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What makes this tournament so enticing is its ability never to disappoint when it comes to dramatic upsets. In the early rounds, championship favorites match up with underdogs coming off conference titles and having nothing to lose.
These matchups on paper seem like blow-outs, and more often than not, they are, but at least once a year, David stuns Goliath, ending their season and bringing increased excitement to their school, their story and the tournament.
Sixty-eight Division 1 teams were in the mix for this year’s championship. The Southeastern Conference (SEC) had 14 of its 16 teams represented in the tournament . Seen as easily the best conference from top to bottom throughout this college basketball season, the SEC’s combined record against the other four power conferences was a whopping 58-19 with an overall 88.9%-win rate against all other conferences combined.
As you might expect, seven teams are still left in the field and poised to play in this weekend’s Sweet 16 round.
Arkansas guard D.J. Wagner celebrates a win against St John’s. PHOTO: Hank Layton/WholeHogSports
One of those SEC teams is Arkansas, coached by Hall of Famer and coaching legend John Calipari, known for his ability to recruit blue-chip high school athletes and make their NBA dreams a reality. However, this year, Calipari’s Razorback team looks a little different from his one and done freshman-led teams of the past. After last year’s first-round exit when his Kentucky squad fell to Oakland University, many people questioned if the former UMass, Kentucky and Memphis coach’s reign as one of the country’s best coaches was over.
Calipari has used this year as a reminder to the world of his coaching prowess; he turned to the transfer portal to bring some experience for a postseason push.
With what has been the hardest path to the Sweet 16, the tenth-seeded Razorbacks beat seventh-ranked Kansas, coached by Hall of Famer Bill Self. The Fayetteville Five upset Rick Pitino’s second-seeded St. John’s Red Storm, a pre-tournament favorite. “This is as rewarding a year as I have had based on how far we have come,’ Calipari said.
Another tournament upset that busted a few brackets was twelfth-seed McNeese State University’s win over fifth-seeded Clemson. The Southland Tournament winners made an NCAA appearance last year but fell to a better, more talented Gonzaga team in the first round.
Maybe the biggest news of the tournament was how Drake University would fare. Drake was the talk of the town all season because their first-year head coach, Ben McCollum, who previously guided Division 2 Northwest Missouri State to four Division 2 championships might be leaving.
After dominating the Missouri Valley Conference all year and winning the conference tournament, the Bulldogs earned themselves an 11 seed and took it a step further by knocking off the sixth-seeded Missouri, who was more than equipped with talent to go on a run of their own. Drake’s season eventually ended with a loss to Texas Tech, but not before they showed the world that the gap between Division 1 and 2 is not as big as people might think.
This past Sunday, the two-time defending champion Connecticut Huskies lost their first tournament game in over two years. Their title defense began with a first-round win over Oklahoma before falling in a closely contested matchup with a team many deem a final-four contender: the one-seeded Florida Gators.
Connecticut experienced what most considered a post-success hangover as their season was not what many people expected. UConn struggled defensively, particularly against bigger and better squads, the result of losing seven players from last year. Many people assumed coach Dan Hurley would have them clicking on all cylinders; yet, the consistency never showed, and the team would not three-peat. Ironically, the Gators were the last team to repeat as champions before the Huskies did it in 2007 and 2008.
As we head into the Sweet 16 this weekend, it should be interesting to see if the Arkansas Razorbacks, the lone double-digit seed remaining, or sixth-seeded Mississippi Rebels or the Brigham Young Cougars can keep their Cinderella runs alive. If those teams cannot finish, then we may see the top seeds dominating the field enroute to what we hope will be a rousing Final Four.
On the women’s side, the USC Trojans won the battle but lost super sophomore Juju Watkins for the rest of the tournament. Watkins, who averages 24.6 points a game, went down with a torn ACL injury during USC’s blowout 95-59 win over Mississippi State. She will have surgery immediately and then go to rehab.
This is a tough break for the No.1 seeded Trojans, currently ranked fourth nationally in the AP poll. The team was working to bounce back from their elite eight loss last year to Connecticut. Trojan coach Lindsay Gottlieb praised her team, saying, “this team rallied. They rallied for her. They rallied for each other. I’m just really proud, and I think we showed what kind of team we are.”
UCLA’s Lauren Betts scored 30 points against Richmond. PHOTO:UCLA Athletics
The UConn Huskies dismantled the North Dakota State Jackrabbits, 91-57, with preeminent No. 1 lottery pick Page Bueckers, who poured in 34 points, tying her career high. Bueckers is finally healthy after having an entire off-season to recover from what was her second career knee injury.
The Huskies lost to Caitlin Clark and Iowa in the Final Four last year and have not captured the DI trophy since 2016.
The overall No. 1 seed UCLA Bruins have only lost twice, both times to their crosstown rivals, USC. They have their own superstar, Lauren Betts, who scored 30 points and pulled down 14 boards for the home team in a win against the Richmond Spiders. The 6’7” center is only the third player in UCLA history behind Kareem Abdul Jabbar and Bill Walton to accomplish that feat. Speaking about her after the game, her coach, Corrie Close, said, “She’s an absolute generational player … an elite player; she affects the game in so many ways on both offense and defense.”
The defending champion South Carolina Gamecocks demonstrated why they were last year’s victors with a 64-53 victory over Indiana in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Coach Dawn Staley’s team is attempting to become the first back-to-back women’s champion since the 2015-16 Connecticut Huskies.
“I think we created a legacy already, whether we win this one or not,” Staley said. The Gamecocks face the fourth-seeded Maryland Terrapins in the round of 16.
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