Okay, folks, that's the first round in the bag and I gotta tell you, it was one of the more enjoyable tournament openings I've seen in a few years. There were a more than a few absolutely fantastic games - if you didn't see the end of Friday's Kentucky - St. Mary's game, then you missed an genuine instant classic - along with the normal mayhem and chaos that makes the NCAA tournament one of the greatest sporting events in the world.

But hey, it's late on Friday night and we've got to get this weekend's games for the men's Round of 32 out. So let's have a look at what we've got, what do you say?

Men's Round 2 - Saturday, 4:10 Pacific / 7:10 Eastern: (3) Gonzaga vs. (11) Texas

Texas has already knocked off two higher seeds to get here, and the Longhorns are riding the kind of momentum that makes seeds feel irrelevant — guard Tramon Mark is playing the best basketball of his career and 7-foot center Matas Vokietaitis gives them an interior presence that could put Gonzaga's Graham Ike in foul trouble all night. Gonzaga is 31-3 and has won every NCAA Tournament opener for 17 straight years, and Ike is an absolute force in the post. But the Zags labored past 14-seed Kennesaw State and their three losses this year were blowouts. Texas head coach Sean Miller said it plainly: there's not as much difference between seeds as there used to be. After beating two higher seeds, his Longhorns believe that completely.

High Point made history Thursday — Rob Martin drove the lane, found Chase Johnston cutting backdoor, and the Big South Champions beat Wisconsin 83-82 for the program's first-ever NCAA Tournament win. The kicker: that layup was the first 2-point field goal Johnston had made all season. Now they get Arkansas, a team riding a six-game winning streak after winning the SEC Tournament, led by freshman Darius Acuff who is genuinely one of the most electrifying players in the country. Here's the problem for the Razorbacks: High Point plays at a frantic pace, forces turnovers in bunches, and isn't remotely afraid of anyone — Wisconsin found that out. Arkansas' defense has been exploitable all year, and the Panthers are exactly the kind of team that exploits it. Both teams love to run. This one could get out of hand in a hurry.

Men's Round 2 - Sunday, 11:45 Pacific / 2:45 Eastern: (2) Iowa State vs. (7) Kentucky

Otega Oweh's halfcourt heave banking off the glass at the buzzer Friday night is already tournament lore — the kind of shot that ends up in highlight packages for decades. Kentucky survived, came back and won in overtime, and now walks into Sunday with all the momentum in the world. Iowa State rolled past Tennessee State, but the headline out of that game was star forward Joshua Jefferson going down with a sprained ankle just three minutes in and not returning. Jefferson is their do-everything guy, the kind of player who makes everyone around him better. The Cyclones won big without him, but Kentucky is not Tennessee State, and Oweh with momentum is a different problem entirely. Jefferson's status for Sunday is still unknown. If he plays, Iowa State is probably the better team. If he doesn't, this is anybody's game.

Men's Round 2 - Sunday, 2:15 Pacific / 5:15 Eastern: (4) Kansas vs. (5) St. John's

Rick Pitino's St. John's has won back-to-back Big East regular season and tournament titles and enters this game having never really been tested — they jumped Northern Iowa 20-3 Friday and never looked back. Zuby Ejiofor is the engine: the 6-9 senior became the first player in Big East history to win both Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year in the same season, and he's a nightmare matchup for anyone Kansas puts on him. But Kansas has Darryn Peterson, the likely No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft, whose best basketball reminds you why the hype exists — even if his consistency has been maddening all season. Bill Self and Rick Pitino in the Round of 32 is one of the best coaching matchups of the whole tournament. Two Hall of Fame coaches, two programs built to be here. Someone's season ends early.

Okay, folks, that'll do it for me. You've got a solid weekend of college basketball in front of you, PLUS another foursome of Squares games coming tomorrow night to cover the women's round of 32. March Madness is unstoppable, all you can do is hold on and enjoy it. I'll be back tomorrow with a few more games to get you through Monday, and then we'll all regroup for the Sweet 16 starting later next week.

Best,

Chris