The first day is underway, and there’s one surprise out there. Here’s the scores of the games in progress right now.

(3) Xavier 61, (14) Georgia 56: Georgia’s has the lead most of the game, but they’ve been outscored 35-21 in the second half. Keeping up their miraculous pace would be a good story, but it looks like the door if slamming shut on Georgia’s season right now.

(16) Portland State 61, (1) Kansas 85: You can bring the bench in for this one. The game was never close, never competitive, and Kansas shows again just how good they are at beating up on bad teams and choking in the Sweet 16.

(12) Temple 54, (5) Michigan State 64: There’s always a 5/12 upset, but it doesn’t look like this will be the one. The game was close most of the first half, but Michigan State closed the half with a burst, going up nine, and haven’t given up the lead since.

It’s a pointless study, and because of how pointless it is, I thought I should point it out. ESPN did a study of the Academic Elites, and found that the No. 1 seeds in this year’s tourney aren’t anywhere near the top.

North Carolina was the only school among the four No. 1 seeds in the NCAA men’s tournament to graduate at least 50 percent of its players.

A report released Monday found 86 percent of Tar Heels men’s players earned diplomas during a six-year period. The other top seeds were far worse: 45 percent at Kansas and 40 percent at UCLA and Memphis.

Thankfully, no one cares about academics. And anytime these schools brag about being smarter, we’ll be quick to remind them we kicked their ass in bball and football. Unless, of course, you’re Memphis, and then you only won in basketball.

As everyone suspected the moment UNC beat Clemson, the Tar Heels took over the No. 1 overall seed for this year’s tourney. The other three No. 1 seeds were Memphis, Kansas, and UCLA. To see the entire bracket, go here.

Thoughts on each bracket:

-East

• Carolina’s No. 1, which was the obvious pick. That said, does UT, who was thought to possibly be a No. 1 seed earlier in the day, really deserve to be thrown in the same bracket as UNC and Louisville? It makes for a tough region, and if the Sweet 16 pans out as anticipated, Louisville vs. UT could be a game that reaches 200 combined points.
• It may be a long shot, but don’t be surprised if Winthrop sneaks past Washington State.
• Indiana and Arkansas may be one of the best first round games, and Indiana/UNC could quite possibly be the best second round game.

-Midwest

• After beating Texas, Kansas seemed like the obvious pick. Even as a UT fan, I won’t argue that.
• Siena will upset Vanderbilt.
• Georgetown will make the Final Four.
• It’s crazy, but I think Kansas could lose to Kent State in the second round, doing what Kansas does best, exiting the tournament early.

-South

• Memphis won’t make the Final Four again. While everyone is bent on them playing the best out of conference schedule, their in conference schedule was terrible; and beyond that, their two best out of conference opponents, Tennessee and Georgetown, were both home games, and they only came away with a W in one of them.
• Michigan State will make a nice run, but Texas will win a close one in the Elite 8 to represent the region.
• People love the run Kentucky’s made to close the season, but I don’t see them getting past Marquette in Round 1.

-West

• To me, this is the easiest region. UCLA should be able to run through it. Duke is overrated, Xavier’s an untested, weak No. 3, and Uconn isn’t quick enough to hang with the Bruins.
• Don’t be surprised if West Virginia pulls one out against Duke in Round 2. The Blue Devils are fundamentally sound, but they’re not super athletic.

The Selection Committee hasn’t made any announcements yet, and won’t until later this evening, but UNC pretty much clinched the No. 1 overall seed with their win over Clemson today.

Texas is currently down by one at halftime against Kansas, and Georgia is pasting the Razorbacks, something every fan of any bubble team doesn’t want to see. The only way UGA sneaks into the tourney is if they win this game, and with a 30-13 lead in the first half, shooting over 50 percent, and only having one turnover in 13 minutes of play, they’re well on their way to getting that spot.

I’ll have updates later on in the day when the brackets come out, but my four No. 1 seeds are:

UNC
Memphis
Tennessee
UCLA

We’ll see.

This is last night’s horrible call, which really overshadowed an otherwise great game. Instead of talking about what a game it was — and what an upset it could’ve potentially been — we’re talking about a terrible call, one of the worst I’ve seen in a long time.

A part of me was happy, though, because the Texas/Kansas game had already started and, really: Would you rather watch Nova/GU or Kansas/Texas?

I remember when I was a kid and loved watching the Georgia Tech games when Dicky V was broadcasting them. To me, it meant that your game was the most important game of the week and, besides that, I thought he was funny. He’s a real Diaper Dandy, baby!

I was eight. I’m not anymore. Now, to be completely truthful, I find it as hard to watch a Dicky V broadcasted game as I do watching MNF with Jaws (take that back: MNF is much harder to watch).

