This year’s March Madness has made some serious bracket buster history. The amount of upsets in this year’s tournament has just about everyone talking. There were thirteen major upsets so far, including the BIGGEST upset in March Madness history: University of Maryland, Baltimore County (No. 16) beating University of Virginia (No.1). UMBC beat UVA 74-54, and for the first time in history, a No. 16 seed beat a No.1 seed in the tournament. To give you a quick summary of what went down; UMBC and UVA were tied 21-21 at the half. The UMBC Retrievers saw this as a moment of opportunity. This win quickly busted pretty much everyone’s brackets. No one saw it coming. This first-round win was just the first of many upsets.
Another No.1 seed that was defeated early on, was The Xavier Musketeers, when they lost to Florida State (No. 9) 75-70. Xavier was up by nine points with just a little over five minutes left in the game. In their last five minutes, they had a whopping total of six turnovers, which allowed The Florida State Seminoles to be in the lead with just a minute to go.
Then there was the Texas A&M Aggies (No. 7) who took on the University of North Carolina Tar Heels (No. 1) and dominated them 86-65. At the end of January, the Aggies put in their freshman guard, T.J. Starks, in as a starter. Starks ended up becoming the star of this game with 21 points. By defeating the Tar Heels, the Aggies were able to keep the no-repeat rule in place; where no team could become the national champions two years in a row. This hasn’t happened in over ten years.
Next is when Syracuse (No. 11) beat Michigan State (No. 3) by only two points (55-53). The Spartans missed their last thirteen shots, which allowed Syracuse to finish strong. They even played in a predominately Michigan State crowd in Detroit. Considering Syracuse was one of the “first four” (which means they were the last four in the tournament) they did an incredible job. They are the fourth team in eight years to start there and end up making it to the Sweet 16!
And last but not least, when the Loyola Chicago Ramblers (No. 11) beat Tennessee (No. 3) 63-62. This year, the Ramblers are more impressive than ever by being the fourth No.11 team ever to make it to the final four! This is especially impressive because the last time this team has won a tournament game was in 1985. Way to go underdogs! Talk about a Cinderella.