And the winners go to Detroit

How's your bracket? Ours isn't bad, but that's not a big deal. The first couple days of the NCAA tournament these days is pretty much a chalk affair, and if you stick with the big boys you'll usually be in pretty good shape for the second round, when the real work starts to get done. With four games left to play Friday, the top seeds to fall are a No. 4, Illinois, and a No. 5, Utah. Nobody really liked Illinois (key injury) or Utah (just not that good) anyway (OK, I picked Utah to beat Arizona -- I always hate on the big conference teams that crawl in as an 11 or a 12, and look at the thanks I get). So does that make Western Kentucky and Arizona our Cinderellas?

Well, no. The real Cinderella played earlier today and was as good as billed. Three North Dakota State players airplaned for loose balls in the first minute. Ben Woodside was unstoppable. They were undersized, undermanned, overachieving, crowd favorites, everything you could hope for.

Only one problem -- they lost. Kansas, which has helped create more Cinderellas in recent years than Disney did in a whole career, had just enough fresh bodies, got just enough shots to fall and, oh, yeah, had a seven-footer in the middle. So Kansas, much as it did last year with Davidson tore the heart out of the tournament. They just did it three rounds earlier this year. Thanks, Jayhawks.

After a couple of days on the couch, a short multiple-choice test for you. The correct answers are whatever you want them to be:

1. Which happens the least often during a game?
A. High-quality cheerleader upskirt shot.
A. Dick Enberg makes sense.
B. Tennessee looks like it knows what it's doing on defense.

2. Which of these things will happen first in coming years?
A. A 16 will beat a 1.
B. Oliver Purnell will win a game in the tournament.
C. A borderline call will go against Duke.

3. The worst part of the first round is:
A. The empty seats.
B. Tipoffs after 10 p.m. ET
C. The games themselves.

4. The redheaded flute player in the VCU band wearing the bikini top was:
A. Probably cold.
B. Thinking she should meet us after the game, and leave her bikini-top-wearing flute-playing friend at the Virginia Commonwealth hotel.
C. The most pleasant surprise of the tournament's first day.

OK, they're playing again in Dayton. Back to the couch.