11:49 ' I arrive at UD Arena for a full slate of NCAA First Round games. Dayton is the host site for four games today, so I gear myself up to spend the next 12 or so hours inside this building. A slightly frightening thought, but where would you rather be on a Friday afternoon than courtside for some March Madness?

11:55 ' Ohio State is playing Davidson in the first game of the day, and an 'OH-IO!' chant starts among the capacity crowd. I thought college football Saturdays on UD's campus were bad, but now I have to listen to 8,000 OSU fans. It could be a long day.

12:43 ' Davidson, seeded 15, takes a 20-18 first half lead. The Wildcats have come out strong and do not look intimidated by the Buckeyes at all. Ohio State ties the score, leading Flyer TV's Mike Giangreco to remark, 'There's no Barbara Walters here, but it's 20-20.' I'm left speechless.

12:58 ' When I first arrived at the arena, I headed straight for the media buffet. When I got there, I was told that lunch would not be served until halftime. Okay, I thought, I can handle that. Now, at halftime, I hastily return to the buffet only to be told it will not be open until AFTER the second game, which should be around 5:00. I'm sorry, but I was told there would be lunch. That sounds an awful lot like a DINNER buffet! I make do with potato chips and a soft drink for lunch. The things I do for journalism...

1:17 ' The second half begins, and Davidson is actually leading 29-25. I do some research and find out that No. 2 seeds are 82-4 all-time in First Round games. Second-seeded Tennessee survived a scare yesterday beating Winthrop by just two.

1:38 ' Down three, the Buckeyes go on a 10-0 run to grab a 42-35 lead. Davidson put up a good fight, but I have a feeling that they're cooked.

2:11 ' The Wildcats would hang around, but OSU proved to be too much for them. The Buckeyes win 70-62. A few post-game thoughts:

Terence Dials is an absolute load. Watching him on TV doesn't do him justice; he is simply a beast. Dials finished with 19 points and 13 rebounds, six of those on the offensive end.

With Dials you know what to expect, but I can't say the same about OSU's perimeter players. In this tournament, the Buckeyes will only go only as far as their guard play and outside shooting take them. They will need to perform much better than their 5-22 3-point shooting if they want to win on Sunday. The starting guards for the Buckeyes went just 3-of-14 shooting and scored only 12 points.

2:37 ' Did you see the finish to that Iowa-Northwestern St. game? The thee-seed Hawkeyes lost by a point after a Northwestern St. player hit an off-balance trey with 0.5 seconds remaining. Gotta love the madness.

2:44 ' We're all set for the second game of the day pitting Georgetown against Northern Iowa. My bracket looks okay so far, but I am a whopping 1-4 in games between 7-10 and 8-9 seeds. My lone correct prediction was George Washington, which overcame an 18-point second half deficit to win last night. I picked UNI to win this 7-10 match-up, so consider this your cue to make hefty wagers on Georgetown.

3:10 ' Giangreco points out how ugly the Georgetown mascot is, and he's right. I'm surprised but the Hoya is downright hideous. He adds, 'I would have expected Georgetown to have hotter cheerleaders.' Again, I'm left speechless.

3:13 ' UNI plays great team basketball and moves the ball extremely well. The Panthers are always looking to make the extra pass. Guard John Little has 14 early points on 4-4 shooting from 3-point range and UNI is on top 27-20.

3:44 ' Former Georgetown head man John Thompson is on hand. His son, John Thompson III, is the current Hoyas coach, and Thompson appears to be here for the NCAA radio broadcast. Thompson the elder is just a beast of a man. I'm telling you the guy is huge'and pretty intimidating.

Mike Wilbon, from the popular ESPN program 'Pardon the Interruption' is in the house as well and is carrying a man-purse. No comment.

4:32 ' Northern Iowa has scored a UD-like eight points in 17 minutes and 47 seconds of basketball. The Hoyas, however, have not done much to take advantage and are clinging to a 44-38 lead. Little finally ends the drought with a three to get the Panthers within three, but those would be his only points of the second half.

4:34 ' Less than two minutes to play now, and Giangreco goes into a Howard Cosell impersonation for three minutes of real time. I don't say a word. Speechless.

4:38 ' Georgetown stifles UNI's comeback effort and holds on to win 54-49. The Panthers started the second half going (again, Flyers-like) 2-of-18 from the field.

I'm really looking forward to the match-up of the big men when the Hoyas take on the Buckeyes in the second round. GU has a 7-2, 283-pound center in Hibbert, and I can't wait to see he and Dials do battle on Sunday.

5:20 ' Finally, the (not lunch) buffet is open. Since I didn't have lunch, I proceed to eat two dinners.

