March Madness: Ranking The Afternoon Games

Here's hoping the night games are better. Or at least better officiated.

1. #1 Syracuse 72 - # 16 UNC-Asheville 65

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The "You've Gotta Be Kidding Me" Game: This one had history written all over it, until Syracuse's checks to the refs cleared at halftime. UNC-Asheville lost out on one questionable call after another until there wasn't any time left. I wanted so badly to see if Jim Boeheim could find a way to make that concessional handshake condescending, and now I'll never know. That said, it was an entertaining game.

2. #5 New Mexico 75 - #12 Long Beach State 68

Don Ryan / AP

The "Is This Really Our Second Best Game Of The Afternoon" Game: I mean don't get me wrong. This game was fine. Long Beach State was in it the whole way. Drew Gordon had a phenomenal game for New Mexico (18 points, 13 rebounds, 7 of 9 from the field). Long Beach State has those awesome jerseys that endorse a fifteen-year-old Leonardo DiCaprio movie (THE BEACH!). It was definitely watchable. But the fact that this was so highly does not speak well of the afternoon slate.

3. #4 Louisville 69 - #13 Davidson 62

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The "Peyton Siva Is So Much Fun To Watch" Game: Seriously, this guy is awesome. Watching him is like watching Jeremy Lin at the height of Linsanity without the fear that he'll be terrible in two weeks and Rick Pitino will be jobless and bitter.

4. #8 Kansas State 70 - #9 Southern Mississippi 64

Keith Srakocic / AP

The "What Did They Just Say" Game: Southern Miss tried to make this a game toward the end, but the Cats were just too much for them. Sure Rodney McGruder was dominant for Kansas State and freshman point guard Angel Rodriguez had flashes of greatness at the end of the game, but what people will remember is members of Southern Mississippi's band chanting "Where's your Green Card?" as Rodriguez was at the free throw line. Not a good look, guys.

5. #6 Murray State 58 - #11 Colorado State 41

Dave Martin / AP

The "Murray State's Edward Daniel Has An Awesome Afro" Game: It's true. He does. It was the most memorable thing about this game.

6. #3 Marquette 88 - # 14 BYU 68

Dave Martin / AP

The "We Left It All With Iona" Game: The boys from Brigham Young didn't have another epic comeback in them. There was a moment when they had that look on their faces that says "watch out, we're going to make a run here," but it turned out it was just gas.

7. #5 Vanderbilt 79 - #12 Harvard 70

The "I Don't Care What The Score Ended Up Being, Both Teams Struggled To Top 25 Points In The First Half" Game: The second half was much better, but by that time anyone who had tried to watch this game had already clawed their own eyes out. So no one actually knows what happened.

8. #4 Wisconsin 73 - #13 Montana 49

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The "Now That We Can Watch Every Game On Cable, No One Watched This One" Game: Montana was a trendy upset pick, but not all trends are good. Justin Bieber. Toddlers And Tiaras. Fascism. I hope you learned your lesson, Montana backers.