NCAA Tournament Thoughts: Saturday

Well, I did it again. I correctly picked the 2 seed which would lose in the second round, but picked the wrong opponent to beat them. Villanova limped into the end of the season and barely got past Robert Morris. Scottie Reynolds had another horrible game and probably hurt his draft stock.

But Omar Samhan definitely helped his stock. He's the latest in a long line of big men from mid-majors who play well in the tournament, get drafted in the middle of the first round and are never heard from again. Rafael Arujao and Patrick O'Bryant come to mind but I'm sure I could think of others. The thing I like about Samhan is he has some good offensive moves, he's not just good because he relies on size against mostly smaller opponents. He also has some attitude and a cool chin curtain beard.

But no one has better facial hair than the mutton chops of Lucas O'Rear. And when you throw in his name and his tattoo (a shamrock with O'Rear above it) he's a top five revelation from this tournament.

Bill Self wears a piece right?

Tyrel Reid is white? And so is his sister?

For all the reasons Kansas-Northern Iowa was a great game I really enjoyed watching Cole Aldrich and Jordan Eglseder go at it. Two legitimate big men challenging each other on both ends.

An absolutely earth-shaking upset. One of the biggest upsets of all-time. And it all happened because Ali Farokhmanesh pulled off the biggest onions play ever. Up one, 40 seconds left, he shoots a wide open 3. If it goes in you win the game, if it misses Kansas gets the ball because no one was underneath. That's what it came down to.

Sure there were lots of other bad plays by Kansas including two late charges that cost them -- but were absolutely the right call -- but that shot, that shot will go down in history. Add to it the one he hit the other day against UNLV and this kid has got major stones.

The problem with a first day of upsets reared its ugly head today. Yes, the Murray State Butler game was good, the Old Dominion-Baylor and Ohio-Tennessee games were mismatches.

And then there was another 3-11 blowout. But this time it was the 11. How does Washington play so badly all season and bring its A-game at tournament time?

Total domination by Kansas State and of course Kentucky. Without Kansas around I don't think anyone is going to beat Kentucky.

Jacob Pullen and Omar Samhan are bringing back the chin curtain. Abe Lincoln must be proud.