My favorite time of the year and one of the most exciting times in sports; March Madness. The NCAA annual tournament that is filled with the top teams from around the country who come together all with the same goal, a National Championship. Every year you have your "cinderella" teams make their unpredicted and unethical run for the championship, and you also have your tournament favorites go down in the early rounds to those same cinderella teams. Lets take a quick look at some of the best moments in this years tournament so far with the Final Four quickly approaching.
1. Michigan State losing to Middle Tennessee in the first round.
One of the most shocking upsets to date. A 15 seed in Middle Tennessee taking down a 2 seed in Michigan State in the first round of this years tournament. Out of the millions of brackets 47 percent of them had Michigan State in their championship game, so this game was pretty accurate to the saying "Shock the World". Many looked a lot like Obama above making their bracket and we're saddened shortly after.
2. Northern Iowa's half-court buzzer beater to beat Texas.
A buzzer beater is very rare especially on one of the biggest stages in the basketball world. The man of the hour; Paul Jesperson. Paul got the inbound and let it fly from half-court, swish. Nothing but net and Northern Iowa headed to the round of 32.
3. Hawaii gets their first-ever March Madness tournament victory.
Coming into the tournament without ever winning a game in March Madness Hawaii was definitely an underdog, especially as a 13 seed taking on the Golden Bears of Cal at a 4 seed. Hawaii however, had different plans for how their month of March would go as they took down Cal in a 77 to 66 victory, earning their first ever tournament win.
4. Stephen F. Austin dominates West Virginia.
As a 14 seed Stephen F. Austin came into their game against the Mountaineers of West Virginia as a heavy underdog. The lumberjacks however, had very, very different plans for how their fate would go. The man of the night; Thomas Walkup of Stephen F. Austin. Walkup scored a game high 33 points and was able to secure the lumberjacks victory with clutch free throws the entire game. Stephen F. Austin defeated West Virginia 70 to 56 in an impressive showing.
5. Texas A&M mounts seemingly impossible comeback over Northern Iowa.
One of the wildest and most entertaining games of college basketball I have seen to date. Texas A&M and Northern Iowa's round of 32 matchup. With just under 45 seconds left in the game Northern Iowa was up by 12 points, sharpie right? There's no chance the Aggies could mount a comeback of that volume with that little of time left right? Wrong. Texas A&M went with a never say die attitude and mounted an incredible comeback to tie the game in which they would later win in double overtime 92 to 88. Incredible.
6. Notre Dame ends a cinderella run with a final second shot.
After Stephen F. Austin defeated West Virginia in the first round it appeared that they may be the favorite to be this years "cinderella" team. Notre Dame gave them a very good chance to do so as well. With just 13 seconds left in the ball game and Stephen F. Austin up by 1 point all they had to do was get a defensive stop. Notre Dame took a shot; missed, grabbed a rebound took another shot; missed. After that second missed shot is when the most unlikely hero would become the fan favorite for the Fighting Irish. Rex Pflueger, a freshman who hadn't scored a basket since March 2nd tipped the ball in with just 1 second left in the game, his only two points of the game but the two most important ones. Sharpie.
7. Syracuse's comeback over Virginia and their run to the final four.
One of the most unlikely teams to be in the final four, the Orangemen of Syracuse. A team that was being questioned of whether or not they should even be in this tournament just proved a lot of people wrong this past weekend with an incredible comeback over the Virginia Cavaliers. Down by 16 at one point in the second half the hopes of Syracuse making the final four as a 10 seed seemed doomed. But with a 29-8 run in the final 10 minutes the Orangemen were able to pull off an incredible comeback and secure a trip to Houston and the final four. With the victory Syracuse became the first 10 seed in tournament history to make the final four. The band of misfits looks to head to the championship in their game against top seeded North Carolina this weekend.
