Double Duty: Bruin Bites & Tournament GameThread

Productivity = 1 / ((Number of March Madness games * Number of Teams rooted for) ^ Number of Beers consumed)

You got a problem with that? Just think of it this way: if any of those first two parameters is zero, you can be infinitely productive! But if you have the bug, better stay sober...

After the first day of the NCAA tournament, a few things are clear to me. Firstly, Arizona is simply adored by the committee. They routinely get good seeding and placement, all from beating one or two good out of conference foes at the beginning of the season. Their conference record has often played second fiddle for the committee. Secondly, conference tournaments are terrible, a waste, and useless, except for smaller conferences. What did UCLA and Oregon gain? Nothing. UNLV and New Mexico were gassed and were missing more shots than a drunk Lindsay Lohan. Finally, the West bracket, where UCLA should have been, is in my opinion the easiest, while the South, where UCLA is, seems pretty tough. For now, Harvard is playing the role of Cinderella with Wichita State close behind especially if they keep playing as they have. As it is, the Pac-12 is undefeated and we'll see if UCLA and Colorado can keep it that way.

Here are some notes and news, followed by today's game schedule:

• Kiki VanDeWeghe has been hired by the NBA as vice-president of basketball operations. While currently covering the Clippers as a writer and analyst on Fox Sports, Kiki was formerly also coach of the Nets and GM of the Nuggets. He was up for the Clippers GM job but that went to someone else. Methinks this new job could be pretty good training for an Athletic Director position down the road...in case Chianti overstays his welcome.
• Bill Walton is a Bruin gem, he's priceless. Sure, he loves hyperbole and it's out of place sometimes, but his job is to be entertaining and he does a great job at that. Underneath that, however, I believe he has a keen understanding of the game and certainly of UCLA's place in college basketball, regardless of his "unique" point of view which Ben Howland loves to refer to. Anyway, here is a list of the top 10 Walton quotes from the Pac-12 tournament, brought to you by Awful Announcing, which is the blog Fox wished he had created.
• I have heard many people lament the fact that beer isn't sold in the Rose Bowl during a game. Well, I always thought of the game as a sobering period so that people can drive back home (or, as with the girl next to me in the game against Southern Cal, the black out period). But it seems Minnesota tried to sell alcohol during the last football season in its stadium...and managed to lose money. Firstly, as our friends at SB Nation point out, how on earth do you lose money selling booze at a college game? Well apparently, the Gophers lost money because they tried to sell wine at the game, and their problem was that Dan Guerrero did not attend the games:

Wine? At football games? Besides UCLA's athletic director, nobody's springing for the '98 Bordeaux at football games, guys.

I didn't insert that link, it's in the article! Chianti Dan's fame knows no bounds!

• Finally, it seems superheroes are on the Bruins' side. A bat was flying around in the stadium while Minnesota was practicing:

Meanwhile, the Bruins were practicing half court shots at practice...hopefully that's not what we'll need to beat the gophers.

Here is the game schedule for today:

• Albany vs. Duke in Philadelphia, 9:15 (CBS)
• Mississippi vs. Wisconsin in Kansas City, Mo., 9:40 (truTV)
• Temple vs. North Carolina State in Dayton, Ohio, 10:40 (TBS)
• Pacific vs. Miami (Fla.) in Austin, 11:10 (TNT)
• Cincinnati vs. Creighton in Philadelphia, 11:45 (CBS)
• La Salle vs. Kansas State in Kansas City, Mo., 12:10 (truTV)
• James Madison vs. Indiana in Dayton, Ohio, 1:10 (TBS)
• Colorado vs. Illinois in Austin, 1:40 (TNT)
• Florida Gulf Coast vs. Georgetown in Philadelphia, 3:50 (TBS)
• Iona vs. Ohio State in Dayton, Ohio, 4:15 (CBS)
• Villanova vs. North Carolina in Kansas City, Mo., 4:20 (TNT)
• Northwestern State vs. Florida in Austin, 4:27 (truTV)
• Oklahoma vs. San Diego State in Philadelphia, 6:20 (TBS)
• Iowa State vs. Notre Dame in Dayton, Ohio, 6:45 (CBS)
• Western Kentucky vs. Kansas in Kansas City, Mo., 6:50 (TNT)
• Minnesota vs. UCLA in Austin, 6:57 (truTV)

This is your tournament thread for today. There will be a separate one for the UCLA game.

Go Bruins!