It is March once again, and along with it comes March Madness, America’s favorite college basketball tournament. The brackets have been quite unpredictable, with the surprising number of upsets in this year’s competition. Some major troubles this season include: San Diego beating Alabama, Princeton defeating Missouri and Arizona, and Fairleigh Dickinson University besting Purdue.
San Diego’s match against Alabama ended in a final score of 71-64. San Diego being a number five-seeded team, was not expected to be much resistance against a team like Alabama, a number one-seeded team. However, after being gapped by nine points later in the second half of the game, San Diego pulled through and not only caught up to Alabama’s score but surpassed it by five points, making it a clear, indisputable win for the underdogs.
In the second round, Princeton was placed against Missouri, winning the match with a jarring score of 78-63. Princeton, a number 15-seeded squad, would have never been thought to give a number seven-seeded team like Missouri a run for their money, but in the end, Missouri got smacked with Princeton’s 15-point lead. Even more impressive, however, is Princeton’s previous victory against Arizona, an even mightier, number two-seeded team. Princeton led their game against Arizona by four points, with a final score of 59-55.
Finally, for only the second-ever time in the history of March Madness, a number 16 seed has conquered a number one-seeded powerhouse. In this year’s first round, FDU came out on top in their match against Purdue with a 63-58 score to conclude the game. Typically, when a matchup like this occurs, fans might not consider the possibility that the number 16-seeded team could even stand their ground against a number one seed, yet, Sean Moore gave Purdue a taste of what they were up against with 19 points scored, making him the top bucket-collector of FDU that night. Moore’s shooting skills and the team’s unforeseen defensive decisions ultimately led to FDU’s outstanding success. “We just had faith in what we do,” FDU coach Tobin Anderson said.
Hopefully, in the last few weeks of the tournament, fans with standing brackets will see some matches go their way. Best of luck to everyone following the games!
