March is here, which means the best tournament is here, and we are already through up to the Sweet 16. But let’s take a look at the highlights from the first weekend.
March Madness is always a highly anticipated tournament annually, and based on what went down this weekend, most fans would say this was a pretty underwhelming start to the tournament. Typically, there are huge upsets that happen, which makes the tournament more exciting, but unfortunately, there wasn’t that kind of game. The storylines of Cinderella teams are what carry the hype throughout the tournament, but there hasn’t really been a team like that to get through the first two rounds. Usually, everyone is talking about this guy no one’s heard of on this small college team from the middle of nowhere going absolutely ballistic for some reason, but there hasn’t been anyone who has really emerged into that title. The madness has not been chaotic like in previous years. This is the first time there hasn’t been a team lower than a 12-seed to win a first-round game in a few years. This weekend, there were only two 12-seeded teams to knock off their opponents, and these schools were McNeese State beating 5-seeded Clemson and Colorado State taking down 5-seeded Memphis, even though they were still favored to win the game. McNeese vs. Clemson was a great game, as Clemson was almost able to complete the massive comeback before time expired, leading to a 69-67 win for McNeese.
“McNeese vs. Clemson was an insane underdog upset from an underdog, Quadir Copeland, taking down the 5-seed,” said student Eli Gunter (11). “This is why I enjoy watching March Madness because it’s super fun to see some of the upsets from players you’ve never heard of going off for 30.”
Before they were taken down by Purdue in the second round, McNeese had more attention on their team not just because of their tournament bid but because of their viral sensation in team student manager Amir Khan. A video went viral of him leading the team out of the tunnel from the locker room onto the court, holding a boombox and rapping every lyric to Lud Foe’s “In & Out.” From this moment on, Amir was given the nickname Amir “Aura” Khan, becoming one of the most recognized people in the tournament. From the fame he gained overnight, Khan became the first student manager in the NCAA to get NIL deals. He received at least 10 NIL deals that we know of, including deals from Buffalo Wild Wings, Topps, and Under Armour. Khan has reportedly made up to six figures worth of deals, and he will continue to strive for better things when he transfers to NC State with head coach Will Wade next season.
The lowest-seeded team left in the tournament is the 10-seeded Arkansas Razorbacks, but this is a team coached by the great John Calipari, who knows how to get the job done. The two teams they’ve defeated were the 7-seeded Kansas Jayhawks and the bigger upset of 2-seeded St. John’s, knocking out both Bill Self’s and Rick Pitino’s squads. There was the potential for a Cinderella run by the Colorado State Rams after getting past Memphis until they played Maryland in the Round of 32. This was one of the most entertaining games of the weekend, but in the end, Derik Queen hit the only game-winning buzzer-beater shot off the backboard to win the game 72-71 on Sunday night. There was some talk after the game that Queen may have traveled before the shot, but there was no call, so Maryland is off to the Sweet 16 to take on one of the tournament favorites, the Florida Gators.
There were quite a few games in the first round on Thursday and Friday where the underdogs made the games competitive for the most part, but the favored team would pull away in the end. This happened to teams like BYU, Purdue, Texas A&M, Michigan, Alabama, Saint Mary’s, and UConn. A few lower-ranked seeds were able to secure some upsets in Drake and New Mexico, but they would be sent home after facing their next opponents.
After a dominating performance against the Georgia Bulldogs, 8-seeded Gonzaga looked like a team that could take down the 1-seeded Houston Cougars out of the Midwest Region. On Saturday, they wouldn’t be able to quite do it after putting up a good fight, as they would go on to lose to Houston 81-76. Another 1-seed, the Auburn Tigers, was able to take down the 9-seeded Creighton Blue Jays pretty easily as well with a final score of 82-70. One of the closest games from the second round came when the 6-seeded BYU Cougars defeated the 3-seeded Wisconsin Badgers 91-89 in a very good battle. All the other favorites would go on to win their respective games, looking ahead to the Sweet 16 games this coming weekend.
On Sunday, the most competitive game came out of the West Region when the 1-seeded Florida Gators were able to do just enough by beating the two-time defending champs, the UConn Huskies, 77-75 in a thriller. Walter Clayton Jr. led the way for the Gators with 23 points to overcome a threat posed by the Huskies. This definitely sets the tone for Florida as they are dancing their way to the Sweet 16, looking to do more damage against the dangerous Maryland squad. This game should be highly anticipated and hopefully produce some quality basketball full of game-changing plays.
“My favorite game I watched was Florida vs. UConn in the Round of 32,” said March Madness fan Carson Kelley (12). “No one expected the score to be so tight throughout the game.”
The Duke Blue Devils are also looking like tournament favorites after winning their second-round game against the Baylor Bears by taking care of business with an emphatic 23-point victory. This is a team nobody wants to face, led by Cooper Flagg, and we’ll see if they can keep their momentum heading into this weekend against a scary Arizona team. Other teams like Alabama, Kentucky, and Michigan State were able to advance after getting wins in the Round of 32.
6-seeded Ole Miss has played some good basketball after defeating North Carolina and 3-seeded Iowa State. This team is looking to keep things rolling as they will take on the Michigan State Spartans. These two teams are both playing with passion and grit, and this should be a dogfight.
The last game on Sunday night was an old Pac-12 rivalry between the Oregon Ducks and Arizona Wildcats. After both teams had blowout wins in the opening round, this game was destined to be a good one. After two incredible performances from Arizona’s Caleb Love and Oregon’s Jackson Shelstad, the Wildcats were able to come out on top 87-83 after a back-and-forth game. It looked like Caleb Love was playing like a fifth-year senior when he put up an impressive 29 points on 10/18 shooting along with five three-pointers. Transferring from North Carolina in 2023, Love has continued to prove himself as an experienced player. He will now look for some revenge as he and his team take on Duke, his former big-time rival. This game will have more strings attached to it based on some history, and it will be exciting to see what’s in store for this game.
“I love March Madness because almost any game can be fun to watch, and I think it is the best postseason format,” said another student, August Schaumburg (10).
After a ton of blowouts in the first weekend of the tournament, this was a little bit of a letdown. But with most higher seeds remaining, we should be looking at a very competitive weekend of college basketball, and there’s much to look forward to.