The road to Detroit does not go through Upset City

"M" Madness
In a game brought to you by the letter "M," Missouri held off Marquette 83-79 despite the magnificent efforts of McNeal and Matthews. Mizzou's win sets up a meeting with Memphis. The Golden Eagles trailed by 16 at one point, but turned it around in the second half to bring us one of the tournament's best games to this point. Who needs Dominic James when you've got these two guys? Jerel McNeal is Marquette's all-time leading scorer, and his 30 points were topped only by Pitt's Sam Young on Sunday. Wesley Matthews also did his part, adding 22.

They are who we thought they were
The top three seeds in each region have never gone 24-0 combined in the first two rounds. That is, not until this year. I mentioned in my March Madness preview that I thought the NCAA was top-heavy this year. After the first two rounds of the tournament, that appears to be the case.

If you were wary of picking upsets, your bracket is looking mighty nice. The Midwest has 1, 2, 3 and 12; the West has 1, 2, 3 and 5; and both the East and South regions have all four top seeds remaining. So just two of sixteen teams will be lacing it up unexpectedly next weekend.

Conference analysis
Taking a look at the Big Ten, Michigan, Minnesota, Illinois, Wisconsin and Ohio State are done, while Purdue stays alive to face UConn and Michigan St. prepares to take on Kansas. The Big Ten has a 6-5 tourney record.

With 16 teams remaining, here's the conference representation:

Big East: 5 (breaks the conference record of four)
Big 12: 3
Big 10: 2
ACC: 2
Conf. USA: 1
Pac-10: 1
Atlantic 10: 1
West Coast: 1

The Big East has thus far lived up to the hype, while the Big 12 has come through with solid performances by KU, Missouri and Oklahoma. Not a ton of buzzer beaters and exciting finishes this weekend, but I can feel them coming on in the next two rounds.

Marketing Madness
On a separate note, I've never understood businesses purchasing the naming rights to stadiums. The United Center? Petco Park? Quicken Loans Arena? I'm sure you could find some marketing experts who would tell you I'm subconsciously affected by these monikers, but I absolutely cannot imagine that I am more likely to fly United even if I watch every Bulls game for the next 10 years, or that I'm going to walk into Quicken Loans next time I need a loan just because I happened to catch a Cavs game the night before.

However, Taco Bell Arena--which is on Boise State's campus and served as host to some tourney games this weekend--is a name worth every penny. I don't care if TB paid $10 mil a year for the naming rights--I must have considered making a run for the border at least five times Sunday. I don't need a loan while I'm watching a basketball game, and I certainly don't have pet food on my mind when I'm taking in an afternoon baseball game. But I could definitely go for a Mexican pizza and a double decker taco at halftime. Mmmmm, or maybe some cheesy fiesta potatoes. I guarantee you that if I had attended Boise State University, I would have eaten a minimum of six meals a week at Taco Bell and, at some point, I would have dropped out of college, made every effort to secure a loan (NOT from Quicken Loans), and purchased a Taco Bell franchise. I would now be the proud owner of a Taco Bell restaurant somewhere in Idaho, weighing in at 400 pounds and thinking that pizza is a dish with two tortillas and eaten with a spork. I never thought I'd say this, but that was a great decision to buy the naming rights to that stadium, Taco Bell. It's a good thing for me there's no Cold Stone Creamery Coliseum or Popeye's Park.
UPDATE: I just ate Taco Bell for dinner. I wish I were kidding, but I'm not. It was delicious.