The first day of the NCAA Tournament and, luckily, my bracket is not in shambles.

I went 13-3 on my picks Thursday, with my only incorrect choices were Kent State, Baylor and Winthrop, who I also had defeating Notre Dame in the second round.

The highlight of the night, for me, was seeing Kansas State take down USC, who many of the "experts" had making it at least to the Elite 8 which, oddly enough, is where I have Kansas State heading.

Today, I have a few more upsets in mind.

I think Davidson will beat Gonzaga, then drop Georgetown in the second round. Big risk, I know, but that is the fun of making picks. Also, I have fourth-seed Connecticut falling to San Diego and St. Mary's defeating Miami (FL), who is far overrated.

One thing about the seeding that has aggravated me is the undervaluing of some teams, like Butler.

Butler finished 11th in the AP Poll, have put up good showings in the last few tourneys, yet the Bulldogs end up as a seventh-seed, playing South Alabama in Birmingham, Ala., which is ridiculous.

Oh well, you can't go back and reverse what has been done.

As far as the Final Four goes, I have only one No. 1 making it, UCLA. The other three are Tennessee, Clemson and Texas.

Where do I have the other No. 1 seeds falling you might ask.

* Memphis, losing to Texas in the Elite 8,

* North Carolina, losing to Tennessee in the Elite 8, and

* Kansas, losing to Clemson in the Sweet 16.

For the final game, I have Texas defeating Clemson 80-68. A bit of a stretch and some might call me a homer, being from Texas, but to be honest, I just went on instinct when making the picks.

Now it's just time to sit back and watch it all play out.