The NCAA Tournament has historically been full of surprises. Like the 2008 Championship between Kansas and Memphis, in which Kansas guard Mario Chalmers hit a shot with 2.1 seconds left in regulation that ultimately led to a Jayhawk win. Or there was George Mason’s incredible run to the Final Four in 2006. This annual college climax has been excessively entertaining in recent years. This year's Tournament started last night and has already provided its share of colossal upsets.

Here are the facts: out of the 24 first round games that concluded before 5 pm today, nine of them were upsets. The major upsets included a 97-83 blowout by the #14 seed Ohio Bobcats over the #3 seed Georgetown Hoyas; a last-second win by the #13 seed Murray State Racers over the #4 seed Vanderbilt Commodores; and the Ivy League powerhouse Cornell Big Red, a #12 seed, beating the #5 seed Temple Owls.

Out of the nine upsets, Georgetown’s loss to Ohio was easily the most shocking. While some upsets were easier to call, Ohio’s win against Georgetown was stunning. In fact, only 2.4 percent of the nearly 5 million applicants in ESPN’s Bracket Challenge picked Ohio to win over Georgetown, compared to the 33 percent that picked Cornell to win over Temple. Why was this upset so shocking? For starters, Ohio didn’t even have a winning record in their own conference, the lowly Mid-American Conference, as they went 7-9. Compare that to Georgetown, who had a 10-8 record in the much-heralded Big East Conference and had a 13-3 record in non-conference games. Also, the Bobcats, who have played second fiddle in their own state to the Ohio State Buckeyes, haven’t won an NCAA Tournament game in 27 years prior to their stunning upset.

Keep in mind that this is just the first round of play. It’s going to be an exhilarating tournament, and if games go the way they did during the first round, odds are that millions of Americans will be glued to their TVs.