NCAA Tournament Day 2 Madness: You Can Just Throw Away Your Bracket Now
If Thursday’s games in the NCAA Tournament didn’t already ruin your chances of a perfect bracket, Friday’s games definitely did. On Friday, six teams seeded 10 or higher won, including a 13-seed, a 14-seed, and one No. 15 seed.
In the tournament’s biggest upset, 15-seeded Middle Tennessee State knocked off March powerhouse No. 2 Michigan State. The Spartans were notably snubbed a No. 1 seed and landed at No. 2, but a strong Middle Tennessee team shocked the green and white 90-81.
They came to be the eighth 15 seed to take down a 2, and certainly one of the most shocking: https://t.co/lW3zFue2vC pic.twitter.com/RWg9vP5GNv
— NCAA March Madness (@marchmadness) March 19, 2016
Middle Tennessee moves on to face Syracuse, who upended No. 7 Dayton 70-51, in another of the opening round’s many upsets.
The second most notable loss from Friday action was No. 14 seed S.F. Austin’s tenacious defense and hot shooting to take down No. 3 West Virginia 70-56. The Mountaineers committed 22 turnovers in the stunning loss. On Sunday, S.F. Austin will play No. 6 Notre Dame, who outlasted rival 11-seeded Michigan.
https://twitter.com/ESPNCBB/status/711004341663043584
The two upsets will dominate much of the discussion over the next couple of days, but the tournament’s best moment so far came when Northern Iowa’s Paul Jesperson banked in a tie-breaking half-court shot to defeat No. 6 Texas 75-72.
Nothing but madness. #NorthernIowa https://t.co/Wl1UiMSmpY
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) March 19, 2016
With the game knotted at 72 apiece, Northern Iowa inbounded the ball to Jesperson, who dribbled around two defenders before heaving a prayer from the mid-stripe. Northern Iowa now will face-off against another Lone Star state school, No. 3 seed Texas A&M on Sunday.
In early action, No. 13 Hawaii took down No. 4 California 77-66. The California Golden Bears were without two starting guards and could not overcome a Hawaii team seeking its first ever NCAA Tournament win. Hawaii will square off against No. 5 Maryland on Sunday.
The final big upset from Friday saw the 10-seeded VCU Rams take down over-seeded No. 7 Oregon St. 75-67.
Full Scoreboard:
(7) Dayton 51-70 (10) Syracuse
(2) Villanova 86-56 (15) N.C. Asheville
(7) Oregon St. 67-75 (10) VCU
(4) California 66-77 (13) Hawaii
(2) Michigan St. 81-90 (15) Middle Tenn. St.
(7) Iowa 72-70 (10) Temple F/OT
(2) Oklahoma 82-68 (15) CSU Bakersfield
(5) Maryland 79-74 (12) S. Dakota St.
(7) Wisconsin 47-43 (10) Pittsburgh
(3) West Virginia 56-70 (14) S.F. Austin
(3) Texas A&M 92-65 (14) Green Bay
(1) Oregon 91-52 (16) Holy Cross
(2) Xavier 71-53 (15) Weber St.
(6) Notre Dame 70-63 (11) Michigan
(6) Texas 72-75 (11) Northern Iowa
(8) St. Joseph’s 78-76 (9) Cincinnati
