Every year we find ourselves saying, "This has been the craziest March Madness," but I think there is some truth to that statement this year. 10 double-digit seeds moved ended up winning in the first round, including #15 Middle Tennessee who took out #2 Michigan State, a team that never(rarely) loses in March. Let's recap just how "mad" March truly was this past weekend.
First we have Yale, the 12 seed with the best odds to pull off the infamous 5v12 upset. Point Guard Makai Mason put in work scoring 31 points, giving Baylor an early exit from the tournament.
Another 12 seed in Little Rock hitting a clutch three with a few seconds left, sending the game to overtime, eventually leading to a Little Rock victory over Purdue.
#9 Providence had a strong finish scoring a last second layup to crushing any hopes of USC making it to the Round of 32.
#13 Hawaii took advantage of a bruised and battered Cal, keeping their tournament hopes alive.
Hawaii just won their first NCAA tournament game pic.twitter.com/Arc2OANOFz
— The Cauldron (@TheCauldron) March">https://twitter.com/TheCauldron/status/71092447912... 18, 2016
The insane 15v2 upset where Middle Tennessee knocked out Tom Izzo, Denzel Valentine, and the Michigan State Spartans uncharacteristically early, busting nearly everyone's bracket.
https://vine.co/v/idMJFLHA9QD#14 SF Austin's Thomas Walkup came to play against a defensive powerhouse in #3 West Virginia, sending them on to the Round Of 32.
#7 Iowa held off a relentless team in Temple, finishing them off in true March Madness fashion.
#11 Northern Iowa cashing in on the half court heave, knocking off Shaka Smart's #6 Texas.
Karma caught up to UNI in the second round, where they blew an 12 point lead against #3 Texas A&M with only 44 seconds left in the game...
The last game of the first round ended in controversy, where #9 Cincinnati failed to tie #8 St. Joes in the final seconds on a bang-bang play.
Onto the second round...
The clock struck midnight for #14 SF Austin when #6 Notre Dame punched their ticket to the Sweet 16 with a clutch tip-in with 1.5 seconds to go.
https://vine.co/v/idFKhXh1TqH
The first weekend went out with a bang, when #7 Wisconsin sent #2 Xavier packing thanks to a coffin corner buzzer beater three by Bronson Koenig
The following days after the first weekend March Madness is criminal. 48 games in four days followed up by three days of nothing is so painful, but that's what makes this tournament so special. Let's hope the crazy buzzer beaters and upsets continue on for the remainder of the tournament.
