Barring anything truly ridiculous, San Diego (as predicted) will wind up with at least a share of the upset of the first round.

That's a nice set of victories for the Toreros this season: Saint Mary's (twice), Gonzaga, Kentucky and Connecticut. And it's a good thing they got the win when they did; engaging in another OT without your top two players against an athletically superior team is never a good idea.

Amazingly enough, San Diego outlasted both of its fellow West Coast Conference members to win its first NCAA tournament game and advance to the second round. And the Toreros' victory ensures a mid-major presence in the Sweet 16; they'll meet Western Kentucky on Sunday.

There's still the night session to come, but here are some early rankings on the quality of each site so far:

1. Tampa. A 12-5 and a 13-4 upset to start things, and the possibility of a rerun in the night session (Villanova-Clemson and Siena-Vanderbilt) makes this a no-brainer.

2. Washington. Two really solid games yesterday for Verizon Center, including the fantastic Duke-Belmont thriller. Xavier-Georgia wasn't bad, and both second round games could be very entertaining.

3. Raleigh. Two words: Stephen Curry. Davidson won its first NCAA game since 1969 and stands an excellent chance of knocking out Georgetown on Sunday. Well, at least compared to a typical No. 10 seed.

4. Omaha: Michael Beasley and Bill Walker KO'd the O.J. Mayos in the biggest upset of the first day.

5. Birmingham: American showed enough pluck against Tennessee to elevate this site to the middle of the pack; the Oklahoma-Saint Joe's game is among the most promising of the remaining games.

6. Little Rock: Sort of blah so far, other than a fantastic performance by Miami's Jack McClinton. It was a 30-minute highlight tape --- all offense --- that landed him in Coral Gables. He put together a 20-minute reel today, dropping 32 of his 38 points on Saint Mary's in the second half.

7. Anaheim: You don't see a team only score 29 points every day in the NCAA tournament. And Kentucky gave Marquette a run. But overall, it was pretty tame.

8. Denver: An average victory margin of 19.8 points, no game that was closer than 11 points, no upsets and just one contest that entered the second half remotely competitive. It couldn't have been much more boring in the Mile High City.

--- Patrick Stevens