As March Madness goes, Day 1 of this year’s NCAA Tournament was relatively tame. There was a 12-5 upset when McNeese upended Clemson in spectacular fashion and a blow to the SEC when 11th-seeded Drake toppled sixth-seeded Missouri. But everything else went more or less by the book, even if No. 5 Michigan needed a last-minute jumper from Will Tschetter to stave off UC San Diego in crunch time and No. 3 Texas Tech only pulled away from UNC Wilmington in the final moments.

The hope for basketball junkies is that relatively calm seas can only last so long, that eventually the upsets and tournament magic start flowing from one arena to the next. We’ll be tracking the biggest storylines and moments of Day 2 all afternoon and evening, exploring some of the bigger topics in a bit more detail.

Bookmark this page and join us for what should be an excellent slate of games. Enjoy!

First “upset” of the day belongs to Colorado State

For the second time in as many days, the NCAA Tournament produced a popular 12-5 upset with Colorado State taking down Memphis on Friday afternoon thanks to an explosive second half, especially from beyond the arc. Sophomore guard Kyan Evans, who entered the game shooting 43.1% from 3-point range, set new career highs with 23 points and six triples to help the Rams erase a narrow halftime deficit. His first 3-pointer of the second half knotted the game at 48-48 with 15:02 remaining, and then Evans drilled back-to-back triples a few minutes later as Colorado State surged in front by 10. At that moment, the Rams were plus-21 from 3-point range with Memphis making just three of its first 15 attempts and finishing 6-for-23 overall — an unexpected development for a team that ranked 19th nationally in 3-point shooting at 38% this season.

But the end result — a 78-70 victory for Colorado State — was hardly unexpected considering the circumstances surrounding Friday’s game. The Tigers were without star guard Tyrese Hunter (13.7 points and 3.6 assists per game) after he suffered a left foot injury in the conference tournament, reducing head coach Penny Hardaway’s team to just two scorers averaging more than 10.4 points per game. That injury, coupled with a soft schedule in the AAC, left many surprised that Memphis was seeded so highly on Selection Sunday, with many bracketologists handing the Tigers a 7- or 8-seed, if not lower. All of that was enough for oddsmakers to tab Colorado State, which had won 10 consecutive games entering the NCAA Tournament, as the betting favorite despite the discrepancy in seeding. This is the third time in the last four years that head coach Niko Medved has guided the Rams to the Big Dance.

And it’s quite possible that the Rams will have some staying power in this year’s tournament as they prepare to face the winner of No. 4 Maryland and No. 13 Grand Canyon. Medved’s team is one of the most balanced in the country with an offense that ranks 50th nationally in efficiency and a defense that ranks 53rd. Four different players scored at least 12 points in Friday’s win over Memphis, led by Evans’ outburst, and the Rams finished with 14 assists on 24 made field goals. The defense, meanwhile, limited the Tigers to just 34.5% shooting in the second half and only committed seven fouls after the break.

Colorado State is now seeking the program’s first Sweet 16 appearance since 1969.

SEC’s struggles continue as Baylor holds off Mississippi State

What began as a record-setting week for the SEC, which sent 14 teams to this year’s Big Dance, the most in NCAA Tournament history, continued to slip toward disappointment on Friday afternoon when No. 8 Mississippi State fell short against No. 9 Baylor in the first game of Day 2. The Bulldogs’ 75-72 loss dropped the SEC to 4-4 in March Madness and invited questions about the true strength of the league relative to the rest of college basketball. That No. 2 Alabama barely survived against No. 15 Robert Morris shortly thereafter — with the Crimson Tide only pulling away in the final minutes for a 90-81 victory — provided even more fuel to critics.

While there’s nothing inherently catastrophic about losing an 8 vs. 9 matchup, the nature of Mississippi State’s defeat to Baylor sounded a few alarm bells. The Bulldogs surrendered 15 offensive rebounds, which led to 22 second-chance points for the Bears, with each extra possession further deflating Mississippi State’s cause. Such a glaring difference in physicality between a middle-of-the-pack Big 12 squad in Baylor and Mississippi State, winners of five games against fellow SEC teams in the NCAA Tournament, is something to watch in the coming days.

On Thursday, the SEC teams produced a relatively disappointing showing that began to raise concerns. The league scored wins over Alabama State, Kansas, Wofford and Yale — three of which are from outside the power conferences — but suffered losses to Gonzaga, Xavier and Drake, a team that starts four former Division II players under first-year head coach Ben McCollum. The relative ease with which Drake pulled away from No. 6 Missouri for a controlled 67-57 victory was eye-catching in the wake of the Tigers’ wins over Florida and Alabama during the regular season.

There could be several more losses on the horizon for the SEC throughout the remainder of Friday’s action. Ninth-seeded Oklahoma, which takes on eighth-seeded UConn; 10th-seeded Vanderbilt, which will play seventh-seeded Saint Mary’s; and sixth-seeded Ole Miss, which faces 11th-seeded North Carolina, are all betting underdogs in their respective matchups.

Michael Cohen covers college football and college basketball for FOX Sports. Follow him on Twitter @Michael_Cohen13.

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