Duck Duck Duke

For all that jabbering that Duke shouldn't have been a #1 seed, the Blue Devils go out and lay the biggest victory of the tournament (and Duke history) with a 73-44 stomping of Arkansas-Pine Bluff, the play-in winner.

Here's my picks for tomorrow (with gambling encouraged since I don't have to float a whole bracket for this one):
(10) St. Mary's vs. (2) Villanova: Big V got a first-round scare, but the Gaels don't have enough to push past a Big East survivor.
(13) Murray State vs. (5) Butler: I'm not an Indiana believer this year, thinking instead that the team that took down Vandy will upset again.
(14) Ohio vs. (6) Tennessee: Bruce Pearl is one of those coaches that doesn't let his team have two lousy performances in a row; Ohio's personnel looked out-of-place in a tourney arena.
(9) Northern Iowa vs. (1) Kansas: The Jayhawks will be rolling for a while.
(11) Old Dominion vs. (3) Baylor: Notre Dame wasn't necessarily a heavyweight, but I also don't think Baylor is that great. Why not another upset?
(11) Washington vs. (3) New Mexico: This 11-over-3 upset is due to the Pac-10 looking mighty fine in this tournament. The Marquette win was quality for the Huskies.
(7) Brigham Young vs. (2) Kansas State: Jimmer Fredette shows up with some more bombs and sneaky one-handed layups.
(9) Wake Forest vs. (2) Kentucky: The Wildcats have a little more breathing room before their first big test, but I don't think it will come from the ACC's up-and-down Demon Deacons.

And in other March Madness news: Doesn't it seem like there's a lot more blocked shots than usual? Everything is getting swatted away.