On March 17, one of the largest tournaments in all of sports kicked off: March Madness. Teams in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I basketball tournament have officially begun playing, and everyone is glued to their brackets, praying their teams make it through.
While the tournament started with 68 teams, we have already made it into the Sweet 16 in the Men’s division. And there have already been some big upsets. The University of Wisconsin-Madison, which many thought would be a possible contender for the final four, was defeated by No. 12 seed High Point University in the first round, losing by one point (83-82). In the second round, No. 1 seed University of Florida lost to No. 9 seed University of Iowa.
The three remaining No. 1 seeds — University of Arizona, University of Michigan, and Duke University — are currently favored to win, but it is still very close. In the first round, Duke barely scraped by, winning 71-65 against No. 16 seed Siena University. While Duke is still favored to make it through, No. 5 seed St. John’s University, No. 3 seed Michigan State, and No. 2 seed University of Connecticut are all right on Duke’s trail, fighting for that top spot.
There are plenty of non-No. 1 seeds with strong chances to make the final four. Two top contenders, No. 2 seed University of Houston and No. 3 seed University of Illinois, will be going up against each other in the Sweet 16 round. Another top contender is No. 2 seed Iowa State University, who will be going up against No. 6 seed University of Tennessee next. No. 4 seed University of Alabama will be going up against No. 1 seed University of Michigan, and with the strong streak that Alabama has been on, it might not be too surprising if we see an upset.
We have already seen a lot of high-quality basketball in this year’s tournament, and if the first two rounds told us anything, the rest of the bracket is looking to be just as good. While the No. 1 seeds may still be the top contenders, keep your eye out for the underdogs; it can still be anyone’s game.
