Yup, after the first day of March Madness you might as well take these brackets and burn them because they can’t get any better. Many brackets (including mine) was done after the second game (yeah, thanks Iowa State) and some were done moments later with Georgia State defeated Baylor in the third game of the day… Here, let me cover this before you start a funeral for these (I mean I already have).

The day would begin early, where we witnessed the 3 seed Notre Dame Fighting Irish struggle most of the game versus 14 seed Northeastern, they eventually were able to slip away and came away with a narrow 69-65 win. The Fighting Irish were led by Zach Auguste (JR) who had 25 points and 5 rebounds and Jerian Grant who had 17 points. Despite the struggle throughout the game, Notre Dame had the game won but decided to keep it close. The Irish will face-off against the Bulldogs of Butler in the round of 32 match-up.

Then it got ugly… After the nail bitter win with Notre Dame, UAB decided it was time for bracket busting and beat Iowa State 60-59. Yup… The Blazers were led by William Lee who totaled a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds. On the other side of the things, the Cyclones were led (if you can call it that) by Jameel McKay who also had a double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds. That was just the beginning of a day that would entail enough Madness for the tournament.

After what felt like the worst thing possible, the Baylor Bears (or Cubs, who knows?) lost to the Georgia State Panthers by a final score of 57-56. Rest in peace most brackets. Anyways, the Panthers were led by R.J. Hunter who had 16 points, 3 steals, 3 rebounds. Kevin Ware would struggle for the Panthers and only total 4 points for the winning side. On the other side of the ball, the Bears, or should I say Cubs, by Taurean Prince who had 18 points and 15 rebounds. Prince was the only person on Baylor to score double-digits on the team. Yeah, thanks Baylor.

After that came another upset, as we saw the UCLA Bruins, who shouldn’t have made it (sorry, a little salty) defeat the SMU Mustangs by a controversial call to end it (Click HERE to view play) where the refs called a goal-tending call on senior center Yanick Moreira of SMU). The Mustangs key performer was Nic Moore who had 24 points and 4 rebounds. The Bruins were led by guard Bryce Alford who scored 27 points on the day.

Day one of March Madness also brought an (10) Ohio State win over (7) VCU (75-72), a (1) Villanova blowout win over (16) Lafayette (93-52), a (1) Kentucky win over (16) Hampton (79-56), a (8) Cincinnati nail biting win over (9) Purdue (66-65), a 56-48 win for (6) Butler over (11) Texas, a close win for (5) Arkansas over (12) Wofford by a final score of 56-53, an (2) Arizona win over (15) Texas Southern by a score of 93-72, a very close call for North Carolina State (NC State) who defeated LSU 66-65, an (5) Utah win over (12) Stephen F. Austin, a 84-74 win for (4) Georgetown over (13) Eastern Washington, a 67-65 win for (4) North Carolina over (12) Harvard and finally a win for 6th seeded Xavier over (11) Ole Miss by a score of 76-57.

If yesterday has any indication for the rest of the tournament, then we’re in for a treat and you need to buckle up for the ride.