The True Madness Of March

This year’s March Madness fits the name more than any other I can remember. We have experienced it all from losing a billion dollars within the first game to seeing Duke get knocked out in the first round (technically 2nd but you know what I mean) for the 2nd time in three years.

It all started with #11 seed Dayton Flyers knocking out a heavy favorite #6 seed Ohio State Buckeyes in the first game of the tournament (Yes, its 2nd round but I'm not including the play-in round which is the official 1st round). That was my bracket buster, I had Ohio state making it to the elite 8 (Damn you Ohio State). Those Flyers have been flying through the tournament thus far, knocking out #3 seed Syracuse in the 3rd round. They will face Stanford in the Sweet 16 later this week.

#10 seed Stanford has been making some trouble throughout the tournament as well, knocking out #7 New Mexico as well as Andrew Wiggins and the Embiid-less #2 seed Kansas Jayhawks. Wiggins finished his last college game with only 4 points and shooting 1-for-6 when the Jayhawks lost to Stanford.

Another shocker from the 2nd round was the heavily daunted defense of #5 seed VCU and Coach Shaka Smart losing to #12 seed SF Austin. The SF Austin Lumberjacks were on a 28-game winning streak and pushed it all the way to 29 before losing to #4 seeded UCLA in the 3rd round.

The madness continued throughout the 2nd round with #2 seed Duke Blue Devils being the biggest upset of that round in my opinion, losing to #15 seed Mercer Bears. The Bears would lose to #11 seed Tennessee in the 3^rd round. The Tennessee Volunteers have played the most games in this year’s tournament because of the play-in game they had against Iowa last week. Their run can be chalked up to luck thus far with run in the tourney coming against Iowa, #6 seeded University of Massachusetts that in my opinion was given way too high of a ranking, and then Mercer.

The Volunteers next match-up will be a true test to their team when they face an admirable opponent in #2 seed Michigan Wolverines. The Wolverines made it all the way to the national championship last year and will be the toughest opponent Tennessee has played this year. This is March Madness so it wouldn’t be a huge surprise to see them keep this run going and knock out the Wolverines come Friday evening.

Now how about them Kentucky Wildcats. They came into the preseason as the #1 ranked team and had their share of ups and downs this season. By tournament time they were seen as another bust of a one-and-done team and given a #8 seed. That #8 seed would shock most of the nation as well as the #1 seed Shockers of Wichita State when they beat them in the 3^rd round, sending the Wildcats to the sweet 16. The Wichita State Shockers lost their first game of the season as well as their shot at a national title after going 35-0.

We have the Sweet 16 match-ups this week with the South and West regions playing on Thursday, East and Midwest play on Friday.

Here is how the Sweet 16 looks:

South:

#1 Florida vs #4 UCLA (Thur. March 27, 6:45pm PT on CBS)

#11 Dayton vs #10 Stanford (Thur. March 27, 4:15pm PT on CBS)

West:

#1 Arizona vs #4 San Diego State (Thur. March 27, 7:17pm PT on TBS)

#6 Baylor vs #2 Wisconsin (Thur. March 27, 4:47pm PT on TBS)

East:

#1 Virginia vs #4 Michigan State (Fri. March 28, 6:57pm PT on TBS)

#3 Iowa State vs #7 Connecticut (Fri. March 28, 4:27pm PT on TBS)

Midwest:

#8 Kentucky vs #4 Louisville (Fri. March 28, 6:45pm PT on CBS)

#11 Tennessee vs #2 Michigan (Fri. March 28, 4:15pm PT on CBS)

The best match-up of this round has to be the Midwest's #4 Louisville taking on in-state rival #8 Kentucky. These two teams match-up well, as usual, and will be facing off in another "Battle for the Bluegrass", only this time for a chance to move on to the Elite 8. The last time these two teams met in the NCAA Tournament was in the 2012 Final Four where Kentucky came out victorious. Kentucky also had three top 20 draft picks that year including the #1 overall pick Anthony Davis (#2 Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, #18 Terrence Jones).

Another interesting game comes out of the East with #1 Virginia taking #4 Michigan State. The Spartans have a lot of people on their side in this year's tournament including our commander in chief, while the Cavaliers haven't even been given the time of day by most of America. I picked Michigan State to win this game and make it to the Final Four before the tourney began but my bracket is ripped to pieces by now so I am good with either team winning. Honestly I am leaning more towards an upset by a #1 seed, if there was ever a time a #1 seed was the underdog this is that game. Virginia also has Joe Harris the senior out of Washington State that I can't help but root for, being a Washingtonian myself.

My original Final Four prediction included Florida, Arizona, Connecticut, and Louisville. I think I am going to stand strong on these predictions but I wouldn't be surprised to see all of these teams fall with the kind of madness that has been going on this far through the tournament.

Also take a second and look at my Previews & Predictions for the Sweet 16 (Thursday's games here) (Friday's games here)

I hope you guys have all been enjoying the madness that comes with March Madness and if you feel the need to let out your anger or thoughts about the tournament feel free to leave a comment and we can talk sports, because that’s what I do!