After due consideration and deliberation, the referees for the following 2008 NCAA first round games have determined that the following games were "essentially tied." Because these games were tied, the officials have exercised their discretion and decided that the teams that nominally "lost" these games, which were actually tied, were, in fact the stronger team and should have advanced to the next round.

Duke 71, Belmont 70
The officials believe overturning this result is justified by the fact that the Duke players had higher GPA's than the Belmont players, due to elitist recruiting practices at Duke, and that the fans of Belmont are thus more in line with the demographic profile of the NCAA fan base as it existed as recently as 1992.
 
Drake 99, WKU 101 T
he officials determined that Drake deserved to advance over Western Kentucky because it is a private school and, thus, may have more affluent doners than Western Kentucky.

Conn 69, U San Diego 70
Connecticut has been chose to advance over San Diego because more people in Connecticut have heard of it.

BYU 62, Texas A&M 67
BYU has been chosen to advance from this essentially tied game because it was, in fact, tied at the half and TAM was unfairly advantaged by its stronger support from African Americans.

Marquette 74, Kentucky 66
Based upon a recalculation of the score that included shots sunk by the teams during the pre-game warm-up, the officials have determined that the Wildcats were, in fact, the winners of this game. The officials have given due consideration to Marquette's contention that NCAA rules provide that the only shots that count are those made during the game, and that both sides had agreed to abide by these rules, but, in light of changed circumstances, the NCAA has decided to ignore them.

Miss St. 76, Ore. 69
The officials have determined that since this game was essentially tied, and because Mississippi State unfairly rallied from a 13 point deficit to win the game by seven points, the win should have been awarded to Oregon.
 
Davidson 82, Gonzaga 76
The officials have awarded Gonzaga bonus points over Davidson because it had a higher starting seed, is better known and bigger. The latter point is particularly important because Davidson, being a smaller school than many of the other teams in the NCAA, does not count. The NCAA is confident that this is the right choice as it does not feel that, based on its initial seed, Davidson can possibly overcome the array of much higher ranked teams it would have to face in later games and does not believe its actual subsequent success against those higher ranked teams is any indicator of its inherent strength. Instead, it is believed that these wins are the result of a deluded fan base that will evaporate and defect to the other side if Davidson makes it to the finals.

The NCAA is confident that the delay caused by replaying the second and third round games as a result of these rulings will not unduly lengthen the tournement, undermine fan enthusiam or engender any problems with its television contract and revenue stream. The NCAA rejects and denounces all who say the officials have compromised their own credibility and likewise rejects the contention that the integrity of the tournement process has been undermined by these rulings. The NCAA is acting in the best interest of all concerned. The NCAA is absolutely certain that the fans and alumni of Duke, WKU, San Diego, Texas A&M, Marquette, Mississippi State, and Davidson will quickly get over any temporary ill will and will rally to the support of the teams who have now won their games in light of the fact that those games were, after all, essentially tied.