Well, Dicky V just had surgery on his vocal cords, so he may be out for a little while.

“College basketball fans will miss Dick’s enthusiasm in the coming weeks. But we are delighted to learn his surgery was a success and we all wish him a speedy recovery,” ESPN president George Bodenheimer said in a statement.

I echo part of that sentiment. I’m glad to learn his surgery went well — he’s a really nice guy, from everything I’ve ever seen — though I’m hoping when he comes back he’s maybe not at 100% strength, at least from a screaming-in-your-face standpoint.

(Just after writing this, while watching the Georgia Tech/Kansas game, they’re saying his surgery was more than a success and he’ll come back louder than ever. So there goes hoping against hope.)

Julian Wright, Kansas’ forward who’s expected to be a top five pick, has entered his name into the NBA draft, for every reason but money.

“Money has never been my motivation,” he said. “It’s not my family’s [motivation]. Mostly, just playing and feeling like I’m able to advance my game to the next level. It’s not about the money. I’m just happy and grateful to have the opportunity.”

Wright’s not hiring an agent (giving him the opportunity to return to Kansas should he not like where he’s taken), and has been known through his college career as an inconsistent player, but neither should stop an NBA team from scooping him up early.

Kansas, meanwhile, should still be okay: They’ve got loads of talent that’s led by Brandon Rush, who’s arguably the best player in the nation. Losing Julian Wright will hurt, certainly, but it won’t cripple their chances of winning a national title next year.

That said, I can’t really say the same for Texas, who has just heard the bad — but very obvious — news: Kevin Durant is leaving for the NBA. He said a couple of weeks ago that he was really enjoying the moment, that he might hang around, but I’m guessing no one really believed that.

He’s a top two lock, and might very well be the number one (I don’t care if Oden’s coming out; Durant’s a guy that can score at any point of the game). Rick Barnes, though probably upset about his early departure, has this to promise:

“The one thing I do know he’s going to do is finish school,” Barnes said, according to the Dallas Morning News. “That’s one thing I don’t worry about. He’s going to do that part of it.”

I wouldn’t count on that, Rick. What I do count on? The Longhorns starting all over again next year.

Georgetown 58, Syracuse 72: Is Georgetown a fraud? Is Syracuse better than we all thought they were? Whatever the case, Syracuse probably went ahead and clinched themselves an invitation to The Dance. It was their second big win in four days, and they’ve gone from a team who was on the outside looking in, to a team that really controls their own destiny. Barring a total collapse, Syracuse is in.

Kansas 67, Oklahoma 65: They blew a 17 point lead, but something tells me this is just the kind of game the Jayhawks needed. They’ve been killing their opponents, so having a scare at the end of the regular season is probably a good thing. Julian Wright and Mario Chalmers both scored 18 points, helping the Jayhawks win their eighth straight. Not many people have talked about them, but I think they at least deserve some consideration for a one seed.

Football starts at 4:30 p.m., but until then, there’s some pretty good basketball on. Tennessee is tied with Ohio State right now (CBS). Chris Lofton has already sank two three-pointers, and leads the Vols with 8 points. The Man Child, 10 minutes through the game, already has 10 points. Here’s some other games you can view today:

-Now Playing: West Virginia @ Marquette (ESPN)
-Kansas @ Iowa State (ESPN 2:00)
-UNC @ VT (ABC 3:30)

And Georgetown plays Pitt at 9:00 p.m., but unless you’re a serious fan of one of these teams, I don’t think you’ll be watching it over the Eagles and the Saints, which starts at 8:00 p.m.

Hope you enjoy the games today. I’ll be posting throughout, if I’m not wicked drunk.

Sorry these are being posted so late, but I woke up late as hell today. Couldn’t fall asleep last night. I was having dreams of Georgia Tech being dominated by Duke, only to wake up and realize that we beat them like they were our Sister of the ACC. Take that, Duke. It’s about time (it was only our 2nd win against them in the last 22 meetings. Not a very good percentage, since you had to ask).

Kansas 87, Ok. State 57: So much for Ok. State being a top ten team. Kansas had a 17 point lead at the break, and continued their wrecking-ball dominance through the second half. Now we’ll see if they can do this in March.

Butler 67, Illinois-Chicago 73: So much for this team to be a 3 seed in March. They had a nice little run, but a couple of more losses and they’ll go back to Cinderella status.

Marquette 73, UCONN 69: Jim Calhoun’s squad is starting to come back to earth after a nice start. This loss was most deflating because it came at home, where Uconn had a 31 game winning-streak.

Vandy 82, UT 81: Vandy has now beaten Georgia Tech and Tennessee, making them my least favorite team in the nation. Chris Lofton did his thing for the Vols, shooting 6/7 from beyond the arch, which actually turned out to be an off day.