It’s been a typical first weekend of March Madness–we’ve had upsets and storylines that will be remembered forever. Yale had a big win against Auburn, and Grand Canyon got its first tournament win in their school’s history to name a few. But, the biggest upset thus far was Oakland over Kentucky. The Grizzlies busted millions of brackets and Jack Gohlke became an instant sensation by hitting ten 3-pointers. However, Oakland’s tournament run came to an end in the very next round when they lost to the red-hot NC State Wolfpack. After a disappointing season, NC State got the 10 seed in the ACC tournament, but they rallied together and won five games in five days to secure their spot in March Madness. They also didn’t lose any speed going into the tournament, winning against Texas Tech in the first and, as previously mentioned, Oakland in the second. Also, the center of the Wolfpack, DJ Burns, has become a fan favorite throughout their run.
It’s also important to mention the best game we have seen so far in the tournament: Creighton vs. Oregon. This game was back and forth throughout. It took until the second overtime for Creighton to pull away and get the win.
After seeing the Sweet 16, I predict that the Final Four will have Iowa State coming out of the East. They took care of business in the first round and had an impressive win against a very good Washington State team in the second. Their biggest competitor is definitely Uconn, but after seeing Iowa State beat Houston by 30 in the Big 12 Championship, I believe that Iowa State can win.
Out of the West, I think that North Carolina will win against Alabama, and then beat Arizona to get to the Final Four. The Tarheels are coming off of an impressive win against Tom Izzo of Michigan State, who are known to make runs in the tournament.
Out of the South, I think Houston will make the Final Four, even though they barely beat Texas A&M in the round of 32. They had four of their starters foul out, which is not going to happen in the future. Texas A&M was also very underrated in getting a 9 seed.
Finally, out of the Midwest, I have Creighton beating out Tennesee and either Purdue or Gonzaga. Oregon played a very, very good game against them, and they still pulled out the win. Also, Creighton shot very poorly from 3 and was still impressively able to beat a very good Oregon team. Additionally, the other teams in their quadrant are overrated.
