Picknroll's Pics for day one...

   

      The first day of the field of 64 is on Thursday.  Right after the hotel buffet, the Terps of Maryland play the West Virginia Mountaineers. That's the 8 and 9-seed teams in Bama's bracket.  I'm going with WVU in a close one. Both of these teams need to be in the ACC or the Big East, but, money talks.  After the morning game is the premiere game of the day. Number 1 seed Alabama plays Texas A&M Corpus Christi. The Christi bunch beat Southeast Missouri State to get into the field. Alabama is a 25-point favorite and might not be enough. TAMUCC didn't have a player of 6-3 on the floor most of the night. This is a perfect game for the Tide to overcome the nerves of being the top seed.  Before the Tide takes the floor, you can catch parts of the Furman vs. Virgina game. I like the 4 seed Virginia by double digits.  Warning - this is likely to be the slowest game you'll see since the four corners' offense was yawned to death. 

     Utah State takes on SEC - gonna' be real good real soon - Missouri, close to lunchtime. I'm picking the Tigers because of a strong finish in the SEC race. Utah State was last four in, then four out, and then back in. The speed of the Tigers will be too much for the Utahans to beat.  I bet Kobe Brown has a big game in his home state.  Around the same time, Howard plays Kansas. If you were going to pick an underdog to win, this ain't the game. Kansas by a biblical flood amount.  

    And its Stars fell on Alabama time, you know, Brandon Miller, Mark Sears, Jahvon Quinerly, Noah Clowney, and the rest of the team. I expect everyone in a Bama uniform will play. But expect the first 7 players to be rotated and prepare for the Saturday game.

    Birmingham will do the State of Alabama in a fine Southern hospitality manner. We'll need a few guys to do live posting during the game. We need to make two things clear. 1. The Legacy area is safe, parking is decent, and you see many fine officers on duty. Thank them for their service. 2. Go to any of the nation's best restaurants, not just the south.  You can go health hazard hot dogs, Thai Pad in Five Points nice. If you want to impress your date, take them to Highlands Bar and Grill. It's one of the top five restaurants in America. There is a bank nearby for the loan to eat there. Several of you say, "this guy isn't a food critic." I admit I'm not, but I don't mean to brag - but I can afford Five-Guys. Roll Tide. 

There is a morning article below if you want to scroll down.