs. Georgia Tech (10)
7:20 p.m.: Michigan State (5) vs. New Mexico State (12)
7:25 p.m.: Duke (1) vs. Arkansas Pine Bluff

9:30 p.m.: Syracuse (1) vs. Vermont (16)
9:35 p.m.: Ohio State (2) vs. UC Santa Barbara (15)
9:40 p.m.: Maryland (4) vs. Houston (13)
9:45 p.m.: California (8) vs. Louisville (9)

My bracket record after day one: 10-6

Day One Schedule

All times are U.S. Eastern Time and all games are on CBS. Check your local listings for what game you have in your area. You can also stream live games for free online at March Madness on Demand.

12:20 p.m. -- Brigham Young (7) vs. Florida (10)
12:25 p.m. -- Notre Dame (6) vs. Old Dominion (11)
12:30 p.m. -- Villanova (2) vs. Robert Morris (15)

2:30 p.m. -- Vanderbilt (4) vs. Murray State (13)
2:40 p.m. -- Kansas State (2) vs. North Texas (15)
2:45 p.m. -- Baylor (3) vs. Sam Houston State (14)
2:50 p.m. -- Richmond (7) vs. Saint Mary's (10)

4:45 p.m. -- Butler (5) vs. UTEP (12)

7:10 p.m. -- UNLV (8) vs. Northern Iowa (9)
7:15 p.m. -- Kentucky (1) vs. East Tennessee State (16)
7:20 p.m. -- Marquette (6) vs. Washington (11)
7:25 p.m. -- Georgetown (3) vs. Ohio (14)

9:30 p.m. -- Kansas (1) vs. Lehigh (16)
9:35 p.m. -- Texas (8) vs. Wake Forest (9)
9:40 p.m. -- New Mexico (3) vs. Montana (14)
9:45 p.m. -- Tennessee (6) vs. San Diego State (11)

Enjoy the games today and good luck in your brackets. My bracket

UAPB Advances

With a 61-44 win over Winthrop in last night's NCAA Tournament opening game, Arkansas-Pine Bluff will face #1 Duke in the South Region on Friday in Jacksonville. "It seems like we play better on the road than we do at home because we're so used to being on the road," said center Lebaron Weathers said.

"Play-in" Game Tonight

The tournament begins tonight. Well, kind of.

Tonight is the annual "play-in" game to start the NCAA Tournament with Winthrop facing Arkansas-Pine Bluff in Dayton, Ohio. Arkansas-Pine Bluff, which began the season with 11 straight road losses, made the tournament by winning the SWAC conference title. They will face the Big South champion Winthrop tonight at 6:30 PM CT on ESPN.

Bracket Released

The top seeds in this year's tournament are the overall #1 seed Kansas in the Midwest Region, Kentucky in the East Region, Duke (surprisingly) in the South Region, and Syracuse in the West Region. Last teams in include Minnesota, Utah State, and Florida, while bubbles burst include Illinois, Mississippi State, and Virginia Tech. Print full bracket on link under "favorites" on the right.

Selection Sunday

Today is the big day. Several conference championships (SEC, ACC, Atlantic-10, Big 10) are today with guarantee berths on the line. Be sure to watch the NCAA Tournament Selection Show at 6 PM ET (5 CT) on CBS, and then come back here for a printable bracket/analysis.

Houston Cougars: Tournament Bound

For the first time in 18 years, the Houston Cougars will play in the NCAA Tournament. Houston defeated #25 UTEP today 81-73 in the Conference USA Championship to earn an automatic bid into the Big Dance for the first time since the 1992 season. With the nation's leading scorer, Aubrey Coleman struggling all afternoon, senior guard Kelvin Lewis stepped up for 28 points, on a sizzling 11 of 15 shooting to snap UTEP's 16 game winning streak. For Houston coach Tom Penders, history was also made as he became only the 8th coach to take four different schools to the NCAA tournament. "We're dancin', we're dancin', " said Penders, in his sixth season as coach of the Cougars. "I may be dancin' a little slower than I was the last time I went, but we're dancin'." UTEP, which will still probably make the tournament, was led Randy Culpepper, who had 20 points.

#1 Falls Again

The Louisville Cardinals, playing their final home game at historic Freedom Hall, closed it off with a huge win, upsetting #1 Syracuse 78-68 today before a record crowd of 20,135. Backup guard Kyle Kuric had 22 points, while senior Edgar Sosa, who is shown above being carried off by fans, added 12 points and 10 assists, for Louisville, which may have clinched a spot in the NCAA tournament with the win. Syracuse, which will still be the #1 seed in next week's Big East tournament were led by Scoop Jardine, who had 20 points.

NFL Free Agency Frenzy

The first day of NFL free agency brought plenty of deals. Here are the major transactions.
Bears Sign Peppers
The Chicago Bears landed the top free agent on the market, signing DE Julius Peppers to six year, $91.5 million dollar deal, with $42 million guaranteed.
Ravens Acquire Boldin
The Baltimore Ravens acquired WR Anquan Boldin and a fifth round pick today from the Arizona Cardinals in exchange for third and fourth round picks. In addition, Boldin, who was entering the last year of his contract, agreed to a 3 year, $25 million extension with the Ravens.
Patriots Extend Wilfork
The New England Patriots gave pro-bowl NT Vince Wilfork a 5 year, $40 million extension today, making him the highest paid nosetackle in the NFL.
Texans Resign Walter, Turk
The Houston Texans resigned WR Kevin Walter and punter Matt Turk to contracts today. Walter's deal is 5 years, $21.5 million, while Turk, who is 42, agreed to a 1 year, $1.8 million deal.
Robinson signs with Falcons
Former Texan cornerback Dunta Robinson, who is a native Georgian, signed a six year deal with the Atlanta Falcons, with $27 million guaranteed.
Vanden Bosch to Detroit
The Detroit Lions signed DE Kyle Vanden Bosch to a 4 year, $26 million deal.
Giants sign Rolle
Free safety Antrel Rolle, who played for Arizona last season, has signed a 5 year, $37 million contract with the New York Giants.
Dolphins get Dansby
The Miami Dolphins have signed Karlos Dansby, who also played for Arizona last year, to five year, $43 million deal.
Colts resign Brackett
The defending AFC champs have resigned MLB Gary Brackett to 5 year, $33 million deal.