Wow!!! It was an interesting first weekend of NCAA basketball. The March Madness kickoff was packed with excitement and a few upsets. There were some other VERY close calls but in the end, the apples pretty much shook out of the tree as expected. For the most part, the teams that are supposed to be in the sweet 16 are there. In the East and West brackets, there are nothing but 1's, 2's, 3's and 4's. It is almost the same in the midwest except for #5 Auburn who upset perennial contender Kansas. The big surprise is in the South, where #12 Oregon has managed to play their way into the sweet 16 when many gave their whole conference very little chance to even win a game this March.

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There was some high stakes drama as there always is during the madness. None more exciting than the Duke Blue Devils almost losing to #9 UCF in the round of 32. It took some late game heroics to get the lead and some extreme luck as UCF just missed their buzzer beater attempt for the win. Some of the big upsets included #12 Liberty winning a game and Ja Murrant putting on a clinic in leading #12 Murray St. to a first-round victory. We will be seeing more of this young man who dropped the first triple-double in the tournament since 2012. I was personally shocked when Kansas lost. I had them going tot he final 4 in my bracket. Consider my bracket BUSTED!!!!!

There was some early excitement in the 300 SCR March Madness Pool as well. With such few upsets this year, bonus points were hard to come by but Mikey picked one up in the first round with his Murray St. pick and had the lead after round 1. Bigtom13 snagged a bonus with Murray St as well. Thebull also picked up a bonus for his Oregon selection. A pick that could take him to the top if they continue to role. However, those bonus points were not enough to match consistency. Better yet, let's call it perfection!

Bamamama was able to do what no other contestant was able to do. All 12 of her teams have survived to the sweet 16 and she is the front runners going forward. It is far from over though as there are several people right on their heels. This weekends games will play a huge role in determining who will have a real shot on final four weekend. Purdue and Auburn could be difference makers in the pool. ablaze and thesportsguru are the only top contenders who have #3 Purdue while Mikey and thesportsguru are the only people in contention who have #5 Auburn. If you're paying attention thesportsguru has put himself in a good position to sneak up on the leaders.

If you are not on the list above then things didn't go as well as you might have hoped last week. Personally, I sucked!. I have lost 5 of my teams at this point and only managed to scrape together 48 pts. To see all the team and score, click on the link below:

300 SCR March Madness Pool Standings

Thank you to all 24 people who participated in the contest and the best of luck to the ones that still have a chance at scoring some sweet coin!

There are some pretty great games coming up this weekend. I will be watching as my National Champion pick Gonzaga attempts to continue their dominant play. Can Michigan St. show everyone why they deserved to be a number 1 seed? Can Virginia continue to survive scares? They have a nice path to the final if they can. I hope you enjoy the games this weekend. I'm looking forward to all the action.