Chalk outlines

Things you are probably not saying this morning, if you filled out a bracket and didn't do anything crazy, like pick Abilene Christian to knock off Kentucky:

"Crap! One day in and my bracket is WHEAT TOAST!"

"Who seeded this thing? A llama?"

"Well, I can cancel that ocean cruise I was planning if I won the office pool."

No, you weren't saying any of that, because the first of the best two days of the NCAA Tournament was a freaking chalk outline. Almost every game went according to seeding, and the rare ones that didn't felt like they did. Even the lone alleged shocker -- Murray State blowing out Marquette, the traditional 12-over-5 that always happens -- didn't feel like a 12-over-5, on account of Murray State had Ja Morant and Marquette didn't.

(Seriously, is he even human? Seventeen points, 16 assists, 11 rebounds, a poster dunk that will live forever in the annals of poster dunks. And he's only 6-2. I think the Cylons just screwed up big time, letting one of their skin jobs reveal himself like that).

(A reference to the late, awesome series "Battlestar Galactica." If you missed it, you can probably stream it somewhere. And should).

Where was I again?

Oh, yeah. Thursday and its chalky aftertaste.

Oh, there were a couple of 10s-over-7s, and a 9-over-8, but come on, those don't even count. Only 15-seed Bradley having a brief out-of-body experience and 2-seed Michigan State playing like a bunch of goobers gave us even a fleeting oh-my-god moment, and then even that was gone. Down the stretch the Spartans got their collective stuff together, and Bradley ran out of fairy dust. And Michigan State won by double digits.

Elsewhere?

Well, the 1s beat the 16s like they were supposed to, ditto the 3s over the 14s, and on and on. Among Thursday's games, there were a few almosts -- 3-seed LSU held off 14-seed Yale by five, 5 seed Auburn came a missed buzzer beater from losing to 12 seed New Mexico State, and 6 seed Maryland held off 11 seed Belmont by two -- but in the end, form held. And there was a 38-point blowout, a 35-point blowout and a 34-point blowout, plus a couple of 19- and 18-point wax jobs.

Which suggests the power conferences have separated themselves from everyone else to a greater degree than usual. And that's no fun at all.

Of course, there's always today. Keep you fingers crossed, and your bracket ready to set on fire.