2009 NCAA Tournament: Day 1

One day of games is in the books and Day 2 is already underway. We saw UConn, North Carolina, and Oklahoma roll and Memphis and Villanova struggle. We also learned that I suck at picking the 8/9 and 7/10 games. I got 4 of the 5 games wrong.

Here's a rundown of all the games:

Result: UConn 103 Chattanooga 47

Overall Efficiency: UConn (3) Chattanooga (213)
Offensive Efficiency: UConn (20) Chattanooga (132)
Defensive Efficiency: UConn (3) Chattanooga (288)

Efficiency Prediction: UConn
My Prediction: UConn

Comments: I told you this was the worst team in the tournament and UConn proved me right.

Result: Texas A&M 79 BYU 66

Overall Efficiency: BYU (18) Texas A&M (52)
Offensive Efficiency: BYU (22) Texas A&M (36)
Defensive Efficiency: BYU (23) Texas A&M (78)

Efficiency Prediction: BYU
My Prediction: BYU

Comments: This is one of the games that efficiency was wrong about, however, I'm not sure it was actually wrong. This was more of a case of BYU just playing like crap. They just picked the wrong time to do it. A&M also came out on fire hitting 10 of their first 10 shots.

Result: Purdue 61 Northern Iowa 56

Overall Efficiency: Purdue (14) Northern Iowa (82)
Offensive Efficiency: Purdue (48) Northern Iowa (57)
Defensive Efficiency: Purdue (5) Northern Iowa (127)

Efficiency Prediction: Purdue
My Prediction: Purdue

Comments: I figured Northern Iowa would have a tough time with Purdue's defense and that is what happened and allowed Purdue to squeak out a victory.

Result: Washington 71 Miss State 58

Overall Efficiency: Washington (16) Mississippi (60)
Offensive Efficiency: Washington (35) Mississippi (74)
Defensive Efficiency: Washington (11) Mississippi (59)

Efficiency Prediction: Washington
My Prediction: Washington

Comments: Washington dominated this game from the beginning and Miss States offense was never able to get on track.

Result: Maryland 84 Cal 71

Overall Efficiency: California (29) Maryland (54)
Offensive Efficiency: California (11) Maryland (73)
Defensive Efficiency: California (86) Maryland (47)

Efficiency Prediction: California
My Prediction: California

Comments: Maryland was able to pull away from Cal, because Cal's defense couldn't stop them. I think I overlooked the fact that Cal's defense is not that good and paid too much attention to the offense's in this one.

Result: Memphis 81 Cal State Northridge 70

Overall Efficiency: Memphis (1) Cal State Northridge (104)
Offensive Efficiency: Memphis (39) Cal State Northridge (179)
Defensive Efficiency: Memphis (1) Cal State Northridge (61)

Efficiency Prediction: Memphis
My Prediction: Memphis

Comments: This game was definitely the biggest surprise of the day. Memphis was in big danger of losing this game late in the second half until they closed the game out on a huge run. Roburt Sallie was huge for Memphis off the bench hitting 10 3's and scoring 35 points. This could be a wake up call for Memphis or it could be a sign of things to come.

Result: UCLA 65 VCU 64

Overall Efficiency: UCLA (9) VCU (55)
Offensive Efficiency: UCLA (3) VCU (75)
Defensive Efficiency: UCLA (37) VCU (48)

Efficiency Prediction: UCLA
My Prediction: UCLA

Comments: I knew this game would be close and I was a little worried when VCU had a chance to win it, but UCLA prevailed in the end.

Result: Memphis 81 Cal State Northridge 70

Overall Efficiency: Villanova (19) American (109)
Offensive Efficiency: Villanova (25) American (117)
Defensive Efficiency: Villanova (25) American (124)

Efficiency Prediction: Villanova
My Prediction: Villanova

Comments:This one might have been a shocker to most that Villanova was down 15 in the second half to American but this is what I said about the game beforehand:

This game is in Philly, so I have a hard time believing American can pull off the upset. However, they have won 19 out of their last 20 games and have better off/def effective FG%'s (22, 27) than Villanova(81, 93). So I can actually see the possibility of American pulling off a major upset or at least giving Villanova a scare for a while, but that's only if the play a perfect game and I don't see that happening

Pretty damn accurate huh?

