BY: SAMUEL WEILERT; STAFF WRITER
Photo: @DukeMBB / X
For the first time since 2017, not a single 13, 14, 15 or 16 seed pulled off a miraculous upset against any of the top four seeds. This year’s Sweet 16 is also composed of only Power Four conference teams, with the SEC taking up seven of the 16 spots.
A major reason for this development can be tied back to the explosion of NIL in recent years. The teams with the biggest budgets can simply offer more money for the players and are poaching mid-major talent at levels never seen before.
One of the best upset runs in recent memory was nine-seed Florida Atlantic’s run to the Final Four in 2023. The three star players that made that run possible are all still in the tournament this year, but instead of staying loyal with the Owls they left to play at Power Four schools where the money is at.
Vladislav Goldin transferred to Michigan, Alijah Martin transferred to Florida and Johnell Davis transferred to Arkansas. All three have seen success at the biggest stage in college basketball.
The round of 32 put up a better show than the first-round matchups, with there being some classic games and moments.
The game of the tournament so far was Maryland’s 72-71 victory over Colorado State. The game was back and forth throughout making it an instant classic. It all culminated in the final 10 seconds, where Jalen Lake of Colorado State made a high-arching 3-pointer to take a 71-70 lead. Then, on the last possession of the game, freshman Center Derik Queen hit a crazy buzzer-beating floater off the backboard to give the Terrapins the last-second win.
Wisconsin vs. BYU was another close game, with the Cougars edging out a 91-89 victory. BYU had a 91-83 lead with 1:16 left, but then senior guard John Tonje scored six of his 37 points to lead a comeback with one last possession left. He almost pulled off the unthinkable but airballed his buzzer-beater attempt to end the game, giving BYU the win.
The only top two seed to fall so far was Rick Pitino’s St. John’s University, suffering defeat at the hands of John Calipari’s Arkansas squad. The game was a matchup between two of the sport’s greatest coaching minds ever, with 1,772 wins being shared between the two gurus. St. John’s shot an abysmal 28% from the field with projected All-American RJ Luis Jr. shooting 3/17 himself.
While many people were disappointed by the lack of upsets early on, there is still excitement for the games to come. A winner of March Madness will be crowned on Apr. 7 in San Antonio, TX.
