March Madness (and just plain mad)

The first two days of the NCAA Tournament always deliver. Always. Can’t wait to see what’s in store for us today.

Let's dive in.

The Pac-12’s swan song is something to hear. The conference is 4-0 thus far in the NCAA Tournament, including three wins yesterday. Washington State and Oregon State are just raking in the NCAA Tournament units.

Not to be outdone, the Atlantic 10 is 2-0. That’s a big deal for its conference coffers.

Th Big 12 went 3-2 (barely), and the SEC’s lone winner in four games was 2-seed Tennessee.

But enough about all that. Let’s get to the newest NCAA Tournament darlings who are “NOT a Cinderella.”

South Region: Is Kentucky’s loss John Calipari’s reckoning?

On a per game basis, no region delivered the goods like the south. Only two games, and two double-digit seeds both advanced.

One of the wins was not like the other, though.

Oakland’s 80-76 win over 3-seed Kentucky not only sent the Grizzlies to their first-ever NCAA Tournament win, it may been the last straw for Kentucky coach John Calipari, whose storied program has won one NCAA Tournament game since making the Elite Eight in 2019.

Calipari’s quotes afterward certainly didn’t help. "We made some critical mistakes at critical times again today. When you have a really young team and look at where the mistakes come from, they were freshmen."

But enough about that. We’ll have weeks to talk Kentucky and if it’ll spend more than $30 million to buy out Calipari’s contract.

Let’s focus on Oakland and new NCAA Tournament legend Jack Gohlke.

His career-best 32 points — on 10-of-20 3-pointers — might have reminded some of when Saint Peter’s torched Kentucky in 2022 with shooting and ball movement. This was as much about Oakland’s zone controlling the tempo and showing a fearlessness against a team loaded with future NBA players.

It’s an incredible story for Greg Kampe, who’s in his 40th season at Oakland and is a beloved local figure. Hey, you might even see him at McDonald’s. He cherished this win, to say the least.

What’s next: A double-digit seed will make the Sweet 16. 14-seed Oakland plays 11-seed NC State at 7:10 pm ET on Saturday (TBS/truTV). Will the Wolfpack get another career-game from Ben Middleton (21 points)?

Midwest Region: So. About that call in Kansas’ win

The Midwest had the most games (6) and only one upset. But the only game anyone’s talking about from the region was the last one of the night. But not for all the right reasons.

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