Last week, the NCAA Tournament began with 65 teams, and now we enter today’s first set of games in the Sweet 16.

I would have to say that the first weekend of this year’s NCAA Tournament was the best first weekend I’ve ever seen.

You had more overtime games on day one of this year’s tournament than you did in all of last year’s tourney.

You had the upsets, and now you have those Cinderella teams who seem poised for a real run at the title.

Cornell, Washington, Saint Mary’s, Northern Iowa and Butler are all teams that are just two wins away from a Final Four berth. Omar Samhan and Ali Farokhmanesh, anyone?

Another great thing about this year’s tournament is that the lines between good and evil have never been so clearly drawn.

Honestly, how many people want to see Duke, Ohio State, Kentucky or Syracuse win it all?

As for me, I’m hoping to see a Butler vs. Northern Iowa and Cornell vs. Saint Mary’s Final Four.

Hey, it could happen.

Nick Duke is a sports writer for The Messenger, and he can be reached at nick.duke@Troymessenger.com or on Twitter at Messenger_Nick.