March Madness is currently underway, and it has more than lived up to its name. The Sweet Sixteen hasn’t yet begun, and there are no perfect brackets remaining. There has been no shortage of big moments, buzzer beaters, and upsets. The tournament began last Thursday, March 19th, with TCU narrowly defeating Ohio State 68-66. Since then, the field has shrunk to just 16 teams, sending plenty of teams home early. Although plenty of action has taken place, there is a long way to go on the road to Indianapolis for the National Championship.
ROUND 1 RECAP
The best games from day 1 included 12 seed High Point narrowly pulling off a massive upset against 5 seed Wisconsin.
16 seed Siena nearly pulled off the impossible to beat 1 seed Duke. That loss would have been an all time embarrassment for Duke, especially considering that Siena made 0 substitutions and their starters played all 40 minutes.
11 VCU defeated 6 UNC in OT, which gave UNC an extremely disappointing first round exit. VCU’s budding star Terrence Hill Jr. dropped 34 points to propel them to victory.
Day 2 of the opening round did not feature a lot of upsets or nailbiters, but there was one incredible game in particular. 7 seed Kentucky and 10 seed Santa Clara battled throughout the game, and Santa Clara hit a three pointer to take the lead with only 2 seconds left. It seemed like they had won, but Ortega Oweh of Kentucky hit a half court buzzer beater to send the game into overtime, where Kentucky would win.
ROUND OF 32
The second round of the tournament featured some great games as well. High Point, St. Louis, and VCU all lost, so unfortunately there will be no mid-major Cinderella run this year. 11 seed Texas pulled off a massive upset against 3 seed Gonzaga in a nailbiter. Another huge headline was Iowa stunning the reigning National Champion Florida Gators. St. Johns beat Kansas with a buzzer beater layup and Vanderbilt nearly hit a half court game winner against Nebraska, but the shot rimmed out.
The Sweet Sixteen will take place on Thursday, March 26 and Friday, March 27. That is followed by the Elite 8 on Saturday and Sunday, March 28-29. The following weekend will feature the Final Four and the National Championship takes place Monday, April 6 at 8:30 PM ET.
