Lots of Upset Occur Through the First Two Rounds of March Madness

It’s very evident that March Madness this year has literally been full of madness everywhere. The top overall seed in the tournament went down to a 16 seed in the first round, multiple two seeds have lost early, and even some top notch three and four seeds have been beaten. Most of this, however, has happened in the South region of the bracket where no one, two, three, or four seeds remain. The highest ranked team remaining in the South region is Kentucky who is the fifth seed. The top four teams that lost are Virginia, Cincinnati, Tennessee, and Arizona.

The biggest upset of them all was #16 seed UMBC made history by beating #1 seed Virginia. This was the first time a 16 seed takes down a  number 1 team in history of the March Madness tournament . This game completely busted everyone bracket around the world, because 85% of the brackets made had Virginia winning it all.

“The Virginia loss really blows, I had them winning the whole tournament, they are the most discipline team in college basketball,” senior Izak King Anaya said.

Also another big upset that happened on the southside of the bracket was that #13 seed Buffalo demolished #4 Arizona. This also was a team that most people had making it to the final four.  

Another surprising team, #11 seed Loyola -Chicago, was a team that many people didn’t think would make it out of the round of 64, but they beat the Miami Hurricanes,on a last second 3- pointer at the buzzer and then beat Tennessee at the buzzer again, to make it to the Sweet 16.

“The hype is real.  It’s the underdog story that many people want.  I think they will beat Kansas St. and move on to the Final Four,” senior Aaron Xiong said.

North Carolina and Xavier both lost on the west side of the bracket. #1 Xavier and the defending champions the tarheels of North Carolina both managed to make it out of the round of 64, but both teams end up falling short  in the round of 32.

“I thought North Carolina was going all the way in one of my brackets. I knew Xavier was going to choke anyway,” senior Jaelen Johnson.

The West region has also had some shocks as well. Its top seeded team Xavier lost to Florida State in the second round, and two seed and defending champion North Carolina also got upset by Texas A&M.

The Midwest and East regions on the other side of the bracket has been more quiet and less dramatic as far as upsets go. There still have been a few upsets, though. Fourth seed Wichita State got upset in the first round by 13 seed Marshall in the East Region, and third seed Michigan State got upset by 11 seed Syracuse in the Midwest Region in the second round. Other than those two big upsets, there have not been any other notable ones.

Sophomore Samuel Muth didn’t expect Michigan State to fall to Syracuse.

“I was really shocked,” Muth said. “I had Michigan State in the Final Four in most of my brackets and them winning it all in a few also. It was really sad seeing them lose to an 11 seed.”

Despite Michigan State always being a top team, they have not made it to the Sweet 16 since 2015.

Another big upset that was unexpected, was 13 seed Marshall knocking off fourth seed Wichita State in the first round. Marshall won 81-75, shocking some GHS students.

“I had Wichita State going to the Sweet 16,” sophomore Thomas Hess said. “They normally play really well in the tournament and are seeded really high every year. Seeing them lose to a 13 seed was really shocking and I know a lot of people didn’t see it coming.”

Wichita State made the Final Four in 2013 and made the Sweet 16 in 2015. They have also been knocked out early in the tournament the last two years. In 2017, they lost in the second round to Kentucky, and in 2016 they lost in the second round to Miami.

The Midwest and East regions of the bracket still have their top seeds remaining though. Villanova still owns the East region with two victories so far by big margins over Radford and Alabama. Kansas had a 16-point win over Penn in the first round and a tight 4 point win over Seton Hall in the second round.

Freshman Nicholas Churchill is confident that Kansas will easily win the Midwest region, and win the whole tournament.

“Winning the Midwest will be a breeze for them,” Churchill said. “To be honest I think winning the whole tournament will be a breeze for them as well. They always play really well and dominate when they play their best.”

The South and West regions have stole the show for March Madness this year because of the unbelievable upsets. The Midwest and East regions though haven’t busted as many brackets. The top seeds still remain in the regions, and despite two big upsets, the Midwest and East have been much less dramatic than the South and West. Of course though, there could be many upsets upcoming in the Midwest and East, and even more upsets upcoming in the South and West.