March 18 NCAA, NIT, and WNIT Tournament Schedule and Open Thread (and Thursday's Results)

Yes, last year it was Georgia State. Who beat... Baylor. The circle of life strikes again.

Two eleven seeds also advanced, as Wichita State and Gonzaga did Wichita State and Gonzaga things. The big theme of the day, however, was a reversal of last year's break from form. In 2015, no nine seed beat an eight seed (and bear in mind, historically the eights have a losing record). The only eight left in this year's dance is Saint Joseph's, and that's because they haven't played yet. Texas Tech, Colorado, and USC are all headed home.

If you're counting, that's seven upsets, nine chalks. It's one of the most upside-down days in NCAA Tournament history, but it didn't feel like it because none of them were huge.

Perhaps more interesting, every game that wasn't an upset was miserably dull; only Miami-Buffalo was anywhere close to competitive.

Outside the NCAAs, Valparaiso continued taking out their anger over being snubbed on helpless NIT victims; the Crusaders swatted Florida State away by a dozen. And Grand Canyon, which isn't a real grown-up D-I school for another two years, moved into the quarterfinals of the CIT.

Yesterday's results; SB Nation colleague recaps in green.

Today's Men's Schedule

The NCAA field cuts down to 32 today, and the schedule's more loaded with 7-10 and 2-15 games than anything else. In the early shift, VCU-Oregon State could be tasty. South Dakota State is a trendy 12-5 pick over Maryland in the afternoon slot. During the dinner hour, we get OUR LUMBERJACKS taking on Press Virginia; more than one talking head has suggested the Mountaineers could be in trouble. And the night flight includes Northern Iowa going up against Texas, which could spell more trouble for the Big 12.

The only men's game today outside the big dance is the BYU-Virginia Tech fight in the NIT.

Thursday's Women's Results

Power 5 teams were safe from mid-majors last night in the WNIT, so long as those Power five teams aren't members of the Big Ten. Nebraska, Iowa, and Northwestern were all knocked off at home; Rutgers was the only B1G school to survive, and they had to play an actual major opponent in Georgetown.

The most interesting game, though, was in the WBI. Four players scored 25 or more points, and Mallory Boyle plopped a three at the buzzer in overtime to give Western Illinois a 99-97 win over Southern Illinois.

Today's Women's Schedule

It's time. The NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament begins today, with four groups of games which don't have staggered start times. ESPN2 will provide regional lock feeds (in other words, folks in Kansas will actually see most of the K-State/George Washington game), and will otherwise whiparound in the manner the CBS coverage of the men's tournament used to back in the days before TBS got involved.

Interesting things: in the morning group, West Virginia takes on Princeton, who had an undefeated regular season last year. DePaul-James Madison could be interesting too. The afternoon group doesn't have any truly promising upset potential. Late afternoon, there's only one game you should care about, as the Cats take one GWU. In the evening, Oklahoma needs to watch out for Saint Bonaventure.

In other action, the first round of the WNIT concludes today.