This first weekend of March Madness may have crumpled more brackets than any other opening weekend in tournament history. By the end of Sunday’s games, half of the one and two seeds had been knocked out, leaving us with a heap of possible Cinderella stories. So, let’s get into some of the top games and stories, as well as one of the best (or worst) beats from this weekend:
PURDUE FALLS TO FDU BECOMING THE SECOND 1 SEED TO LOSE TO A 16
On the five-year mark of Virginia becoming the first 1 seed to lose to a 16, FDU shocked Purdue to become the second. This brought the record for 16 seeds facing 1 seeds to 2-150, and the North Eastern Conference’s all time March Madness round of 64 record to 1-31. This was a true David vs Goliath scenario between FDU, the smallest team in the country, and Purdue, who’s play style operates around the 7’ 4’’, Wooden Award favorite, Zach Edey. In the end, FDU’s coach Tobin Anderson was right when he spoke after the team’s win over Texas Southern in the First Four, stating: “The more I see Purdue, the more I think we can beat them”
6 SEED IOWA ST POOS THEMSELVES IN LOSS TO 11 SEED PITT
Iowa opened the game going 0-11 from the field, and it never really got any better. Pitt held them to a gross 23% shooting percentage as they took the win 59-41. The over missed by a whopping 31.5 points, giving me wartime flashbacks to the NFL playoffs.
MEMPHIS FALLS TO FAU
Second year guard Nicholas Boyd made FAU history when he hit a game winning floater, leaving 2.5 seconds on the clock and securing FAU’s first tournament win in program history. Memphis coach Penny Hardaway showed emotion on the sideline as the shot went in:
DUKE UNDERPERFORMS IN LOSS AGAINST TENNESSEE
Duke ended the game with a better shooting percentage, but their 15 turnovers and 12 lost rebounds in their defensive zone allowed Tennessee to slide into the sweet sixteen. The highlight of the tournament for the Blue Devils was first year head coach Jon Scheyer’s perfect post game presser after their round one win:
Expect Scheyer to be around for a long, long time.
ARKANSAS UPSETS ONE SEED KANSAS IN THE SECOND ROUND
For the second year straight, Eric Musselman led the Razorbacks to a win against a 1 seed. Last year, it was against Gonzaga in the Sweet 16, this year they took down the defending champs. Logically, the 58 year old jumped on the scorers table, took off his shirt, and got the crowd amped:
15 SEED PRINCETON PUNCHES THEIR TICKET TO THE SWEET 16 WITH WIN OVER MISSOURI
Here’s our Cinderella of the year folks. Princeton is headed to the Sweet 16 for the first time in the history of the 64 team bracket. This was no stroke of luck. The tigers looked in complete control all game, only trailing for 50 seconds when the score was 2-3 in the first, and finishing with a 50 point lead.
MICHIGAN STATE STUNS 2 SEED MARQUETTE IN THE SECOND ROUND
Izzo is back and it’s marvelous. The Trojans began to pull away with three minutes left to play, and their head coach was in vintage, high voltage form on the sideline. With Coach K. and Roy Williams no longer coaching, we need to appreciate this man’s passion for the game while we still can:
THREE SEED BAYLOR GETS KNOCKED OUT BY CREIGHTON
Ryan Nembhard put up a 30 point, 8/13 performance to lead the the Bluejays to a win over the Baylor Bears. Creighton is set to face off against the now crowd favorite Princeton Tigers in the round of 16, but something tells me that they don’t care who’s rooting for who. This next game will be a must watch.
FDU’S CINDERELLA RUN ENDS WITH LOSS TO FAU
In the battle of F_U’s, Florida atlantic managed to come out on top. And while it’s sad to see the little guy lose, Fair Dickinson’s season was eternalized with their win over Purdue this past Friday. This just goes to show that 16 seeds play for so much more than the average team in the round of 64. Until it happens, I don’t ever think that a 16 seed will ever cut a championship net, but if they can just knock off a 1 seed, they live in CBB history forever.
THE BEST (OR WORST) BEAT OF THE TOURNAMENT
This is a once in a lifetime type cover from TCU. Words can’t describe it, so just take a look: