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Wednesday Daily Bears Report: We're All Mad Here

“But I don’t want to go among mad people," Alice remarked. "Oh, you can’t help that," said the Cat. "We’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad." "How do you know I’m mad?" said Alice. "You must be," said the Cat, "Or you wouldn’t have come here.”

By ConnerSaurusRex
Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

The Madness has officially begun. With two games last night and two more this evening, the NCAA tournament is still in its infant stages. By matching identically-seeded teams for the play-in games, the selection committee has made upsets (at least in terms of seeding) impossible until Friday. Then, the games really begin. There will be shockers. There will be completely unpredictable upsets. Tears will flow as millions of failed brackets are shredded, burned, impaled, crumpled, and used for target practice. It's a basketball fan's favorite time of the year.

March Madness

Baylor plays Nebraska in San Antonio on Friday, and is set for an 11:40 a.m. tipoff time. Tickets are in short supply from what I can tell, and everyone is looking forward to seeing Baylor heavily represented compared to other teams. The inconvenient tipoff time makes it difficult for students to attend the game on a weekday, but if the Bears advance and play on Sunday, there should be a crowd.

Tournament action officially kicked off today with two play-in games. Albany took down Mount Saint Mary's in the first game of the evening by a score of 71 to 64. The game got off to a sluggish start, but Albany eventually shot out to a 21-2 lead before the Mountaineers came back and actually led at several points. Eventually, the Great Danes triumphed and won a trip to the next round where they will face No. 1 Florida as a 16 seed. Albany needs your prayers.

The second game of the night was much more exciting in terms of name recognition as North Carolina State beat Xavier 74-59. ACC Player of the Year T.J. Warren accounted for 25 of the Wolfpack's points. NC State eventually overwhelmed Xavier, whose best offensive option was nursing an injury and simply couldn't put enough points on the board to keep up.

Tomorrow night Cal Poly will take on Texas Southern at 6:40 and Tennessee will duke it out with Iowa at 9:10. Both games will be broadcast on TruTV.

Baylor-Specific News

Today was a huge day in recruiting for both football and basketball. The most headline-worthy moment came with the commitment of 2014 guard Kobie Eubanks. Eubanks is a 6'5" guard with the athleticism to compete in the paint and shooting skills to play on the perimeter (he's been shooting about 40% from three-point range). The size that Baylor is recruiting to play outside is encouraging. Small players like Kenny Chery, Pierre Jackson, and Gary Franklin have served us well in recent seasons, but diminishing height in the frontcourt with the graduation of Cory Jefferson and likely departure of Isaiah Austin will require more physical play from perimeter players. The arrival of Eubanks and the progression of players like Ish Wainwright could actually bolster Baylor's overall physicality in 2014-15.

Several football recruits will be around this week. RB Ronald Jones II was on campus today and reportedly had a great time and talked to several players.

Blake Lynch, DaMarkus Lodge, and JaMycal Hasty are all reportedly visiting over the weekend. Hasty's family will be coming with him.

Baylor Pro Day is today, and the athletic department will be livestreaming the proceedings.

Early Runs Fuel Baseball's 9-3 Win vs. Houston Baptist. After winning last weekend's series vs. No. 23 Texas Tech with four total runs, Baylor baseball broke out the bats for a 9-3 win vs. Houston Baptist on Tuesday night at Baylor Ballpark.

Baylor Acrobatics and tumbling took its first victory of the season in a tri-meet against Azusa Pacific and Hawai'i Pacific.

Women's Tennis Hosts No. 7 Texas A&M - Baylor Bears Official Athletic Site - BaylorBears.com
After a week on the road, the 14th-ranked women's tennis team will be back at home to face No. 7 Texas A&M at 5 p.m. on Wednesday at the Hurd Tennis Center.

Canion, Stearns 1-hit Bobcats as No. 12 SB blanks Texas St - Baylor Bears Official Athletic Site - BaylorBears.com
Whitney Canion's 10 strikeouts and Clare Hosack's 2-run homer helped No. 12 Baylor shutout Texas State, 2-0 Tuesday night.

Equestrian Pair Lands National Rider of the Month Awards - Baylor Bears Official Athletic Site - BaylorBears.com
Baylor's Bryn Lindley and Savannah Jenkins earned national recognition from the NCEA as the pair was named February Riders of the Month for their respective disciplines.

Things are going extraordinarily well.

Bizarre Brackets

The more comically minded contributors on SB Nation have taken it upon themselves to fill out brackets in the most absurd ways possible. One such method was the Mascot Deathbracket, in which mascots from tournament teams are pit against each other in hypothetical deathmatches to decide who advances. Spoiler alert: Baylor wins the West bracket after it's decided that bears can maul their way through pretty much anything. The Midwest bracket should be up sometime tomorrow, and money is on Mercer.

2014 NCAA MASCOT DEATHBRACKET: West Region

2014 NCAA MASCOT DEATHBRACKET: East Region

2014 NCAA Mascot DEATHBRACKET: South Region

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