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Big Least, and other notes ...

So, how does your bracket look after Day 1 of the NCAAs?

My eternal faith in the SEC, having failed me miserably in recent years, at least at this stage, seems to have paid off. LSU, Florida, Alabama and Tennessee all made it through, and all have winnable second-round games.

Now it's up to Arkansas and the Cats to keep the momentum going.

After all the hype about the depth of the Big East, we get to play the games and settle it on the floor. And lo and behold, there's Seton Hall getting waxed in the opener. There's Marquette falling to SEC 'underacheiver' Alabama handily. There's Syracuse's boys right on schedule proving why they were a bubble team one night before starting their Big East tournament run. 0-3. Flop.

A cadre of top seeds will keep the Big East's record afloat another round, but let's stop with the superconference talk.

Meanwhile, the national media has begun chiming in on the Tubby Smith/UK struggles scene:

Smith has won 77 percent of his games in nine years and just two years ago won 28 games and the coach of the year award in his conference. He's also starting three sophomores and his front line is mostly good and tall. Besides, even traditional programs are entitled to a poor season. Anyone see Oklahoma football lately? Smith has earned the right to get a pass this season, but certainly not the right to complain if he doesn't.

He knew what the job was about when he took it. There's a reason why coaching Kentucky pays well, gets enormous exposure, a fantastic sneaker deal and good seats at the Derby if he's into horses. It's because of times like this. It's because he must deal with expectations, whether realistic or not, in a state that treats basketball like oxygen and water."

Hard to argue with much of that. Tubby has both earned the right to fix his mess and earned some of the grumpiness UK fans have exhibited this year.

I happen to think he will fix it, which I guess makes me an optimist. Would that more UK fans would give it a rest and focus on the Wildcats' positives.