The Madness has begun on all four fronts and a good blend of high seeds have either advanced or been ejected. 16 teams remain battling for a trip to the RCA Dome in Indianapolis.

Atlanta region – Round 1

As expected, Duke beat Southern in the first round by a score 70-54.

Injured George Washington forward Pops Mensah-Bonsu returned from a knee injury and the Colonials beat the NC Wilimington Seahawks 88-85.

The Texas A&M Aggies pulled an upset as they defeated the Syracuse Orange 66-58. An injured Gerry McNamara was ineffective for the Orange and had one of the worst games of his college career as he shot 0.0 percent from the field and scored a measly 2-points.

In one of the first round’s most notable upsets, Jermaine Wallace nailed a last second 3-pointer and the Northwestern St. Demons knocked off the Iowa Hawkeyes 64-63.

The Wolfpack of North Carolina St. also pulled off an upset as they beat the Cal Golden Bears 58-52.

LSU, West Virginia, and Texas also advanced to Round 2.

Round 2

As the second round began in the region, Duke moved on to the Sweet 16 with a 74-61 win over the G.W. Colonials.

No. 4 seeded Louisiana State barely edged Texas A&M 58-57. With 3.9 seconds on the clock, Senior G Daren Mitchell made a 3-pointer to seal the deal for the Tigers.

Northwestern St. Demons, still high from their upset of Iowa, came back down to earth as they were defeated by West Virginia 67-54, ditto to North Carolina St. as they lost to Texas 75-54.

Heading into the Sweet 16 on March 23, Duke gets set to play LSU and West Virginia gets set to tango with Texas.

Top seeded UConn advanced with 72-59 win over Albany. Kentucky beat the University of Alabama-Birmingham 69-64. Washington defeated Utah St. 75-61. Illinois shot down Air Force 78-69. Defending champion North Carolina beat Murray St. 69-65. Wichita St. took down Seton Hall 86-66 and Tennessee beat Winthrop 63-61.

The major upset in the region occurred when George Mason defeated the Michigan State Spartans 75-65. The Patriots out rebounded the Spartans 38-23, which was a major key to the George Mason victory.

UConn, Wichita St., and Washington all advanced to the Sweet 16, but the biggest news in Round 2 involved the George Mason Patriots. The Patriots had already upset the Michigan State Spartans in Round 1, but that paled in comparison to what they pulled off in Round 2. George Mason was able to stone the defending National champion North Carolina Tar Heels 65-60. The Tar Heels turned the ball over 13 times and the Patriots made 9 of their final 12 free throws for the win. Ironically enough, the Illinois Fighting Illini, last year’s runner-up was also in the region and also failed to make the Sweet 16.

Speaking of which, the matchups include UConn vs. Washington and upstart George Mason taking on Wichita St.

No one was surprised that Villanova, Arizona, Florida, Georgetown, Ohio State advanced to Round 2. What was surprising was that No. 5 seeded Nevada was upset by No. 12 seeded Montana. The Grizzlies literally played the role of David to the Wolf Pack’s Goliath. Despite a solid night by Nevada’s 6’ 11” sensation Nick Fazekas, Montana was able to win 87-79.

Wisconsin-Milwaukee looked like they still had some of last year’s magic as they beat Oklahoma 82-74 in the region’s other first round upset.

A near upset occurred between Boston College and Pacific. The Tigers were able to take the Eagles into double OT but the Eagles prevailed and beat Pacific by a final score of 88-76. Round 2

In second round action, most of the higher seeds fared well. Villanova beat Arizona, Boston College beat Montana, and Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s magic wore off in an 82-60 loss to Florida.

Ohio State, seeded No. 2 in the region, didn’t follow suit and was upset 70-52 by the No. 7 seed Georgetown Hoyas. 7’ 2” center Roy Hibbert scored 20-points, 14 rebounds and 3 blocked shots for the Hoyas.

Going into the Sweet 16, Villanova will play Boston College and Florida will take on Georgetown.

No.1 seed Memphis, No. 2 UCLA, No. 3 Gonzaga, No. 5 Pittsburgh, and No. 6 Indiana moved on to Round 2.

Upsets in Round 1 occurred when No. 9 Bucknell beat No. 8 Arkansas, No. 7 Marquette lost to No. 10 Alabama in a bomb threat delayed game.

But the regions big upset occurred when No. 4 Kansas lost to No. 13 Bradley 77-73. The Braves’ Marcellus Sommerville made five 3-pointers, finished the night with 21-points and Bradley pulled off the big win.

Round 2

Bradley continued their magical play in the next round as they were able to upset the Pitt Panthers 72-66. Marcellus Sommerville again came up big for the Braves with 18-points and 6 boards to propel Bradley into the Sweet 16.

Memphis, Gonzaga, and UCLA also advanced. Top seed Memphis will play the Bradley Braves, and Gonzaga and UCLA will play in the other Sweet 16 matchup in the region.