Thursday’s first-round action was all about the chalk. Thirteen of the 16 matchups went to the favorites, and there were no serious upsets of note – although Belmont made it very, very interesting against Duke.

Kansas State was a 3-point dog versus USC, but anyone who puts even a modicum of faith into statistical analysis saw Michael Beasley and the Wildcats winning that one. They’ll be a big handful for the Wisconsin Badgers to deal with in the second round.

UCLA’s massive 70-29 victory over Mississippi Valley State (-31.5) also deserves some praise. That was without Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, who wasn’t needed and thus buys some extra time for his sprained left ankle to heal. This is the value of getting a No. 1 seed in the Tournament.

Speaking of which, Kansas (-21) also covered in an 85-61 pasting of Portland State. Rock, chalk, Jayhawk. They get UNLV on Saturday in Omaha.