This NCAA Basketball tournament has been one of the most anticipated tournaments in recent years, and it sure has not disappointed. At this point, only four teams remain out of the group of 64 that entered the tournament just a few weeks ago. Let’s take a look at how the tournament has unfolded so far.
The start of tournament started on March 16 during the Selection Sunday event that was televised. This serves as a kick-off to March Madness and is the first time the bracket is shown to the public. This event always serves as a controversial way to begin the tournament, as many disagreements arise about the way teams are seeded. Fans will always find a way to claim that their favorite team should be a higher seed. The teams that were awarded the first seed in their respective regions include Houston (Midwest), Duke (East), Florida (West), and Auburn (South).
The first games of the tournament were played on March 20, which marked the start of the first round. As always, there were some unexpected upsets in some of these games. A few shockers included New Mexico beating Marquette, Drake beating Missouri, and McNeese State beating Clemson.
Every year during March Madness, there is always an unexpected team or player that the country seems to fall in love with. Last year, it was the DJ Burns-led NC State team. Some other examples include Doug Edert from Saint Peter’s in 2022 and the Loyola team in 2018. This year, the team that seemed to get a huge following was McNeese State University, a small school from Louisiana. The reason for the hype around this team was not because of a certain player but rather because of their team manager. Amir Khan quickly gathered fame on social media after a video surfaced of Khan carrying a speaker out to the court rapping along to “In and Out” by Lud Foe with the team following behind him.
Moving on to the second round, McNeese State fell to Purdue. One of the highlighted games of this round was between Arkansas and St. John’s. The main reason this game was very anticipated was the coaching duel. John Calipari (Arkansas) and Rick Pitino (St. John’s) are two highly respected coaches in basketball. Arkansas ended up upsetting St. John’s to move on to the Sweet Sixteen.
The Sweet Sixteen is where matchups began to even out, and teams started to get in a real groove. For example, two teams put up 100 points on their opponent. Those two teams are Duke and Alabama. One of the best games of this round involved Michigan State and Ole Miss, as the two teams were separated by only three points. Michigan State took the win and awaited their opponent between Michigan and Auburn. Fans were disappointed, as Michigan lost and the state rivalry would not be renewed in the Elite Eight.
Moving on to the Elite Eight, many fans were shocked that the games were not as close as they expected. Only one game was decided by five or fewer points, which was between Florida and Texas Tech. The four teams that won their matchups in this round were all number one seeds, which will make for high-level basketball at its finest.
As it stands, Auburn will be taking on Florida, and Duke will be facing off against Houston in the Final Four. The winners will advance to the Finals with the chance to play for an NCAA Championship.