6:37 ' How fitting that both teams in our next game will be wearing green on St. Patrick's Day. The higher seed Michigan St. will wear white with green letters, and George Mason sports green jerseys with gold and white trim.

7:09 ' The third game tips off with an interesting storylines to note. GMU guard Tony Skinn is suspended for this game after his low blow to a Hofstra player in the team's previous game. Skinn averages 12.8 points a game for the Patriots, and many thought that if the Patriots were left out of the Big Dance, his suspension would be the reason. GMU got an at-large bid anyway, but we'll have to see how badly the team misses Skinn today.

7:27 ' We're off to a lightning quick start with MSU ahead 22-20 with 11:20 to play in the first half. Both teams have come out of the gates hot, and this is like a halftime score for your average UD game.

7:36 ' Giangreco and I have decided the GMU mascot has surpassed the Hoya as ugliest mascot of the day. It's supposed to be a Patriot, but Mike likens the team's mascot to a cross between a Teletubby and the Philly Phanatic.

8:03 ' If GMU misses Skinn, they certainly aren't showing it. The Patriots shot 58 percent from the field, outrebounded the Spartans and outscored them in the paint in the first half. GMU ended the half on a 9-2 run to take a three-point halftime lead.

8:27 ' GMU throws a pretty alley-oop and, minutes later, goes on an 8-0 run. It's 45-37 Patriots, and MSU is forced to take a timeout.

8:47 ' It's the Maurice Ager Show in the second half. The senior has 13 of MSU's last 15 points and has scored eight unanswered to put the Spartans ahead by one.

8:52 ' Even Ager can't withstand what the Patriots are doing right now. GMU answers with a 10-0 run in no time flat. MSU calls a timeout trailing 61-52 with 3:47 to play.

9:14 ' That run sealed the deal as the Spartans would never come closer than six points. George Mason shocks a team that has been to the Final Four in four of the last seven seasons. With the 75-65 victory, the Patriots have ruined quite a few brackets as the Spartans were a sleeper team for many office pool experts across the nation.

9:40 ' Jim Larranaga is my new favorite coach. You've probably never heard of him, and neither had I until about 20 minutes ago, but Larranaga could not stop smiling in his post-game press conference. The George Mason head coach was downright giddy after beating MSU; I wouldn't have been surprised if the man actually giggled.

9:47 ' Someone asks Larranaga a Billy Packer question, and he chooses to go with the old 'One of the things that makes this country so great' routine. Fantastic stuff. He continues to tell us how glad he is that Packer can have his own opinion and how much he respects that opinion. Packer, a college hoops analyst for CBS, is of the opinion that NCAA at-large bids should go to bigger schools from the BCS conferences instead of to 'mid-majors' like the George Masons of the world. If I was I a so-called mid-major and I had just stuck it to Michigan State, you'd be hearing all about it. Larranaga instead chooses to take the high road. See, I told you I got a new favorite coach.

Larranaga proceeds to mentions recent victories by Hofstra and Old Dominion'two teams in the same conference as GMU'against two Big XII teams. He also includes the fact that the Patriots won at Wichita St., a team that 'beat a Big East team [Seton Hall] by 20.' And, of course, his own club just beat a Big Ten team. In 90 seconds, he managed to slam Packer, the selection committee and the power conferences in a totally classy and acceptable way.

10:32 ' North Carolina and Murray State square off in the final game of the night, I miss the majority of the first half attending the GMU and MSU press conferences. For the fourth time in as many games, the lower-seeded team takes the halftime lead. MSU 31 ' UNC 30 at intermission.

11:07 ' UNC freshman Tyler Hansbrough throws down back-to-back slam dunks to put the Heels up by six. Hansbrough is a stud with unlimited potential. He can absolutely dominate at this level, and he's scored 17 points thus far.

11:20 ' Throughout the day's games, the public address announcer has repeatedly made the same request, something along the lines of, 'For the courtesy of those around you, please remain seated while the game is in progress.' Now, I'm no expert but I wasn't aware that this was a symphony or some Shakespearean play where fans were not allowed to stand up. For some reason, I thought this was a college basketball game where those in attendance could stand up and yell and scream in support of their team.

Some boos are heard in the crowd as the PA guy makes the announcement for the umpteenth time today. Fans from both teams are on their feet in the second half of a tight game. Kudos.

11:47 ' Murray St. tied the game with just 1:18 remaining, but UNC was just too much for the Racers. The Tar Heels score the game's last points to secure a too-close-for-comfort 69-65 victory. I make for the exit almost exactly 12 hours after I arrived. I'll have more sights and sounds during Sunday's Second Round games.