Result: Texas 76 Minnesota 72

Overall Efficiency: Texas (28) Minnesota (45)
Offensive Efficiency: Texas (46) Minnesota (88)
Defensive Efficiency: Texas (27) Minnesota (20)

Efficiency Prediction: Texas
My Prediction: Texas

Comments: A.J. Abrams was hot in this game and hit 8 three's. Texas looked good, but I'm still not sure they can beat Duke.

Result: Duke 86 Binghamton 62

Overall Efficiency: Duke (7) Binghamton (162)
Offensive Efficiency: Duke (4) Binghamton (178)
Defensive Efficiency: Duke (17) Binghamton (159)

Efficiency Prediction: Duke
My Prediction: Duke

Comments: Duke was able to cruise in this one, so no surprises here. I think they handle Texas in the 2nd Round too.

Result: UNC 101 Radford 58

Overall Efficiency: North Carolina (2) Radford (170)
Offensive Efficiency: North Carolina (1) Radford (187)
Defensive Efficiency: North Carolina (35) Radford (166)

Efficiency Prediction: North Carolina
My Prediction: North Carolina

Comments: So far, so good for UNC without Ty Lawson, but it won't be as easy against LSU.

Result: LSU 75 Butler 71

Overall Efficiency: LSU (46) Butler (43)
Offensive Efficiency: LSU (51) Butler (63)
Defensive Efficiency: LSU (53) Butler (45)

Efficiency Prediction: Butler
My Prediction: Butler

Comments: Butler got down 9-0 quick in this one and then pretty much outplayed LSU the rest of the game, but it wasn't enough for the victory. You could have went either way in this game, but I got it wrong. I think I underrated LSU's offense a little bit.

Result: Western Kentucky 76 Illinois 72

Overall Efficiency: Illinois (23) Western Kentucky (99)
Offensive Efficiency: Illinois (97) Western Kentucky (68)
Defensive Efficiency: Illinois (4) Western Kentucky (168)

Efficiency Prediction: Illinois
My Prediction: Western Kentucky

Comments: The Illinois offense was indeed subpar as I expected and by the time they put things together it was too late. This is an upset that most people pegged early on. Western Kentucky nailed 9 3's in this one vs. only 5 for Illinois.

Result: Gonzaga 77 Akron 64

Overall Efficiency: Gonzaga (5) Akron (91)
Offensive Efficiency: Gonzaga (6) Akron (153)
Defensive Efficiency: Gonzaga (9) Akron (50)

Efficiency Prediction: Gonzaga
My Prediction: Gonzaga

Comments: I'm still not sure how good Gonzaga is after struggling with Akron. I'm starting to think that UNC should be able to score pretty easily on the Zags, especially if Lawson plays, and assuming they both make the Sweet 16.

Result: Michigan 62 Clemson 59

Overall Efficiency: Clemson (22) Michigan (49)
Offensive Efficiency: Clemson (12) Michigan (41)
Defensive Efficiency: Clemson (52) Michigan (67)

Efficiency Prediction: Clemson
My Prediction: Clemson

Comments: Damn the 1-3-1 zone is all I have to say about this one.

Result: Oklahoma 82 Morgan State 54

Overall Efficiency: Oklahoma (17) Morgan State (139)
Offensive Efficiency: Oklahoma (13) Morgan State (218)
Defensive Efficiency: Oklahoma (46) Morgan State (94)

Efficiency Prediction: Oklahoma
My Prediction: Oklahoma

Comments:With Morgan State's offense being so terrible, it's no surprise that Oklahoma was able to shut them down. Should be interesting to see how they do against Michigan's 1-3-1 zone. An upset is definitely possible, but the Sooners looked good in this one.

Overall Efficiency Record: 11-5
My Record: 12-4