Expect the Unexpected

"The closer you look, the less you'll see." — Thaddeus Bradley, "Now You See Me"

It happens every year. At this point, you'd think I would stop doing it. Every year I see Gonzaga as a decently high seed in my bracket. Every year I think, 'they won't advance, they always blow it; pick someone else." Then I pick them to win a few games, they don't, and my bracket looks like a hot mess by Friday afternoon.

This year Gonzaga entered the NCAA Men's Basketball tournament as a No. 1 seed, in fact the overall No. 1. They almost became the first No. 1 seed ever to lose to a No. 16 seed in the first round. They limped though that game only to get bounced by Wichita State on Saturday. I should have known...

But, then again, isn't that why we watch the tournament? There is nothing like the first weekend — as the field trims from 64 to 16 in four furious days. You start out Thursday morning with optimism and a pristine bracket. By dinner on the first day, you start to see the error in your ways.

Any Georgetown fans in the house? Sure, they were a No. 2 seed and supposed to make some hey in the tournament. Well, turns out that No. 15 Florida Gulf Coast University is a lot better than we thought. They became the first No. 15 seed to make it into the Sweet 16. Such is how it goes come tournament time when everyone wants to see a Cinderella succeed, but no one is quite sure which one will step up.

In a tournament that was praised for being the most wide-open in years, there have been some surprises — such as FGCU and No. 13 seed LaSalle making it into the Sweet 16. But there has also been a surprising amount of chalk selections advancing.

In the field of 16 there are three No. 1 seeds — Indiana, Kansas, and Louisville — three No. 2 seeds — Ohio State, Duke, and Miami — three No. 3 seeds — Florida, Marquette and Michigan State — and two No. 4 seeds — Syracuse and Michigan.

In fact, the only bracket that's truly been busted is the West. In that group, No. 2 Ohio State held to form, but they are then only top four seed in the region left. The others in that group at No. 6 seed Arizona, No. 13 seed LaSalle, and No. 9 seed Wichita State. The East Region is totally chalk — with Indiana, Miami, Marquette, and Syracuse advancing. In the other two brackets, there is one surprise each with No. 12 seed Oregon — who was likely under-seeded — making it to the round of 16 and No. 15 FGCU joining the final four in the South.

Prior to the tournament, I picked a Final Four of Florida, Duke, Ohio State, and Indiana, with Indiana topping Duke in the final game. Now I guess we'll see how that plays out, but at least all four are still alive after the first weekend. The same can't be said of all those Gonzaga and Georgetown fans.