In an upset-filled opening day of NCAA tournament action, the most popular sleeper pick of all turned out to be a major bust.

When Derrick Caracter scored at the halftime buzzer to give 12th-seeded UTEP a six-point halftime lead on fifth-seeded Butler, it looked as though the Miners were going to reward those who picked them to spring the upset. Instead the Bulldogs roared back behind a brilliant second half from guard Shelvin Mack, outscoring UTEP 22-4 to start the second half en route to a 77-59 victory.

If Butler started the season as a major disappointment after dropping four non-conference games before Christmas, the Bulldogs have redeemed themselves with a brilliant January, February and March.

They've won 21 straight to put themselves in position to make the Sweet 16 for the second time in four years and the fourth time since 2002 if they can defeat 13th-seeded Murray State on Saturday afternoon.

Butler advanced to that game riding the hot hand of Mack, who buried a career-high

NEW ORLEANS — Three hours after the final buzzer sounded on Old Dominion's 51-50 victory over Notre Dame, here's the question I keep bouncing around in my head: What is Luke Harangody's legacy?

Will he be remembered as the All-American who consistently produced 20 and 10 for a Notre Dame team that made the NCAA tournament twice in three seasons? Or will he be remembered as the guy who was awful in a first-round NCAA tournament loss that ended a season in which the Irish looked best during a stretch in which he wasn't on the court?

I'm hoping it's the former rather than the latter, but there's no question the Irish would have been better off without their senior star against Old Dominion on Thursday.

Harangody picked up two quick first-half fouls and never found his offensive rhythm, missing his first seven attempts before sinking a pair of final-minute put-backs to finish with four points and seven rebounds in 23 minutes. Defensively Harangody also struggled, not surprisingly since

NEW ORLEANS — If the streets of the French Quarter are any indication, we should have a huge pro-Kentucky turnout at New Orleans arena for Thursday's games.

There was almost as many folks wearing Big Blue on Wedensday night as St. Patrick's Day green.

Notre Dame and Old Dominion are just starting to warm up and fans are beginning to trickle in, but here's what I'm looking forward to in each of Thursday's four first-round match-ups from New Orleans:

Will Notre Dame run more against ODU?

Unlike some of the Big East teams Notre Dame beat after going to its slow-down style in the wake of Luke Harangody's injury, Old Dominion is a much better team at a slower tempo. I don't think the Irish will abandon their work-for-a-better-shot mentality, but we might see them run a little more.

Can Sam Houston State take advantage of Baylor's 2-3 zone?

Whatever chance the Bearkats have of springing a huge upset will depend on how they shoot from behind the arc. Sam Houston State has four players who

NEW ORLEANS — The state with the reputation for producing the greatest football talent in the nation apparently isn't bad at this basketball thing either.

That seems like a safe assumption anyway considering Texas put seven teams in the NCAA tournament this season, tying the record set by California in 2002. Pennsylvania produced the second-most NCAA tournament teams this season with five, followed by California with four.

The most Texas had previously sent was five in 1988 and 2007.

"I think it just shows what great athletes we have in the state of Texas, and what great high school coaches we have in Texas," Baylor coach Scott Drew said. "You look at the last few years especially, most of the state schools have been able to keep kids in the state. Because of that, you have a lot of successful college programs.

"So Texas is known for having great football, but, I'll tell you, basketball isn't far behind."

Of course, Texas teams aren't winning entirely with in-state talent. Although

NEW ORLEANS — Listen long enough to John Calipari talk before Kentucky's match-up with East Tennessee State, and it's easy to forget which team is the juggernaut No. 1 seed and which team is the scrappy underdog No. 16.

He called his team the youngest in the NCAA tournament. He protested, "we're so inexperienced it's scary." And then when asked about his expectation's for Thursday's first-round game, he dared to play the survive-and-advance card.

"The message I've given the team is land the plane," the ever-entertaining Calipari said. "There's storm, there's lightning, people drinking their "Hater-Ade" coming at you. There are going to be things written and said. It's all coming at you. Land the plane. Survive and advance."

In spite of Kentucky's lack of NCAA tournament experience on its roster and tendency to play some puzzling close games, the Wildcats are going to survive and advance on Thursday – and chances are it will not be close.

Whatever the recipe for a No. 16 beating a No.

The transformation of UTEP's Derrick Caracter from an immature, undisciplined underachiever to one of the sport's great redemption stories can be explained by the huge smile you see in the picture above.

He's having fun playing basketball again.

When Louisville severed ties with Caracter in 2008 after two lackluster years marred by attitude, weight and academic woes, the ultra-talented big man admits he'd grown so weary of being berated about his lack of work ethic that his passion for basketball started to erode. He has responded better to the more laid-back atmosphere at UTEP, helping lead the Miners to a surprise NCAA tournament berth by dedicating himself to working harder and eating healthier the way he never did at Louisville.

"At Louisville, basketball was becoming un-fun," Caracter said by phone on Monday. "My mom always told me to enjoy college, and I just wasn't enjoying college with the strictness on my weight and the discipline overall. Now I'm at a program where my

Like Greivis Vasquez's trademark shimmy, John Calipari's coaching ethics or anything remotely Duke-related, women's basketball tends to have a polarizing effect on hoops fans in this country.

Some of you appreciate or respect it. Others find it painful to watch and look for any way to demean it.

Count me as a casual fan of the women's college game, especially later in the NCAA tournament when some of the top programs play each other. As a result, for those of you who also have some interest in between the men's games, here are six storylines worth paying attention to once the women's tournament tips off next week:

Can anyone give UConn a game?

Having reeled off a Division I record 72 victories in a row, all by 10 or more points, defending national champion Connecticut enters the NCAA tournament as such an overwhelming favorite that a Huskies loss would be regarded as one of the sport's most shocking upsets. Neither Florida State nor Ohio State would likely pose much of a challenge in a

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