What’s March without a little madness?
This year’s division 1 men’s NCAA basketball tournament did not disappoint in fulfilling the ever-lofty expectations of March Madness. However, the theme of this year’s surprises are much different from what we’ve seen in the past.
Expecting the unexpected is the norm in the NCAA tournament so when it doesn’t exactly happen in the first round of games, it’s a little off putting. This year none of the teams seeded at a three or better lost in the first round and only one four-seed lost.
This year didn’t have a Lehigh over Duke first rounder, no runs by a Loyola-Chicago to the Final Four, and not a nine-seeded Connecticut National Champion.
So where was the madness?
For starters, the Duke Blue Devils were the heavy favorites to win it all based on the online ESPN brackets. Between Zion Williamson taking college basketball by storm, along with his top NBA prospect teammates, RJ Barrett and Cam Reddish, it was hard to imagine any team taking them down. Not only were they taken down though, but they missed out on making the Final Four after being defeated by the Michigan State Spartans in the Elite Eight.
The tournament was not simply dominated by team success, however. College basketball fans had been itching to get a look at Murray State star, Ja Morant. Playing at a small school, Morant only found his way into the public eye through his highlights. He had a large, new audience watching in the tournament, eager to form an opinion about him. He certainly did not disappoint and further validated his star status. He posted a triple double with 17 points, 11 rebounds, and 16 assists in a first round upset win over Marquette.
Another big individual story in the tournament was Wofford’s Fletcher Magee who broke the NCAA all-time made three-point record. The marksman drained seven threes en route to breaking the all-time record as well as earning his school their first ever NCAA tournament win.
Carsen Edwards gave fans flashes of what they saw from Steph Curry and Trae Young in college. Actually, forget flashes, Edwards gave us a full dose and then some as he dropped a pair of 42 point games while hitting nine and 10 threes in those games. Simply calling the shots he hit “threes” doesn’t do justice to what the shots actually were. “Side-step, off-the-dribble, fading away from 30 feet away with a hand in his face” gives a much more accurate depiction of what he was really doing.
Unfortunately, no low seeded team managed to achieve anything of equal shock value.
Without any bracket busting cinderella stories, the biggest surprises were from teams who are not considered historically great basketball programs.
The Auburn Tigers made a run to the Final Four this year for the first time in their school’s history. It was the first time the school had even made it to the Elite Eight since 1986. This year’s historic run almost didn’t happen as they narrowly escaped a first round upset in a one-point victory over New Mexico State.
Texas Tech was another team to survive deep into March despite that not being the norm for their program. Although this year they made their second consecutive trip to the Elite Eight, they made their school’s first appearance in the Final Four where they would ultimately fall in overtime of the National Championship game.
Who Texas Tech would fall to is the same team that made history last year in a negative way. Last year’s Virginia Cavaliers became the first number one seeded team to ever fall in the first round as they lost to the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) Chesapeake Bay Retrievers in stunning fashion. It even looked as though history may repeat itself this year as Virginia earned a number one seed again but found themselves trailing at halftime of their first round game.
It would take a first round comeback, a buzzer-beater to force overtime against Purdue, and a clutch three to force overtime against Texas Tech for Virginia to finally get the job done in redeeming themselves with a National Championship. The storyline was great and the game in which they won the title was equally incredible.
Many expected a low scoring game between two of college basketball’s best defensive teams, but luckily this was not the case. The game ended with a score of 85-77 in Virginia’s favor. The game had everything a fan could want from high level shot making, to intelligent coaching changes, to overtime. The Cavaliers were led by sophomore sensation, De’Andre Hunter, and one of the NCAA’s premier shooters, Kyle Guy, who had 27 and 24 points, respectively. Ty Jerome also produced a stat line of 16 points, six rebounds, and eight assists to pace the team.
Even though a top seeded team took home the National Championship trophy, it was still a Cinderella story in some way. Virginia rebounding from the most embarrassing loss in the tournament’s history to becoming champions with the same core group of players and coach is incredible. There is a lot to be said about their perseverance.
Despite everything the NCAA tournament lacked this year, there was no shortage of great basketball being played and that’s ultimately what fans want to see.
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