As thrilled as so many people were to see Duke lose last night, the city of Buffalo and CBS can't be too happy. The elimination by Virginia Commonwealth probably cost both entities some money. It wasn't an accident that the Duke game was on in prime time Thursday, and you can assume that schedules would have been juggled to get them on prime time tomorrow, too. Specifically because all of America either loves or hates Duke, the longer they're in the tournament, the higher you figure the ratings will be. Now, this bracket has to sell Maryland-Butler or, even tougher, VCU-Pittsburgh. Not that neither will be entertaining games - they should both be top-notch - but name brands sell.

Meanwhile, the exodus this morning was substantial. There were a lot of empty seats for the early session yesterday, but not a one for the Duke-VCU game, and it was, of course, because of Duke. Now all those fans, who also swarmed all over downtown and packed the hotels and restaurants, have bailed. Someone has to scoop up the tickets, but even in balmy, spring-like conditions, it's not a given that fans from the remaining schools, even Maryland, can make up the difference on short notice.

And it ain't balmy and spring-like here. It's been snowing for about an hour and a half now, there's about three inches on the ground now, and the snow advisory is on for the rest of the weekend. It's going to stick, too, because it's been in the 20s all day today. Getting into town might not be a big problem since Buffalo is used to snow, but the snow in other cities will shake up plans.