By: BHS Sports Staff
March 27, 2025
The first weekend of March Madness is in the books, and every single bracket nationally is officially a bust.
This week’s rundown will cover what happened last weekend as well as preview the Sweet 16 matchups, beginning tonight.
*South Region: Starting off, #1 Auburn and #9 Creighton cruised past their first-round matchups, but the Tigers took the 82-70 victory in round two to advance to the Sweet 16. Fifth-seeded Michigan survived against #12 UC San Diego, while #4 Texas A&M took care of #13 Yale. In the five versus four matchup, the Wolverines held off the Aggies in the second half to advance, 91-79. Sixth-seeded Ole Miss ended #11 North Carolina’s season after they barely snuck into the tournament, while #3 Iowa State crushed #14 Lipscomb, 82-55. However, the Rebels got the upset in the second round as they took down the Cyclones, 91-78. Lastly, #10 New Mexico got the first-round upset over #7 Marquette, while #2 Michigan State mowed past #15 Bryant. In the second round, the Spartans’ big second half propelled them over the Lobos, as they advanced to the Sweet 16. The matchups for the Sweet 16 are #1 Auburn versus #5 Michigan and #6 Ole Miss versus #2 Michigan State.
*West Region: Next up, #1 Florida and #8 UConn both had convincing wins in the first round, but the Gators were able to hold off the Huskies in round two, 77-75, to advance. #12 Colorado State upset #5 Memphis, 78-70, while #4 Maryland took care of business against #13 Grand Canyon. The Rams and Terrapins saw a great second-round matchup, with Colorado State hitting a go-ahead three with six seconds left, but Maryland followed that up by hitting the first buzzer beater of the tournament to get the 72-71 win. #11 Drake upset #6 Missouri, 67-57, while #3 Texas Tech was able to cruise past #14 UNC Wilmington, 82-72. The Red Raiders were able to hold off the Bulldogs’ attempt at a Cinderella run, beating them 77-64. Lastly, #10 Arkansas upset #7 Kansas, 79-72, while #2 St. John’s cruised past #15 Omaha, 83-53. The biggest upset of this region happened with #10 Arkansas beating #2 St. John’s, 75-66, to advance onto the Sweet 16. The matchups are #1 Florida versus #4 Maryland and #3 Texas Tech versus #10 Arkansas.
*East Region: The East saw #1 Duke dominate #16 Mount St. Mary’s in the first round, while #9 Baylor upset #8 Mississippi State, 75-72. Duke’s dominance continued as they destroyed Baylor, 89-66. Next, both #4 Arizona and #5 Oregon cruised past the first round to meet up in the round of 32, where the Wildcats narrowly snuck past the Ducks, beating them 87-83. The bottom half of the region saw #6 BYU beat #11 VCU, #3 Wisconsin destroy #14 Montana, #7 Saint Mary’s narrowly escape #10 Vanderbilt, and #2 Alabama hold off #15 Robert Morris. In the second round, #6 BYU upset #3 Wisconsin, 91-89, and #2 Alabama beat #7 Saint Mary’s, 80-66. The matchups are #1 Duke versus #4 Arizona and #2 Alabama versus #6 BYU.
*Midwest Region: Lastly, the Midwest had #1 Houston and #8 Gonzaga cruise past their first-round matchups, and the Cougars were able to hold off a late Gonzaga comeback to advance to the Sweet 16. Next, the #12 seed McNeese State pulled off the upset against #5 Clemson, despite a 54-point second half by the Tigers. #4 Purdue ended #13 High Point and their great regular season in which they finished with 29 wins. Purdue was able to cruise past McNeese State in the second round to end their Cinderella run. The bottom half of the region saw Illinois beat Xavier, Kentucky beat Troy, UCLA beat Utah State, and Tennessee beat Wofford. In the second round matchup, #3 Kentucky defeated Big Ten member #6 Illinois to advance to the Sweet 16. Lastly, #2 Tennessee had control over #7 UCLA, as the Volunteers advanced to their third consecutive Sweet 16. The matchups are #1 Houston versus #5 Purdue, and #2 Tennessee versus #3 Kentucky.
Now, it’s time for The Return of the Eye Sports Staff, along with returning special guest picker Mr. Verba, to retry their picks, this time for the Final Four.
*Aiden: Great pick of St. John’s winning it all. Be prepared to be verbally-assaulted when you return from Europe.
- South: Auburn
- West: Arkansas
- East: Duke
- Midwest: Houston
*Collin: Shockingly, you are in second place with no talent or intelligence. Just think what your tally would be had you not picked UC San Diego to advance to the Sweet 16. Clown!
- South: Auburn
- West: Florida
- East: Alabama
- Midwest: Tennessee
*Jacob: Speaking of clown, all you could accumulate was seven points? Did you want your number to match your fast ball’s velocity? This is an awful performance, one for the ages. You should be working in the concession stand from here on out.
- South: Auburn
- West: Florida
- East: Alabama
- Midwest: Tennessee
*Mr. Holko: No surprise here as the leader in the clubhouse.
- South: Auburn
- West: Florida
- East: Duke
- Midwest: Houston
*Mr. Verba: Not a bad performance from Lord Basketball. Enjoy the bronze.
- South: Michigan State
- West: Florida
- East: Duke
- Midwest: Houston
The updated scoreboard: Mr. Holko (13), Collin (11), Mr. Verba (10), Aiden (10), and Jacob (7). 🤦🏻♂️
The games resume tonight, starting with BYU taking on Alabama at 7:09.
Who will cut down the nets on Monday, April 7, in San Antonio, Texas? To keep up with all of the scores this weekend, visit the March Madness Website.
{For up-to-date events and schedules, visit Brooklyn Hurricanes Athletics.}
THE RETURN OF THE EYE 