A Wild Weekend of March Madness Means We Need to Reset Our Championship Picks

The first weekend of the men's NCAA tournament has passed, and boy was it a wild one. The games all started last Thursday, and the madness started that night. During the early run of games, it was status quo. KU struggled a bit with Penn before pulling away late. Duke crushed Iona. Texas Tech pulled away late on Stephen F Austin. The early games, for the most part, went accordingly. Then that night, the craziness started.

First, Gonzaga really struggled with UNC Greensboro, only winning by 4. Nevada stormed back down 13 against Texas to win in the end. Kentucky and Davidson traded blows until Kentucky pulled away. Michigan really struggled with Montana, only scoring 61 in their win. But, Arizona, which I wrote about last week, really got trashed. I said all I really had to say about that game last week, but still, it looked to be the biggest upset of the tournament. Even Loyola Chicago beating Miami wasn't as big an upset as the Arizona-Buffalo game. 

Then last Friday happened. That day was nuts. Some teams that were expected to win did. Teams like Michigan State, Auburn, Clemson, Purdue, West Virginia and UNC won with relative ease. But, Marshall beat Wichita State, giving us two 13 seeds over 4 seeds games. Butler crushed Arkansas at its own game. Syracuse, who I believe had no business being in this tournament, beat up on TCU. Florida, who was kind of hot, hammered, shockingly to me, by St. Bonaventure. Florida State hammered Missouri.

But, the biggest upset in the history of the tournament happened that night. I went to bed, I was tired from the Michigan game the night before, and woke up to the news that a 16 seed finally beat a one seed. And, not only was it a one seed, it was the number one seed overall. Virginia, who lost 2 games all season, got beat, badly I might add, by UMBC. I was shocked. I could not believe that it happened. I had to watch highlights to believe it. And it was all true. Not only did Virginia get beat, they got absolutely crushed. UMBC won by 20 points. That is so bizarre. I don't think Virginia is going to give up on Tony Bennett, but his tournament history is not good at all. And now, he is the first coach to lose to a 16 seed. That will be what he is remembered for forever. No matter what happens, say Virginia goes on to win a few titles, when Tony Bennett retires, it will always be said that he was the first coach to lose to a 16 seed. This is a big deal.

After the 16 seed taking down a number 1, I thought it couldn't get any wilder. The second round happened and totally threw me for a loop. That is not to say that some of the blue bloods and one seeds left did not take care of business. Villanova hammered Alabama. I thought Alabama could give them a game, but that didn't happen at all. Duke manhandled Rhode Island. I hate to say it, but Duke truly looks like the best team left in the tournament. Kentucky was given a game for about 35 minutes against Buffalo, but then they won by 20. But, there were 3 games on Saturday that were pretty wild.

First was the University of Ohio State and Gonzaga played a hell of a game. The Zags jumped out to a big lead, but the University of Ohio State came back before the Zags finally pulled away at the end. Loyola Chicago then proceeded to continue their improbable run by hitting a game winning jumper to beat Tennessee. Then, we had the Houston-Michigan game to close the night. The game itself wasn't great, there were a lot of missed shots and piss poor foul calls. But, the shot that Jordan Poole hit to win the game I will never forget. It was amazing, and it was so nice to see my team win a game like that. I did not think they had a chance, especially with Houston going to free throw line with 4 seconds left to win the game. But, magic happened. I'm excited to see how they respond after an ending like that, but for now, I will bask in the glory of that shot.

Yesterday was almost as wild as Friday. Nothing will top Friday, again, a 16 beat a 1, but nonetheless, it was crazy. The only game that wasn't too nuts was Auburn-Clemson, but that is only because Clemson handed Auburn's ass to them. Other than that, it was all crazy. Purdue beat Butler, but it was a big time struggle. They only won by three, but it was tough. Texas A&M came out and put a beat down on the defending champs. UNC had no answer for A&M's big men. That game actually has me kind of worried about Michigan next. KSU ended UMBC's never before seen run. The game was ugly and bad,  but KSU ended up winning by 7. Then the real madness started.

Cincinnati somehow managed to blow a 20 point lead with 10 minutes left, and let Nevada storm back to win. Michigan State, a presumed title favorite, got completely flummoxed by Syracuse's zone, and a team I still don't think belongs, Syracuse, improbably moved on to the Sweet Sixteen. And then we saw our second number one seed go down in Xavier. This was a rough weekend for the state of Ohio in basketball. I did say that Xavier was the "softest" one seed, but I thought they could make the Sweet Sixteen at the very least. Well, Florida State had other plans and knocked them out. It was just a wild, wild weekend.

Now that the first weekend is done, and we have our Sweet Sixteen, I am left with somewhat of a hollow feeling. There are some teams that I never thought would be here right now. The fact that KSU, Loyola Chicago, FSU, Nevada, Texas A&M and Syracuse, that is 1/3 of the Sweet Sixteen, is bizarre. No disrespect to those schools, but wow. I just cannot believe that they are here now. We do have some bluebloods, KU, Duke, Kentucky, Purdue and Villanova is kind of a relief, but not really. The rest of the Sweet Sixteen is either up and coming teams or teams that have had a good year. We have Michigan, Gonzaga, West Virginia, Texas Tech and Clemson. All of those teams were ranked pretty much all year. They do belong.

So, when I look at the matchups left, I honestly have no idea what will happen. I will give it a shot today and pick, but honestly, my guess is as good or as bad as anyone else's in the world. My Elite Eight is Kentucky, Nevada, Gonzaga, Michigan, Villanova, Purdue, Clemson and Duke. In fact I think all these teams will win with ease. Then for the Final Four I have Kentucky, Gonzaga, Villanova and Duke. That would pit Kentucky versus Gonzaga and Duke versus Villanova. Lets be honest, Duke-Villanova is the real title game. The winner of that game should easily win the title. That, if it happens, will be the best game for sure. I have Villanova beating Duke, then crushing Kentucky in the title game. This will have people calling Villanova a "dynasty", but to me, this title will be a lot like when Kevin Ollie led Connecticut to the championship in 2014. It will be hollow.

While this has been a fun tournament to bear witness to, it has not been the best. Maybe this weekend will bring us some more craziness, but hopefully it brings us better basketball. And the refs need to chill out on the whistles.

Ty

Ed Note: I did pick the University of Cincinnati Bearcats to win the title. I went the homer route, and I lost. To make matters worse, Xavier lays an egg right after UC, and the Queen City once again experienced massive sports heartbreak. I have often asked what city has experienced the worst sports heartbreak. Chicago and Boston used to have that title, but they only held it because the sports media is filled with idiots. Cleveland has had some rough times, but the Cavs won an improbable title a few years ago. Cincinnati won the World Series in 1990, then a whole lot of nothing. We have Kenyon Martin breaking his leg, Carson Palmer getting his knee wrecked, a decade worth of Marvin Lewis making the Bengals just ok, the Reds wasting Joey Votto, and now we have our basketball teams having magical seasons just to see them lose in terrible fashion. 

Being a Cincy sports fan sucks. I hope I do not get suckered again.

Since there is no hope left, I am picking Duke to win it all.

RD

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on all the internet.

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