Might be a new year, but it sure looks like the Lunatic curse is alive as well.  My upset picks had Duke going to the Championship game – so of course, that would mean that the Atlantic Sun champions from Mercer would take them out in the Blue Devil’s first game.

That also ended our last perfect bracket of the tournament.  Dooomps managed to go 16 of 16 in day 1.  But Mercer ended that run of perfection early.  The first day leader is still hanging onto the lead in a tie with Michael Strange and Kevin Flippen.   And the Lunatic’s 7 year old son, Charlie, has managed to get into the small group tied for 4th (of course, he also has Duke in the finals, so his fame this year might be fleeting).

So, since the Lunatic knows that his teams are probably doomed – lets go for crazy upsets as well.   Let Wichita State, Virginia, Iowa State, and UCLA – none of the top 4 protected seeds that have played today have managed to win by large amounts – the underdogs are sticking around – if the top seeds aren’t careful, they might suffer the same fate as the Blue Devils……