This scares me. Day 1 of the NCAA Tournament, and virtually no upsets were to be found.

I don't count No. 11 Kansas State over No. 6 USC, which to me should have been an 8-9 game. The Trojans got their tails handed to them, and this Wildcats team could fare very well against Wisconsin, who dilly-dallied against Cal-State Fullerton.

But this scares me because it means upsets could abound on Friday, and No. 11 St. Joseph's over No. 6 Oklahoma would count as an upset in my book. However, it was great news for OU to see Michigan State manhandle A-10 champ Temple, a team that beat the Hawks just to get to the tournament.

Doesn't equate to a win, but it portends positive things for Oklahoma, namely that a physical, inside game could mean a comfortable win for Jeff Capel's crew.

Belmont nearly pulled off the biggest upset in several years, losing to second-seeded Duke 71-70 in a crazy, topsy-turvy first-round game. I won't lie: I was pulling for Duke.

I'll say it again: I was pulling for Duke.

One year ago, I recall watching VCU upset the Blue Devils in the first round and noting how forlorn Coach K looked, and it brought to mind the incredible win by Indiana over Duke in the Sweet 16 five years ago and thinking the same thing.

Coach K needs a hug! Seriously, I root for whoever my heart says to go for, and while I normally would be a Duke hater, I at least wanted them not to get embarrassed by a No. 15 seed. I still say that West Virginia beats them in the next round.

Overall, the Big 12 impressed, getting wins over USC and BYU, as Texas A&M played a solid game to get to the second round against UCLA. An Aggie-Bruins matchup in the second round isn't nearly the slam dunk most national pundits think it is.

Baylor got hammered by Purdue, and it was no shock to me. The Bears were happy to be there, and I recall that the Boilermakers were really solid in their opening-round game against Arizona last year.

No real statement games, if you ask me. I came away from the Notre Dame game even more impressed with Luke Harangody, who is a shorter but thicker version of Big Country, Bryant Reeves.

Oral Roberts, one of two Oklahoma teams in the tourney, was outmanned big time against Pitt, and it wasn't really even entertaining. And neither Winthrop nor George Mason looked impressive, despite predictions by many that they could win their opening games.

Big, big jeers though to the folks who serve ESPN.com's tournament challenge Web site. It's been up and down all day, and it was hardly accessible even after play began at 11:20 a.m. CDT. Furthermore, accessing bracket groups has been made darn near impossible to find within their site.

Given that one can stay signed in to their site, the first thing you should see when coming to ESPN.com these two weeks is a hover screen that has your bracket results because that's why everybody is visiting. At least, something could be coded such that if you entered a bracket, you get that treatment.

Big, big cheers to the interactive folks at CBS, who again made games available online. Innovative and daring in the face of lost revenue. To offer an online viewing option for people who work is a brilliant PR move, and I hope they got their brandings-worth.

The good news about all this top-heavy success in the first round, at least so-far, is that second-round games will be monsters. MONSTERS, I tell you, and I don't even believe Kansas and UCLA have it too easy.

Speaking of MONSTERS, wouldn't it be great if Oklahoma won tonight and so did Boise State?

I'll say it right now: If Boise State were to win, the last thing they want to see in the second round is Oklahoma. I don't think I need to explain why.