Are there two better sports days on the calendar than the Round of 64 of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament? Doubtful.Think about it. There is no Holiday this happens to fall on. New Year’s Day is a great sports day, but with no football it would still be a holiday. Without March Madness, this Thursday and Friday is just another work day. Now with the internet and the fact most offices have computers, people don’t even have to play hooky to watch all the action.

Long lunch hours at sports bars are also a tradition for the first two days of the tournament. People may think America’s workers are wasting time watching basketball when they should be working, but actually a long lunch on the boss’s dime to watch some hoops and eat some wings is a nice little morale booster for the people who work hard all year.

Think of all the great moments we’ve seen in this round over the years. Here are some of our favorites:

2000- Florida’s Mike Miller hits a buzzer beater in overtime to beat Butler by one point. This was the first Butler sighting and also the first time Billy Donovan took his Gators to the Final Four. Florida went on to Beat both Duke and North Carolina in the tournament before losing the championship game to Michigan State.

1995- UCLA’s Tyus Edney drives the length of the floor to beat Missouri by one point at the buzzer. UCLA then ran the table all the way to the National Championship.

1998- Bryce Drew hits his famous buzzer beater for upstart Valparaiso. His father Homer was the coach for Valpo as they beat Ole Miss by one point.

2006- Northwestern State’s Jermaine Wallace hits a three-pointer from the corner to beat the Iowa Hawkeyes in a 14 vs 3 upset win. Tennessee’s Chris Lofton also beat Winthrop with a buzzer beater on the same day.

1986- Cleveland State led by Clinton Ransey with 27 points, knocks off #3 seed Indiana. NCAA Tournament the next year.

1996- defending champ UCLA, who won at the buzzer in the first round was knocked off by #13 seed Princeton in Coach Peter Carrill’s last season.

1993- Steve Nash made his first appearance in the national spotlight as he led 15 seed Santa Clara to a shocker over 2 seed Arizona.

2012- Two #2 seeds went down on the same day as #15 Norfolk State upset Missouri and #15 Lehigh took down Duke.

1997- #15 South Carolina went down to Coppin State, a 30 point underdog, by 13 points.

2001- Tarvis Williams hit a game winner with 6 seconds left to give the Hampton Pirates a #15 over #2 upset over Iowa State.

1991- The Richmond Spiders became the first #15 seed to knock off a #2 when they beat Syracuse 73-69.

A #16 seed has yet to beat a #1. Some day it is bound to happen. Could this be the year? Could James Madison pull a shocker and beat Indiana? Western Kentucky over Kansas? Southern over Gonzaga?

How about a #15 over a #2? There were two last year. Could Florida Gulf Coast take down Georgetown? They beat another #2 seed, Miami earlier in the year.

Whatever happens, for the next two days we will be glued to the TV hoping for some more memorable March Madness moments. This is a great two days to be a sports fan.

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