1. Davidson – 

Was there any team more fun to watch in the opening weekend than Stephen Curry-led Davidson? The game against Gonzaga on Friday was my personal favorite game of the weekend, with hot shooting from both teams throughout the game. The performances Stephen Curry put on in the 2nd half of that game, as well as the Georgetown game, were spectacular. In the “Davidson vs. Goliath” game against Georgetown, I was confident the team in red had no shot after being down 17 with just under 10 minutes to play, and Curry just put on a show, leading everyone watching to scratch their heads yet again as to how this kid was not offered a scholarship by an ACC school. After having the slipper passed on to them from Gonzaga, Davidson seems to be the new “America’s darling.”   Photo: Tim Cowrie (Courtesy Davidson College)

2. Tampa, FL Regional – Wow. Watching the Clemson vs. Villanova game Thursday night, I listened to Tim Brando and Mike Gminski talk about how weird it was to see the favored team leading early in the game. At that point, I was unsure of the three games they had covered earlier in the day, but figured they had already seen one, maybe even two upsets. By the end of the Clemson collapse, a graphic was put on the screen showing that it was the first time two Number 12 and 13 seeds had advanced to play each other. Only then did it hit me that all four of those teams had won in Tampa. Incredible. Not only that, but the game winning shots by Western Kentucky and San Diego, both in overtime after having already blown a late lead in regulation, can simply be described with one word for Bill Raftery fans: “Onions!”

3. Belmont – Prior to the tournament beginning, if I was told “the Bruins” will take Duke to the wire before losing by one, I probably would have thought that sounded normal enough for an Elite Eight game between a Number 1 and 2 seed. But in the first round, against the Number 15 seed Belmont? As a biased North Carolina fan, I will admit that any team that beats Duke in an NCAA tournament game is a team I like, at least for a little while. When UNCW played VCU this year, I’ll admit I still cheered for Eric Maynor after last year’s clutch shot that sent Duke home in the first round. That being said, a 15 seed giving a 2 seed a run for its money is something anyone can pull for. Even though Belmont eventually fell a point short, the sweet shooting of Andy Wicke and Justin Hare had me jumping around like it was the Tar Heels winning. When the crowd applauded Coach Rick Byrd and his squad for their effort after they emerged from the locker room, I applauded too.

4. Lopez Twins – Hanging with my brother, a Notre Dame fan, Saturday night, I was not expecting to watch much of the Marquette-Stanford game. However, the stymieing defense of Washington State turned the Irish into a team that showed an inability to score the basketball for the first time this year, and CBS was made the decision to switch games. I’m sure glad they did too, because the second half and overtime of the Stanford game was a real treat. The story of that treat was the 7 foot sophomore twins of Stanford, Robin and Brook Lopez. Robin, normally a defensive star, scored 18 points to go with 9 rebounds. Brook, after starting the game 1-for-7 from the field, finished with 30 points, including 10-of-11 from the charity stripe. In the closing minutes of the game, as well as overtime, he was unstoppable. Marquette’s bigs had no answer for Brook, as he made lay-up after lay-up, accounting for eight of Stanford’s 11 points in overtime. To top things off, he made the game-winner, an off-balance, eight-foot leaner from the right baseline that put the Cardinal up by a point with less than two seconds remaining.     - Nicholas King