We Survived Day One (Because We Were Favored)

Boy, Thursday was fun, wasn't it? Sixteen games, win-or-go-home, play hooky from work and school. It was just missing one thing. Someone — anyone — winning a game they shouldn't have.

Cal State Northridge looked to throw a wad of bubblegum into the perfectly combed hair of John Calipari's chance to return to the Final Four, but conventional wisdom scored 17 points in the second half and Memphis prevailed.

Later, American University took a 10-point lead on Villanova, but the 'Cats righted the wrong in the second half. Maybe there's something about perfectly sculpted head coaches and second half comebacks. Either way, if you see David Gregory on the street, please, give him a hug.

Akron over Gonzaga? Nah. The Obama Special, VCU over UCLA? SOL. A 16-seed over a 1? Ha. Maybe next year, provided this year is 2083. Christ, even the upset that everybody picked turned out to happen. Predictability and Drinkability were the profound themes of the day. Henceforth I shall resent all -bilities.

There were some highlights, but they were all in the live blogs:

• Brigham Young-Texas A&M: A surly commenter, who I didn't pick to live blog a game, took matters into his own hands. Hey, maybe next year!

• Purdue-Northern Iowa: The March Madness audio feed, for a couple minutes, somehow intercepted a spring training baseball game. The score did resemble your typical Big Ten final, however.

• Duke-Binghamton: From now on, I'm only having Duke students and graduates live blog Duke games. The interaction between them and the commenters is more precious than reality TV.

• Oklahoma-Morgan State: Jerkwheat logged in and DIDN'T BREAK ANYTHING! He was then turned down for the leading role in Pink Panther 3.

Don't stop refreshin'. Hold on to that F5 key. There are sixteen more games and live blogs to bring you Friday. ONLY ON ... 10% ... 23% ... 35% ... 47% ... 61% ... 80% ... 97% ... 97% ... 97% ... 97% ... CBS!