The Big East is the best conference in basketball, right? Pittsburgh is a great bet to reach the Final Four, right? The Pac-10 was not supposed to show up and contend, right? All these things were believed to be true, but all it took was one weekend of madness to prove the contrary. Millions of college basketball fans filled out tournament brackets with confidence that they had college basketball 2011 all figured out. Boy, were we wrong, and the first weekend of the tournament proved it again, teaching many lessons through yet another magical ending. Here’s just a few:

The Big East was not everything we thought it was…again. The super conference that seems to dominate the polls and media spotlight during the regular season has struggled thus far in the tournament. With 11 teams in the dance (an NCAA record), the Big East had realistic hopes for a Notre Dame, Pittsburgh Final Four matchup, with maybe Connecticut and Syracuse also in the mix. Unfortunately, only one of those teams will be playing in the second weekend of the tournament.

Nine of the 11 teams were eliminated during the first weekend, raising the question, is the Big East really the best? This is nothing new from the conference consistently dubbed the nation’s best. Just last year, only two of the Big East’s eight dancers made it to the Sweet 16. Maybe if Charles Barkley had a better track record as an analyst we all would have believed him when he called the Big East overrated. Sorry Chuck.

Brackets are meant to be busted. This becomes the ultimate truth as the tournament proceeds from weekend to weekend and fans quickly reach for their scissors or paper shredders. Louisville, coming off a runner-up finish in the Big East Tournament, was a trendy pick for the Final Four, but a little second round drama with the Morehead State Eagles kept the Cardinals from advancing farther than the opening weekend.

If the Louisville upset didn’t set back a particular bracket, look no further than the Pittsburgh-Butler third round game. Pitt, especially point guard Ashton Gibbs, was very confident that they would be making arrangements for Houston and the Final Four, but those ideas came crashing down when Butler hung around and stung the Panthers in the final seconds.

Somehow, if any bracket was still looking decent after those two upsets, Notre Dame and Florida State sure had something to say. Like Louisville, Notre Dame was another trendy squad, and garnered many championship predictions. The best defensive team in the nation, Florida State, stood in their way, however, and sent them home early. Any bracket that survived these three shockers was likely put together with the help of either a blindfold or a dart and balloons.

Pressure is amplified. Like Chris Webber pointed out to the college basketball nation in the 1993 NCAA title game, any pressure witnessed during the regular season simply doesn’t compare when the stakes are win or go home. Pitt had a similar moment, obviously not with the championship on the line, when Nasir Robinson fouled Butler’s Matt Howard with the game tied at 70 and less than a second to go. It’s true, that was a high-pressure situation and a player on one of the best teams in the nation choked. Syracuse also may have let pressure get to a pair of their guards when Dion Waters, the game’s high scorer, and veteran Scoop Jardine combined for a turnover on an inbounds pass with less than a minute to go.

Pressure has also increased with the parity of college basketball. Years ago, 1-seeds undertook the great pressure to advance to the Final Four. Nowadays, they’re stressing to simply reach the Sweet 16. The aforementioned Butler Bulldogs are the second team in as many years to advance from the 8-9 game and upset a 1-seed. Michigan and Illinois almost followed suit on Sunday, as they both hung around with Duke and Kansas.

It is beginning to seem that the best tactic as a viewer is to expect the unexpected as the tournament begins its second four-day stretch of games. Charles Barkley is sure to make some outlandish statement(s), even more paper brackets will finally rest in peace, and when the games end on Sunday night, we’ll be begging for more.