The calendar says it’s March. Most of the madness has been missing so far.
There certainly have been upsets. Just ask the owners of the 99.9956% of brackets with at least one blemish.
But with the first round of the NCAA Tournament complete, the bracket was bereft of the buzzer-beaters and major upsets that have become ubiquitous during March Madness.
No Fairleigh Dickinson over top-seeded Purdue or UMBC taking down No. 1 Virginia. Not even a second-ranked Princeton victory over Arizona or a formidable Saint Peter’s victory over Kentucky. The top four seeds went 16-0 in the first round for the first time since 2017 and the sixth time since the field was expanded to 64 teams in 1985. The top two seeds won by an average of nearly 26 points.
Two upsets between No. 12 seeds and 5s are the best in the bracket so far. That has become almost commonplace, occurring at a rate of 35%, according to the NCAA, and one of them even did not cause an upset. Despite being favored by two and a half points, Colorado State prevailed 78-70 over Memphis, which was playing without a full roster. No 12 seed McNeese was the other winner, outlasting Clemson 69-67 after nearly blowing a 12-point lead in the final minute.
Drake, seed 11, also had a slight surprise in the first round when he beat Missouri, seed 6, 67-57. However, 11 over 6 is more common than 12 beating 5 39% of the time. “I would be lying if I didn’t say I didn’t expect it,” Drake coach Ben McCollum said. “I anticipated it. I had expected that. I expected exactly this.”
Similar to how college basketball fans anticipate winning games in March. We’re still waiting.
Amarr Knox had the closest thing to a buzzer-beater, scoring on a layup with a second left in Alabama State’s 70-68 win over Saint Francis in the First Four on Tuesday. It wasn’t exactly Grant Hill to Christian Laettner; instead, it was more of a tip drill on a length-of-the-court pass that dropped into Knox’s hands.
“You just said it: March Madness,” said Alabama State coach Tony Madlock said.
Vanderbilt nearly had its one shining moment, only to see Devin McGlockton’s 3-point attempt clang off the back rim in a 59-56 loss to Saint Mary’s. No. 10 seed New Mexico had the only upset among the late games on Friday, taking down seventh-seeded Marquette 75-66.
So, does that mean the bracket has been boring? There is no way that the NCAA Tournament spectacle could ever be called that. There just hasn’t been a whole lot of madness in March – at least not yet.
