Just goes to show you simply can’t predict the dance know only as March Madness.
There isn’t a month-long span in sports that can compare to the tournament. Upsets, Cinderellas, and close calls for many teams that were suppose to breeze right through their opponent.
A No. 1 seed has never lost to a No. 16 seed in the history of the NCAA tournament, so when one comes close to knocking off a top seed, it feels like they actually did.
No. 2 and No. 15 seed matchups are the upsets that come with the most drama. Last March, Georgetown lost in the first round to No. 15 seed Florida Gulf Coast, who made a energetic run to the Sweet 16 before being sacked by the Florida Gators, who is now the top overall seed and heavy favorite to win it all this time around.
Dayton surprised a lot of people, including myself, in the opening game of the Round of 64 by upsetting Ohio St, who I somehow had winning in all five of the brackets I filled out.
Just saying, I only made five brackets to increase my chances of winning Warren Buffet’s $1 billion. That plan didn’t workout too well, though.
More than 11 million brackets were submitted on ESPN.com for before the madness began, only 18 percent remained perfect after the very first game, and only 3 percent remained unblemished after the first eight games.
They say you can’t predict baseball, but it’s damn near impossible to correctly pick ever game of the tournament, let alone 10 games.
Some of the more recent tournament upsets were that of VCU and Butler making Final Four runs a few years back. Butler actually shocked everyone by making it to the championship game the year before, coming a half-court shot away from beating Duke.
At the moment I’m writing this, it’s tough to tell who this year’s Cinderella team might be. It was Wichita State last year, and this year they’re a No. 1 seed. North Dakota St pulled off the upset against Oklahoma, even though I called that one. And the Ivy League smart guys at Harvard, a 12 seed, came out with the victory against No. 5 Cincinnati.
Other than cheering on the Gators to win it all, I could start preparing my bracket for next year’s tournament. Maybe next year I’ll make it past the first game.
