BasketballDear diary: My bracket is busted.

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Gary Johnson (1)of the Texas Longhorns looks to referee Jim Burr after time had expired in their game against the Arizona Wildcats during the third round of the 2011 NCAA men's basketball tournament on Sunday in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The Longhorns lost 70-69 to the Wildcats. (Tom Pennington/Getty Images)

The so-called experts had this year's NCAA men's basketball tournament pegged as fairly wide-open. That's definitely been the case in the Southwest region, and to a lesser degree the Southeast. Elsewhere there haven't been any true shockers.

The first half of Thursday remains the best segment of the tournament so far. And even though St. Patrick's Day fell on what some call "God's Day" or "Basketball Christmas" this year, I still managed to keep a rudimentary diary for at least part of the day:

2:31 PM: First scratch of the day happens when Clemson falls to West Virginia. I had picked the Tigers by virtue of a decent showing in the ACC Tournament, but this loss sets the tone for my bracket.

2:49 PM: March Madness sets in: Butler beats Old Dominion -- who for some reason always seems to be a trendy pick in any pool I join -- on a tip-in by Matt Howard at the buzzer.  My bracket falls to 0-2.

2:52 PM: Someone at the gathering I'm at asks who, other than Glen Rice, went to the NBA from the 1989 Michigan NCAA championship team. Rumeal Robinson only comes to mind. However a journey later through Wikipedia also uncovers Loy Vaught, Sean Higgins, Terry Mills and Kobe Bryant's agent Rob Pelinka.

3:52 PM: Shocker of the day: Morehead State upsets Louisville by one on a three-pointer from Demonte Harper with 4.2 seconds left. Many brackets are immediately busted. Off-colour jokes begin about the name of the school.

4:08 PM: Penn State and Temple are tied. A few minutes earlier, someone had pointed out that Temple guard Juan Fernandez looked like Justin Bieber by virtue of his bowl haircut. I realize, somewhat frighteningly, that Fernandez probably isn't much older than Bieber. To add insult to injury, Fernandez then wins the game on an off-balance jumper. Bracket falls to the Buffalo Bills Super Bowl record, 0-4.

4:09 PM: Several people at the house I'm at start singing "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year."

4:38 PM: Someone asks if Kentucky guard Brandon Knight -- who is being manhandled by Princeton -- is related to former NBAer Brevin Knight. I ask if fellow Wildcats guard Doron Lamb is related to Doron Sheffer. It turns out however that Brevin does have a brother -- Brandin -- who played at Pitt and is now an assistant coach there.

4:44 PM: With Princeton leading Kentucky big, visions of Pete Carril's 1996 upset of UCLA start dancing in my head. Perhaps intoxicated by the upsets, I idiotically bet $20 on Princeton pulling the shocker off. Seconds later, Kentucky's run begins. Knight ultimately scores his only two points of the game with two seconds left to give the Cats a 59-57 win. Although I win, I still lose. First correct bracket selection of the day, but out $20.

6:46 PM: Richmond beats Vanderbilt 69-66. Finally, a free and clear correct pick. The rest of the day is quite blurry.

Back to the script

With my bracket all but torn up, Friday stuck more to script. With the exception of VCU beating Georgetown (which many called because the Hoyas had doubters) there wasn't as much madness on Day 2.

But where the insanity seems to be emanating from this year is the Southwest bracket. Four of eight first-round winners were double-digit seeds (Richmond, Morehead State, VCU and Florida State). In the second round, the latter two knocked off Purdue and Notre Dame respectively.

While VCU and Richmond play the role of Cinderella well, I think a lesser surprise in Florida State. They hammered the Fighting Irish in Notre Dame's backyard in Chicago Sunday, giving viewers a look at their tough defence, ranked 27th in the NCAA. In their two games so far in the tournament, onetime Washington Wizards coach Leonard Hamilton's squad has blocked 19 shots.

One of the adages (if there is such a thing with this tournament) is to never count out double-digit seeded ACC teams. With VCU next, a trip to the Elite Eight is likely for this underrated Seminoles team. But can they beat Kansas?

Over in the West, there's no way to avoiding saying it: Texas got screwed on Sunday. Canadian Cory Joseph being whistled for a five-second violation (when only four seconds had clearly passed) on an inbounds play with 16 seconds left in the game completely shifted momentum to Arizona. This was seconds after a huge block by fellow Canuck Tristan Thompson.

Thompson meanwhile told a group of reporters a day earlier that he would pass on this year's NBA draft and stay at Texas another season -- partly because he wants to play with incoming Canadian Myck Kabongo. It comes as a slight surprise, as some with knowledge of the situation had speculated Thompson would be a one-and-done guy with the Longhorns.
It's the right choice. He gets another season to raise his draft stock higher, while uniting with three other Canadians -- Kabongo, Joseph and Kevin Thomas. Anybody up for a road trip to Austin next year?

Pick'em (redux)

Revised Final Four picks: Duke, Kentucky, Kansas, BYU.

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