Mount St. Mary's 69, Coppin State 60

Well, UNC now has a first round opponent. And while I was rooting for Coppin State, with their fast-paced spread out offense that wasn't particularly talented, the Heels will get Mount St. Mary's, with their slower, more particular offense that relies more on dribble penetration, and also isn't very talented. Case in point - against Coppin State, a team with one of the worst defensive efficiencies in the tournament (only UMBC is worse in Ken Pomeroy's adjusted numbers) the Mountaineers managed only 19 shots from the field for 43 points. Had they not made twice as many free throws as their opponent's took, UNC fans would be boning up on an obscure public school in Maryland, as opposed to, well, and obscure private school from the same state.

The biggest event of note in the game was ESPN's daring use of the one NCAA tournament game they broadcast to make a stellar case for abandoning the use of announcers. For four minutes of play in the first half, Lavin and Musberger completely ignored the ballgame they were paid to talk about to instead interview Roy Williams over the phone, while the coach was enjoying the UNC-Princeton baseball game. Being a standard coach interview, nothing of earth-shattering importance was said - Ty Lawson is still not 100%, and the Heels at the time had the bases loaded with no outs - while Coppin State had some masterful offensive stints on the court and took a tie game to a nine-point lead for the underdogs. The stretch was perfectly enjoyable to watch, and without the ESPN analysis it was a stark demonstration of how little a great deal of basketball commentary adds absolutely no value to the game being played. So more random phone calls, and less searching for something inane to say, please.