Note:  Updates will take place in text.  I'll start a new entry for each new session of games.

11:56 AM
The first three games....  actually, two games that have the potential to be interesting (Xavier-Georgia, Michigan St.- Temple) and one rout (Kansas-Portland State).  I'm curious to find out which game gets put on the air here in suburban Cleveland... I'd think Xavier-Georgia, but neither of the others is out of the realm of possibility.  Thank heavens for March Madness On Demand. 

UPDATE 12:07 PM: Here in the Cleveland Media Market, we get Michigan State- Temple.  I guess Big 10 loyalty trumps the in state team.  Not that people up here think of Cincinnati as being in the same state as them, but still...

Twenty minutes til tipoff of Xavier-Georgia. 
Mascotology
Gotta think a guy with a Musket could easily off a Bulldog, but if the musketeer were distracted, and the Bulldog were a pitbull, I suppose it could pull off the upset.

UPDATE 12:20:  And it begins: Tipoff of the 3-14 Xavier-Georgia matchup.  The 3 seed for Xavier says a lot about what a renaissance year this was for the A10.  The A10 for a couple years has looked as if it were going to fall down to the level of C-USA and be primarily a one-bid conference year in, year out.  This year, with Xavier, Temple (auto bid) and St. Joe's in, and Dayton and UMass in the discussion until very late, this is a year for the conference to build on.  A Xavier run would help clinch this...
Can't help but be a bit of a Xavier fan... Sean Miller, former Pitt guard, is the coach... Miller was one of those guys who seemed to stay in school forever... I swear he played for 11 years.

UPDATE 12:25: Xavier up 5-2, clearly the more talented team... and Georgia has already resorted to playing Dave Bliss, Jr, whose dad is best know for helping to engineer the downfall of Baylor Basketball, as head coach at the time of the Patrick Dennehy murder.

UPDATE: 12:30 PM- switch to the MSU-Temple Game... most significantly, Gus Johnson is announcing (with Len Elmore).  cool.

UPDATE 12:33 PM- Safely into MSU Temple.  I miss the John Chaney matchup zone,  I know ran Dumphy knows what he's doing, and it's certainly making Michigan St. look sloppy on offense... but the Temple Matchup Zone was iconic, and always made Temple play above talent level and above seed in March.

UPDATE 12:40 PM- Thanks for coming, Portland St.  KU up 12-3 early, and they've missed some easy baskets or it would be worse.  One sixteen down.  UGA up by three, as if to embarrass me for the 12:25 Update.

UPDATE 12:45 PM- Drew Lavender, 5'7", just had an alleyoop lob thrown for him.  I am speechless. He remains really short.

Update 12:52 PM- Give Portland St. their props... not only would a Viking do serious damage to a Jayhawk... they're hanging in.  Unfortunately, KU is shooting well from the outside, which you can't stop when trying to keep from giving up easy inside baskets.  Meanwhile Georgia missed the memo that they aren't very good.  Way to save Dennis Felton from the unemployment line, guys.

Update 1:00 PM- If Brandon Rush can hit 3's like this, I like my pick of them getting to the championship game.  Georgia-Xavier screams that it'll go down to the last second.  And then, Xavier's superior guards vs. Georgia's superior Karma... who knows.  I love this game so far tho.  and since KU has snapped Portland St.'s little neck, I can focus my In Demand watching on UGA-XU.  Note: Michigan State looks better than expected.  Drew Neitzel is good, I guess.

Update 1:05 PM- Drew Neitzel is competing with Kirk Heinrich, and Joe Smith for the Basketball Player name that sounds the least like a Basketball Player Name Award.  (Lifetime achievement award for the opposite award: God Shamgod, Providence) And of course, in Mascotology, A Spartan would catch, cook, and eat an Owl's nocturnal little ass.  XU best wake up, or they could get run outta the gym.

UPDATE 1:15 PM- Halftime of XU-UGA and KU-PSU.  UGA's late run has me concerned.  They kinda remind me of the Missouri team from a few years back that made a miracle run in the big XII tourney to make the field as a 12 seed, and then made the Sweet 16.  Xavier is good enough to come back tho... 9 points is not insurmountable.  Temple needed halftime to come about 6 minutes ago.

UPDATE 1:25 PM- the 16 is dead, and the 12 and the 3 are underperfoming.  I way have been a bit quick to praise the Atlantic 10.  Can I change my St. Joe's pick?  In all seriousness, Xavier is anything but dead.  Xavier needs to take advantage of its advantage in the backcourt, and maybe, just maybe, find a way to not get dominated on the boards.  I think Temple needs a great start to the 2nd half for even a chance to get back in it.

UPDATE 1:35 PM- XU-UGA and KU-Portland St. are back on the court.  Georgia has got off to a very sloppy start, and Drew Lavender remains really short.  Portland State has a Washington Generals look to them. 

UPDATE 1:37 PM- Whatever I write about UGA-XU, just assume the opposite will happen in the next few minutes.  The amount of NBA-level talent on the Kansas team may be unmatched in this tournament; when they're hitting shots (and when their coach doesn't get outcoached) they may be the best team in the country.

UPDATE 1:40 PM- There is a white guy on the floor for Temple.  In the John Chaney days, that would NEVER have happened.  occasionally he'd have a white walk-on at the end of the bench, but in years of seeing Temple hoops, I don't remember him ever playing a white guy.    At this point, I think Temple needs Bird, Bill Walton and John Stockton to keep it competitve.  They've just done the game switch; they've moved us to XU-UGA.  Unfortunately, they don't send us Gus Johnson too.

UPDATE 1:55 PM- There's some unexpected guests here, so I'm calling this session over, from a liveblog perspective.  I'll answer any comments after they leave, and I'll start on the second session in my next entry.
Fun So far... I love this game.