A week ago today it was March Madness, 64 teams and perfect office pool brackets.
Now, the clock long ago struck midnight, there isn't a Cinderella in sight and there sure isn't a perfect office pool bracket.
For whatever reasons, television ratings were down the first weekend, and this weekend will show if there is a trend developing.
An oddity is how the regions turned out with each regional having just one team actually from that region. The South Regional has Miami; the West has Oregon; the Midwest has Iowa State and the East has North Carolina.
There should be some good games, maybe even dramatic ones, and here's one guess at how the Sweet 16 becomes the Elite Eight.
No. 1 Kansas vs. No. 5 Maryland -- The Jayhawks are the only team in the tournament to score more than 100 points and that was an opening-round 105-79 victory over Austin Peay. They came right back and held UConn to 61. Maryland coasted to victories over No. 12 seed South Dakota State, 79-74, and No. 13 seed Hawaii 73-60. Kansas (32-4) has the nation's best record. Maryland is 27-8 and better than most realize. The Terrapins lost at North Carolina 89-81 in December, but also lost at Minnesota, a 2-16 team in Big Ten play. Kansas is the favorite for a reason. Kansas 79-66
No. 2 Villanova vs. No. 3 Miami -- So far the Wildcats haven't choked. This is their first time to make it this far since 2009. They went out in their second game despite being seeded No. 1 in 2015 and No. 2 in 2014. The Hurricanes finished one game behind North Carolina in the ACC, and while displaying some excellent defense, have struggled on offense. Miami 71-69
No. 1 Oregon vs. No. 4 Duke -- The West Regional is the only one that pits the top four seeds. Oregon was believed to have stolen Michigan State's No. 1 seed, but Middle Tennessee set that straight by ousting the Spartans. The Ducks are a team with ugly uniforms and suffered losses to UNLV and Boise State. Duke, the defending national champion, got here by beating No. 13 UNC Wilmington and No. 12 Yale. Oregon 74-70
No. 2 Oklahoma vs. No. 3 Texas A&M -- Buddy Hield gives the Sooners a chance to win every time. Five of their conference losses were on the road. Only Kansas beat the Sooners at home. The Aggies were the recipients of the biggest meltdown in NCAA Tournament history when Northern Iowa fell apart in the last 44 seconds. Oklahoma 66-61
No. 1 North Carolina vs. No. 5 Indiana -- The Hoosiers are good, really good. The Tar Heels can be even better as all six of their losses were on the road and all but Louisville, which was banned, made the NCAA Tournament. In fact, three of those losses were to ACC teams in the Sweet 16. Indiana held Chattanooga and Kentucky to less than their averages. North Carolina 74-73
No. 6 Notre Dame vs. No. 7 Wisconsin -- The Fighting Irish won by seven (Michigan) and one (Stephen F. Austin) to get here. It took a miracle shot by Bronson Koenig to get Wisconsin by Xavier. Koenig was named after actor Charles Bronson. How do you go against that tough guy? Wisconsin 65-63 (OT)
No. 1 Virginia vs. No. 4 Iowa State -- The Cavaliers are hot. They also are talented and play in th country's best basketball conference. The Cyclones would have to play their best game of the season. Virginia 77-68
No. 10 Syracuse vs. No. 11 Gonzaga -- Is getting to play Virginia really a prize for winning? The Orange had an easy road while the Zags beat two good teams. Gonzaga 72-66
Sports on 03/24/2016