NPR's Mike Pesca rhymes his way through the 32 opening-round games of the NCAA basketball tournament.
SCOTT SIMON, HOST: We're down to 32 teams in the NCAA tournament. Last night, the Florida Gulf Coast University Eagles upset the second-seeded Georgetown Hoyas. And in the day's other huge upset, La Salle downed Kansas State. It is, of course, hard to catch each and every game. So, we bring you a summary, in verse, of all the games played in the round of 64 as offered by NPR's Mike Pesca.</s>MIKE PESCA, BYLINE: Today, the Georgetown Hoyas wonder how'd we let those guys work us? Well, here's a clue about FGCU:</s>MIKE PESCA, BYLINE: Temple outplayed NC State; Colorado State handled Mizzou; the Akron Zips had the yips and were disrobed by VCU. As a 13-seed La Salle dealt Kansas State a big surprise - well, to everyone but Jerrell Wright, who claimed:</s>JERRELL WRIGHT: There was no butterflies.</s>MIKE PESCA, BYLINE: More animals.</s>JOSH PASTNER: People talked about the monkey.</s>MIKE PESCA, BYLINE: That's Memphis coach Josh Pastner. His Tigers won, as did the west's number one:</s>MIKE PESCA, BYLINE: UNIDENTIFIED MAN #2: Gonzaga will escape disaster.</s>MIKE PESCA, BYLINE: Indiana ousted JMU; San Diego State was Oklahoma's dispatcher and Ole Miss benefitted from...</s>MIKE PESCA, BYLINE: Duke outdueled Albany; Syracuse manhandled Montana; Colorado lost to Illinois, delighting most of Champaign-Urbana.</s>BRAD STEVENS: They jam your guards and they sink their bigs.</s>MIKE PESCA, BYLINE: Coach Brad Stevens was heard to utter. Somehow his team adjusted, as Bucknell bowed to Butler. Carolina outlasted Nova; Marquette was down versus Davidson, until...</s>MIKE PESCA, BYLINE: UNIDENTIFIED MAN #4: Vander Blue has cut it to two.</s>MIKE PESCA, BYLINE: And Marquette would go on to win. Both Ohio State and Kansas advanced, though the Jayhawks had it rough. Oregon won, helped by their Iranian who delivered...</s>MIKE PESCA, BYLINE: UNIDENTIFIED MAN #5: Elevation and the flush.</s>MIKE PESCA, BYLINE: Creighton won, Harvard did too, setting off some crazy Cambridge scenes. Congrats to the Billikens, the Shockers and the Michigan Wolverines. Indiana triumphed, and against Iowa State, Notre Dame folded like origami. Cal won, otherwise their coach said to the press...</s>MIKE MONTGOMERY: You'd all be chewing my fanny.</s>MIKE PESCA, BYLINE: Minnesota and Arizona both beat teams whose nicknames are the Bruins. Florida rolled, Miami cruised, the Spartans left Valparaiso in ruins. Credit is owed to Turner and CBS for the audio they lent us. If it's OK, we'd like to quote Coach K who said:</s>MIKE KRZYZEWSKI: I'm OK if people don't show up against us.</s>MIKE PESCA, BYLINE: No chance of that. March has people talking of the games, the thrills...</s>MIKE PESCA, BYLINE: UNIDENTIFIED MAN #6: The monkey.</s>MIKE PESCA, BYLINE: Mike Pesca, NPR News, Lexington, Kentucky.</s>SCOTT SIMON, HOST: This is NPR News.