The NCAA college basketball tournament is down to the Sweet 16, and one top seed has already been eliminated, Villanova. North Carolina State took down the #1 seeded Wildcats in the East 71-68, in the round of 32.
The only double digit-seeded team remaining is UCLA. The team that has won more national championships than any other school, 11, was thought by many not to even deserve a spot in this year’s field of 68 teams, but are still alive in the final 16 teams, thanks to a controversial goaltending call to finish their 60-59 upset of #6 SMU in the first round, and an easy win in the second round.
The other top seeds, Kentucky, Duke and Wisconsin, are still alive, with Kentucky and Duke cruising into the Sweet 16. Wisconsin had a little tougher time, beating Coastal Carolina 86-72 in their first round game, and Oregon 72-65 in their second.
The first round, which I refer to, is technically the second round, because of the 4 play-in games, which reduces the field from 68 down to 64 teams. In this aforementioned first round, in fact on Thursday, the first full day of the tournament was rampant with big upsets and near upsets.
Two #3 seeds went down on Thursday, Baylor and Iowa State. Baylor lost to Georgia State 57-56, on a game-wining 3-pointer made by the head coach’s son R.J. Hunter. Ron, the elder Hunter, fell out of his chair, which he was resigned to, because of injuring his Achilles celebrating his team winning the Sun Belt Tournament.
Iowa State was upset by Alabama Birmingham 60-59. With the win, #14 UAB played #11 UCLA in the second round, which UCLA won easily, 92-75. UCLA faces #2 Gonzaga in the Sweet 16. Gonzaga thumped Iowa in the second round 87-68.
Other than #1 Villanova being upset, the next biggest surprise, according to seedings, was #7 Wichita State beating #2 Kansas in the Midwest region. Kansas refuses to schedule Wichita State in the regular season, so the Shockers decided to give the Jayhawks a shock of their own, whipping Kansas 78-65 in the round of 32.
The Sweet 16 resumes on Thursday, and the Elite 8 starts on Saturday. After this weekend, the NCAA Tournament will be down to the Final 4. The big question is whether anyone can take down 36-0 Kentucky, and prevent them from finishing the season as the first undefeated national champion since Indiana in 1976.
Kentucky plays #5 West Virginia next, and if they win, will face the winner of the Wichita State-Notre Dame game. If Kentucky does win the West region, they will face the West region winner, which should be either top seeded Wisconsin, or #2 Arizona, who has been dominant in wins over Texas Southern and Ohio State.
Duke is the favorite to win the other side of the bracket, but with Gonzaga in the South, and teams like Oklahoma, Louisville and Michigan State in the East, their road to the championship won’t be easy. Enjoy March Madness, and I’ll check back in with my picks when we get to the Final 4.
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