We are in the Final Four of the Men’s NCAA Tournament and we have been treated to some of the best and surprising college basketball that has been given to us in years. The shocks, the surprises and the mayhem came by the hour of the first day and felt like a demolition derby.
By the end of the first day, the hgher seeds went 19-13. Eight teams seeded 11 or lower survived which is something that had never been seen in the first round inMarch Madness history.
Th Pac-12 lost 5 teams to lower seeds. The Big 12, which was looked at the powerhouse conference saw 4 of their teams knocked out, three of which finished in the top 5 in the conferene in conference standings.
Texas loses to Northern Iowa on a last second Hail Mary fron half court.
West Virginia who was known for their tough press defense and causing turnover after turnover lost the turnover battle to Stephen F Austin 22-7. Which resulted in a loss for WVU.
The biggest shocker of them all was #2 Michigan losing to #15 Middle Tennessee State, the biggest upset March Madness history.
This tournament has certainly proven to go by the beat of it’s own drum.
Yeah, those pesky bracket busters really did a number on everyone’s bracket this year.
This year certainly has proven when the best team`s have a bad day, you go home. Or perhaps when you don`t take a team serious enough, you get proven that the littlefidjdeserve to play with big fidh of the nation.
All that mayhem caused a slightly non-traditional round of games in the second round.
For example, you got your Syracuse vs Middle Tennessee game, which was a 15 seed against a 10 seed to advance to the sweet 16.
I was looking for another Middle Tennessee State upset, thinking perhaps they were the Cinderella of this year. After all, they didn’t seem fazed at all by MSU’s defense, so why not see them take down another high profiled school. However watching Syracuse’s D was like watching a school of sharks attack a group of seals.
I was talking with a friend not long ago on the phone. and he had said something along the lines of.
A single elimination tournament doesn’t really assess the best team in the nation. However it is a pretty good way to make things interesting and entertain us all.
I don’t fully agree with the first sentence. But there is some truth to that. Best example would probably be last year. Duke won the tournament, however they didnt play the undefeated Wildcats of Kentucky entering the Final Four. Obviously we`ll never know who would have won last year`s Wildcats and the Blue Devils.
As far as the entertaining us all part of that sentense, of course there is a lot of truth to that. The suspence and air of urgency drives everybody wild.
Whoever plays the best for 6 games straight out of a field of 64 that all have one common goal and that is to be champions of the college basketball world.
