MARCH MADNESS

Round 1

Some surprising games in the first round included FDU against Purdue. The game concluded with Purdue winning 63-58. No one expected it, but the underdogs prevailed and made it through to the next round. The same occurred in the game Princeton against Arizona. The game ended 59-55 another surprising win. After Princeton beat Arizona, 93% of the remaining perfect brackets became imperfect in ESPN’s Tournament Challenge.

Round 2

The second round was filled with extremely close games and more surprises, like Kansas vs. Arkansas. Kansas was the favorite, first seed, but everyone was astonished when the game ended 72-71 in favor of Arkansas. Another huge upset was when the fifteenth seed Princeton beat the seventh seed Missouri 78-63.

Sweet Sixteen

The sweet sixteen games had a lot of exciting moments, including the fifth seed San Diego State beating first seed Alabama 71-64. Another game was the fifteenth seed Princeton vs. the sixth seed Creighton, in which Creighton ended Princeton’s run 86-75. Another crazy game was when the fifth seed University of Miami beat the first seed Houston. It was especially crazy because Miami won 89-75.

Elite Eight

The Elite Eight was a very interesting and exciting round. There was a very close game where fifth seed San Diego State beat Creighton by one point 57-56. Another close game decided by three points was ninth seed FAU beating third seed Kansas State, 79-76. Fifth seed Miami kept winning, beating second seed Texas 88-81. Fourth seed UConn beat third seed Gonzaga 82-54.

Final Four

With the Championship game on the line, the final four was very dramatic and fun to watch. Starting with the ninth seed FAU vs. the fifth seed San Diego State. This game ended on a buzzerbeater for San Diego State 71-72. The next game was the fifth seed Miami versus the fourth seed UConn. This game was pretty lopsided the entire time, as UConn won with a score of 59-72. “I think that as a UM fan, it was a historic tournament, as we made it to the final four,” said Lars Goodrich (7). “I liked how all the UM fans were really passionate and supported their team.”

Championship

In the Championship game, the fifth seed San Diego State Aztecs played the fifth seed UConn. Both of these teams fought hard to get into this position, and this game was for all the marbles. However, UConn prevailed as they won the championship 59-76. “I thought the tournament was crazy,” said Teshler Augustin (8). “I wasn’t expecting some teams to go as far as they did, and as a UM fan, I was surprised how well they did. When they lost against UConn, I respected the way they played against us and wanted UConn to win.”