Best Day 1 Ever?

I'm not sure if this was the best day 1 of the NCAA tournament ever, but it definitely has to rank right up there. 

First group of games - incredible:

Old Dominion won a squeaker over Notre Dame by 1.  This game was back and forth most of the way, and Notre Dame had a 3 pointer go in and out as time basically ran out. 

BYU (this year's Davidson?) then won a double overtime thriller over Florida as the world was introduced to BYU point guard Jimmer Fredette and his 37 points.  This kid has it all including an uncanny ability to get to the rim.  I will be rooting for these guys for as long as they can go no matter who they face.

Lastly, Villanova stole a victory from a game Robert Morris team in overtime.  Robert Morris led almost the entire regulation before 'Nova sent the game into overtime.  This victory saved a little face for the Big East in what was easily the most embarrsing day in a long time for the conference.  Yet Villanova had no right to win it.  They were outhustled big time, but the disappointing end didn't take too much away from this exciting game.

The second group of games were overall not as great, but had the most exciting buzzer beater of the day. 

Kansas St handled their business efficiently, and Butler, St. Mary's, and Baylor all had close halftime games before late runs gave them victories.  However...........how about Murray St?!?!  Danero Thomas hit a 15 footer at the buzzer to send the 13 seed into the second round after Vanderbilt had done the same at the other end with 13 seconds left. 

Third group - awesome:

Kentucky's massive blow out was the only dud, unless you count 14th seeded Ohio's pounding of Georgetown?????  What happened here?  The mighty Hoyas must have thought this was the preseason, and ironically their next game will be.  There is nothing better than watching a highly rated team from the "#1 conference" just get it handed to them by a 9th place finisher from a mid major. 

Northern Iowa won another great game on a 3 pointer by Ali Farokhmanesh (don't ask me to pronounce that one) from well beyond the arc with 5 seconds remaining to break a tie ballgame.  Northern Iowa came into the game with the number 1 defense in the land, and their gritty effortshowed why.  I love watching lesser athletic teams play with great fundamentals to win.  This is UNI in a nutshell.  This is another team I will definitely be watching in the next round to see how they can handle the Jayhawks.

Finally, Marquette ended a putrid day for the Big East by blowing a 15 point 2nd half  lead over Washington to lose by 2 in another close exciting game.  Washington scored on last second shot breaking a tie ballgame and leaving Marquette standing on the wall on a shot by Pondexter.

So the final set of games surely would be a letdown, right?  Uh, not exactly.

Sure KU pounded Lehigh, but only after Lehigh hung tough for just over a half.  However, the other three games were a continuation of the rest of the day.

Tennessee hung on against San Diego St.  SD St. had a chance to tie it at the buzzer with a three, but unfortunately it didn't go down for basketball fans. 

Then in a game that rivaled the Murray St. game, Wake Forest beat Texas by 1 in overtime on a shot with 2 seconds left.  This after Texas missed multiple free throws that could have iced the game including 2 misses with 10 seconds left. 

In the last game of the night, 14th seeded Montana led at half before falling behind by 14 points in the second half against New Mexico.  Then they stormed back to get within 1 before finally succumbing by 5.
 
So in summary:

3 overtime games which eclipsed the total for the entire tourney last year
4 games decided by shots in the last 5 seconds
5 double digit seeds winning (the most on day 1 since 1991)
7 games decided by 3 pts or less

Day 2 anyone?