March Madness - Halfway Through Day 2

Well, we've entered the second day of the greatest tournament on earth and I have to admit that so far I'm feeling a little letdown from all the craziness that took place yesterday. Sure, we've had No. 10 Missouri and No. 12 Cornell both pulling mild upsets, but without No. 13 Wofford being able to finish off No. 4 Wisconsin it just doesn't seem quite as exciting as yesterday.

We have a new leader atop the Six Degrees of MVNUSID bracket contest leaderboard after 24 games and it is Steve Miller. Steve, who is a junior pitcher on the Mount Vernon Nazarene University baseball team and a fellow Duke fan, has moved on top with 19 correct picks out of 24 possible ones. He's got a one-pick lead on eight other people, so it's shaping up to be quite a race.

I asked Steve what his secret was and he told me that the key is to "not overthink your picks." It's been fun watching some of the games with him while sitting in the hotel, and he definitely put a lot of thought into his bracket. Time will tell if it pays off for him. I've attached his bracket below.


After a very poor 8-for-16 showing yesterday, I'm pleased to say that I got all eight of the first half of today's picks right to move up to a more respectable 16-for-24 overall. And, even better, I have managed to move into a tie with my wife in the all-important race for bragging rights in our house.

A couple of side notes about the tournament. I've enjoyed exchanging tweets with CBS's Seth Davis the past two days and appreciate the fact that he's actually responded. It makes watching the tournament even more fun. Also, I know that two people in this contest are at the games in Milwaukee today. Watch out for Gail Sideman on press row and Eric Smith in the stands. I hope you guys are enjoying the games in person. I'm very jealous.

Well, let's see what happens with tonight's games as the Madness continues.