By: BHS Sports Staff
March 28, 2024
This first weekend of March Madness has brought us some wild finishes, historic performances, crazy comebacks, and most of all, some major upsets. Surprisingly, our picks were not nearly as bad as last year.
Below is a quick recap on how the first weekend for each region unfolded.
Starting with the East Region, #1 Connecticut, #2 Iowa State, and #3 Illinois all got first round victories, but #4 Auburn was the team whose season came to a harsh ending as #13 Yale upset the Tigers in a wild game, 78-76. There was another upset in this region as #11 Duquesne, with their first appearance in the big dance since 1977, defeated #6 BYU. #5 San Diego State, #7 Washington State, and #9 Northwestern each punched their ticket into the second round. The second round saw the top 3 teams still dominating this region as they all moved onto the Sweet 16. The last team to make the Sweet 16 would be #5 San Diego State as they ended Yale’s Cinderella story with a commanding 85-57 victory.
The matchups are set as #1 Connecticut will face #5 San Diego State, and #2 Iowa State will take on #3 Illinois.
In the West Region, the top 4 seeds (North Carolina, Arizona, Baylor, Alabama) each got a first round victory, and the only upset in the first round for this region was #12 Grand Canyon knocking off #5 Saint Mary’s, who only lost once since the end of December. #6 Clemson, #7 Dayton, and #9 Michigan State also made it into the second round. However, it was #3 Baylor who got upset in the second round by Clemson. Clemson will join #1 North Carolina, #2 Arizona and #4 Alabama in the Sweet 16.
The matchups will be #1 North Carolina facing #4 Alabama and #2 Arizona facing #6 Clemson.
In the South Region, this was the region where a lot of the upsets occurred. #12 James Madison, who finished the season with 31 wins, took down #5 Wisconsin. #11 NC State cruised past #6 Texas Tech, and the biggest upset of all, #14 Oakland defeated #3 Kentucky (a big shocker with John Calapari losing early again), led by a historic performance by Jack Gohlke, who made 10 threes in his first ever tournament game. The other teams earning victories in this region were #1 Houston, #2 Marquette, #4 Duke, #9 Texas A&M, and #10 Colorado. In the second round, Marquette survived past #10 Colorado, #11 NC State ended Oakland’s historic run, and #4 Duke destroyed #12 James Madison.
The craziest game by far was #1 Houston and #9 Texas A&M. The Aggies trailed by 10 points with 1:24 left and were able to claw their way back, including a game-tying three at the buzzer to send the game into overtime. However, the top-seeded Cougars were able to survive a collapse in overtime, defeating the Aggies, 100-95. In this game, Houston had four starters foul out, while Texas A&M had two.
The matchups will be #1 Houston vs. #4 Duke and #2 Marquette vs. #11 NC State.
Lastly is the Midwest Region, which had a lot of potential upsets. However, the only upset that occurred in this region was the Pac-12 champions, #11 Oregon taking down #6 South Carolina in commanding fashion. The top five seeds of Purdue, Tennessee, Creighton, Kansas, and Gonzaga were able to advance. #7 Texas and #8 Utah State also earned victories in the first round. The second round saw #1 Purdue and #5 Gonzaga earning blow-out victories. The other two games were more competitive with #2 Tennessee defeating #7 Texas by four and #3 Creighton coming from behind to defeat #11 Oregon in double overtime.
The matchups are set as #1 Purdue faces #5 Gonzaga, and #2 Tennessee will face #3 Creighton.
Now, The Return of the Eye’s sports staff will make their final four predictions to see who heads to Phoenix, Arizona.
*Jacob:
- East: UConn
- West: Arizona
- South: Houston
- Midwest: Creighton
*Kayla:
- East: UConn
- West: North Carolina
- South: Marquette
- Midwest: Purdue
*Olivia:
- East: Iowa State
- West: North Carolina
- South: Houston
- Midwest: Creighton
*Jordan:
- East: UConn
- West: Alabama
- South: Houston
- Midwest: Tennessee
*Mr. Holko:
- East: UConn
- West: Arizona
- South: Houston
- Midwest: Tennessee
The games will resume tonight with #6 Clemson taking on #2 Arizona. Tip-off is at 7:09 p.m. and should begin a weekend full of must-watch basketball action.
To keep up with stats and highlights, visit the March Madness website.
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