1. I’m a big Big Ten guy, but I obviously need more self-esteem when it comes to my conference. I thought that we were coming into the tournament looking pretty unimpressive and were on the road to embarrassment. Instead, we have two teams in very good shape. Michigan State put together a solid, impressive win over a Pitt team that was supposed to upset Memphis in the eyes of many. Wisconsin came out and really elevated their chances in my eyes today with a big win over Kansas State. They totally smothered an impressive offense and controlled every aspect of the game. I have lots of excuses for the conference in my back pocket, but they may just get to stay there for a while.

2. Marquette deserved a better fate. That was a rough way to lose for a team that gave it their all and more. This is a case of the weird things this tournament can do – I had Stanford in my bracket, but I found myself cheering for the Golden Eagles down the stretch.

3. The best part isn’t that Duke lost. The best part is that West Virginia didn’t have to play out of their minds to beat them. They did some nifty things like messing around with their guard rotations, but mostly they just had to let Duke show the world how much they suck. That makes me happier than words can express.

4. The Big 12 is the only conference that hasn’t lost as a top seed. The SEC and the ACC have each done it twice. I’m not sure what that means other than that the SEC is weak and the ACC lacks depth, but we knew that coming in, didn’t we? The Big East has done it twice, too, with Pitt and Connecticut. I can’t explain that.

5. The more I look at it, the more I get excited to see Villanova-Siena tomorrow. It’s a ridiculously unlikely match-up, but the teams will be able to give each other serious headaches. I have no real idea what will happen, but then I had Clemson and Vanderbilt in my bracket.

6. What the heck happened to Notre Dame? Was Charlie Weis their guest coach? Was that Jimmy Clausen on the point? The basketball team played like the football team.

7. If someone had kneed Darren Collison in the groin after he dunked it with no time left against Texas A&M I wouldn’t have minded. A layup would have worked just as well and not been nearly as obnoxious. Heck, he was alone and ahead, so dribbling to the buzzer would have been fine, too.

8. At some point UCLA is going to have to start playing more than 15 minutes a game to win. Maybe.

9. After covering just once in their last five games down the stretch, Xavier has covered comfortably in both of their tournament games so far. That’s much more like it.

10. Higher seeds were just 4-4 ATS today. The Big Ten and Big 12, both 2-1 ATS, were the only profitable power conferences.