Since I’m off of work, we’re going to have some fun with March Madness as much as we can. I’ll try to knock out recaps in the late afternoon today and tomorrow then the night recaps will come in the morning. Not sure what we’ll do for the weekend. The start of March Madness went off with a whimper with much chalk minus Middle Tennessee State. We’ll see if the night session gets a little crazy.

Northwestern 68 Vanderbilt 66
Riley LaChance made a great drive to the bucket to put Vanderbilt in the lead, and Northwestern had a shot to win with the shot clock off. But instead, Mike Fischer-Davis had quite possibly the dumbest foul in the history of NCAA Tournament. I have no idea what he was doing. Nor does he. It says something about keeping some of your timeouts as Bryce Drew didn’t have a single one for the last seven minutes, and it showed with some of their play.

Notre Dame 60 Princeton 58
We usually see the first game of the day be one of the best of the afternoon, and this did not disappoint. Irish let Princeton hang around due to poor free throw shooting missing seven all together. Tigers had some shots to win especially at the end with Devin Cannady having a shot to win this one. Notre Dame keeps finding ways to win in March.

Virginia 76 UNC-Wilmington 71
This was a somewhat trendy upset pick because people just hate watching Virginia. I don’t really blame them. UNC-Wilmington had a 17-point first half lead, and people wondered if Cavaliers had enough offense to comeback. The answer was yes. Marial Shayok came out nowhere for 23 points with three made threes. In his 9th year of eligibility, London Perrantes had 24 points whilst battling a stinger. Gutty win by Virginia.

Florida 80 East Tennessee State 65
Thought we might be in for a classic after Eastern Tennessee State’s coach Steve Forbes delivered what could have been the quote of the tournament, but instead, it will be a footnote in this story. Florida got hot in the second half after Buccaneers had it close at the half. Devin Robinson was a beast with 24 points. Very interesting matchup with Virginia.

West Virginia 86 Bucknell 80
Press Virginia was more like Offensive rebound Virginia. They pulled down 17 offensive boards, and it contributed to their victory today over Bucknell. The game looked close, but it didn’t really have that vibe. Lamont West played great off the bench with 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting. Notre Dame awaits them on Saturday.

Gonzaga 66 South Dakota State 46
This was close for a little while, but Zags pulled away in the second half with Jordan Matthews leading the way. I wouldn’t put much stock in this game if you have the Zags going far. They’re alright.

Butler 76 Winthrop 64
Not much here. Butler came in and handle their business. Enjoy their bulldog mascot enjoy Kopps Custard.

Celebrating today's NCAA Tournament win in Milwaukee with some @koppscustard. The best! #MarchMadness #GoDawgs 🐶🍦 pic.twitter.com/Zot7iSO4HI

— Butler Blue III (@ButlerBlue3) March 16, 2017