This year, I decided to keep my NCAA tourney bracket simple. I shed most of my fan bias — I do have Kansas winning the title, so I'm sentimental to a point — and made my picks based on what made sense.
Now, the one big upset I did feel comfortable picking was Winthrop over Notre Dame and, while Winthrop almost blew a 20-point lead, the 74-64 win was the second-best upset I've seen in this tournament, because it's always fun to watch Duke fall early.
So far, my bracket remains in good shape, so it seems like this is the year to keep it simple.

Jim Harrick sat in a chair along the sideline inside Rabobank Arena Thursday afternoon. Sitting to his right was Tamar Slay and on his left was Gerry McNamara.

Harrick was discussing the difficulty of going back to the NCAA tournament the year after winning the title. As the trio sat and shared stories, it really sunk in that the madness has begun.

"There’s no greater day than the first day of the NCAA tournament," McNamara said. "Thursday and Friday, watching all the upsets — unfortunately I was a part of some of those upsets. It’s definitely something special if you’ve experienced and played in an NCAA tournament."

McNamara also shared his disgust that Syracuse was snubbed from the field of 64.

"You know my boys got robbed.," McNamara said. "They got robbed. I’ll straight out say they got robbed. You don’t go 10-6 and finish fifth in the Big East and the sixth- and seventh-place teams make it over you. That shouldn't happen. I just don’t understand it."

The Orange did get off to a good start in the NIT, beating South Alabama 79-73 Wednesday.

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — After winning the Pac-10 title at 197 pounds, Brandon Halsey looked nothing like the wrestler who started the season as a sophomore transfer from Fresno State.

He had a calm confidence that proved to be a sign of things to come. Halsey took the momentum of that win into the NCAA Championships Thursday, beating Max Askren, who is ranked No. 1 in the nation, 5-4 giving him a clear shot at a national title.

“I kept the pressure up the whole time but I let up at the end,” Halsey said. “He came
back and could have won it at the end.”

Added, Bakersfield coach T.J. Kerr, “I’m disappointed that Halsey didn’t get the respect that he deserved after being named the Pac-10’s outstanding wrestler,” Kerr said of Halsey entering the NCAAs as an unseeded wrestler. “But if you’re going to wrestle a guy like that (Askren), it’s best to do it in the first round.”

Halsey next wrestles Nick Roy, a senior from the University of Michigan, in the second round Thursday night.

There will be more on Halsey's performance as well as details on the rest of Bakersfield's wrestlers in Friday's paper.

Most blogs are places where the writer gets to pontificate on whatever he or she deems relevant to the topic around which the blog revolves.
However, I received an e-mail about a week ago that I want to share. This editorial was originally published in Cal State Bakersfield's student newspaper, but I thought it would be interesting to get some feedback on the points presented in Garrett Brown's commentary.
Yes, Brown is the son of Roadrunners' coach Keith Brown. But, despite his understandably biased opinion, he makes some valid points.
Here is the editorial:

Community and student body:  Where are you???


With 19.7 seconds left in the game and the score tied at 74, Dwuan Rice is pounding the ball out by halfcourt, waiting to attack the rim for the last shot of the game. As he drives to the basket, three Cal State Monterey Bay players collapse, and he forces up a difficult shot in the lane. It rims out, but senior center Carl Damus is there for the tip-in as time expires and the tiny crowd of around 500 goes ecstatic over the win.
Why would there be such a small crowd for a team with such rich basketball tradition? After all, we are in the top five winning percentages of all schools in the nation. (Yes, I said all, including division I schools such as Kentucky, UCLA, Duke, and North Carolina.)
For as long as I can remember (I've been in Bakersfield since 1997) Cal State Bakersfield has had one of the best athletic programs in division II. From men’s basketball, to women’s water polo, every single one of our athletic teams is competitive year in and year out, but sometimes that is the bare minimum, because most of our teams compete for championships constantly. After all this being said, you would think that the tickets or seating for these athletic events would be sold out or close to it every game. 
Negative. 
If one were to go to one of these athletic events, you would think that you were attending a junior high or high school game due to the lack of attendance. 
This past weekend I went to both men’s and women’s basketball games on Thursday and Saturday night. I don’t understand how either team could get their adrenalin flowing when they are only playing in front of about 500 people. Half of which, none of the players know, because our student section is often empty or scarce. Don’t get me wrong, we still have our loyal fans that wouldn’t miss a game for the world, and we appreciate them dearly.
There has also been a buzz that the basketball teams don’t get as much support now because the teams don’t play on campus. So what you are telling me is that people don’t go to the games as much now because they have to drive an extra 10 minutes downtown to one of the nicest facilities around? Did Lakers fans stop coming when they moved to Staples Center from the Great Western Forum? You are either a supporter or you are not.
Out of the 12 or so teams in the CCAA, we (Cal State Bakersfield) have the WORST student body support for our athletic teams. As a player, you want to play in front of the rowdiest crowd possible to get the blood flowing and get some emotion involved. And who would be best suited to do that?  When our men’s and women’s basketball teams go on the road in conference, the road gyms are usually packed or very close to it, and very hostile because everybody wants to beat Bakersfield. So, what you are telling me is that fans for the other team want to see our team more than we do?
How do you think this looks in our move to Division I?  In Rabobank Arena, the basketball teams had the best facility in Division II.  The arena downtown holds 10,500 people, yet I have never seen more than 6,000 people in the seats, and there was only that many because it was free to get in.  Now the games that cost get in, I’ve never seen more than 3,500 people.(Keep in mind all students get in free.)  This goes for the men’s and women’s teams.  Basketball in general gets the best crowd, compared to all the sports, and it's still not enough, so what is that saying for the attendance of the other sports?
 If Cal State Bakersfield is going to survive the move to Division I athletically and be successful it must have the support of its student body, faculty, and the community.  After all, who pushed for the move to division I?  The student body, community and administration.