Things have gone very well here. I am giving a wholehearted endorsement of Little Rock as an NCAA site. For the first time hosting, they have done a very good job. The media areas are in close proximity to the court, and the arena is very nice. One interesting thing has happened as far as the crowd: Arkansas fans basically kept their tickets. Though the Tigers are going to have a nice presence here tonight, and it looks as though Mississippi State has a somewhat decent representation, this is a very neutral site, which is the way it should be. That’s a little bit of a surprise. I thought Arkansas fans would be dumping tickets by the thousands, but apparently they’ve pretty much held onto them.

Now, I will say, it could be a different story Sunday for the Texas-Miami game. The Longhorns got a very unwelcome reception here during the pre-game, though the crowd was never really going to be a factor against Austin Peay.

Right now, Oregon is up 9 on Mississippi State. Neither team has impressed me much to this point. Oregon is completely one-dimensional. They shoot 3s, and they don’t guard. Mississippi State hasn’t done much either, just 32 points in nearly 24 minutes, and it’s not like Oregon is exactly playing great D. I don’t see either one of these teams beating Memphis, with the caveat of course being that you never know what can happen in a one-and-done tournament. I watched a bit of Texas. They are a small team, but they’re extremely quick. AJ Abrams and DJ Augustin are ever smaller than I expected. That’s where the matchup with Memphis could be very interesting if they meet in the Elite 8. Memphis is pretty darn quick too and can guard those guys with much bigger people.