It’s March all right, as upsets take down blue bloods and incredible endings will dominate the weekend

There are a lot of great sports watching weekends throughout the year. Most of them, though, begin and end with the NFL. Not this weekend. It’s college basketball that holds our interest. And it will through Monday night.

How’s that again? Doesn’t the NCAA tournament run through Sunday? Sure it does. If you are only referring to the men’s tournament. The women start their main event today and finish the first weekend Monday. Which gives us an extra day of hoops.

And, if Washington State can win tomorrow in North Carolina, we’ll have a local team to cheer on as the new workweek begins.

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, though.

Today is the second day of the men’s first round, a day filled with 16 games of which at least four will produce down-to-the-wire excitement. That seems to be the ratio. But all we’re sure of is this: By the time TCU and Seton Hall tip at around 7 on this Friday night, we’ll be exhausted. Our mind will be burned to a crisp. Our derriere will be sore. And we’ll be ready for more.

No disappointment there. Saturday and Sunday feature eight more games each. The Zags will face a stern challenge – at least it looks that way – from ninth-seeded Memphis, a team that has been on a roll. That matchup finishes off Saturday’s slate, one that features another interesting battle in Portland. UCLA and Saint Mary’s, the bluest of blue bloods versus the California upstart that has been building toward this matchup for most of two decades.

It should be fun.

Again, though, we are getting ahead of ourselves a bit. Gonzaga’s women have an early afternoon showdown with Nebraska today, hoping to win and make it two GU programs playing for a Sweet 16 berth.

It’s all part of a weekend of unparalleled hoops. And of unparalleled stress on the Laz-e-Boy.

There was a little time Thursday when it looked as if the GU men may not hold up their end of the bargain. But only if you weren’t paying attention. Sure, Georgia State was hanging close to the Zags, and did throughout the first half. The Panthers even extended their tight pursuit into the first 10 minutes of the second. But there is a reason why Gonzaga is No. 1 in the nation. And a reason why 16th-seeded schools have only won once in almost 150 chances since the tournament went to at least 64 schools.

Georgia State was stressing what it had – especially inside – by playing so physically. The Panthers foul trouble caught up with them, the Zags asserted themselves around the rim and, poof, the upset chances disappeared in the midst of 21 unanswered points.