By Adanya Day
In the heart of March, as winter reluctantly yields to the warmth of spring, a familiar frenzy stirs across the nation. It’s a time when underdogs dream and top dogs grapple to maintain their dominance. Amidst the roaring crowds and flashing lights of stadiums across the country all eyes remain on the scoreboard that will tell the tale of colossal wins and heartbreaking defeats.
The first week of the Division 1 NCAA Basketball Tournament, otherwise known as March Madness, has already seen some of the most shocking wins and losses with there being no more perfect brackets left in the more than 22 million brackets that were submitted. With University of Kentucky(3) losing to Oakland (14) in round one of the tournament only 20,000 brackets remained and by the end of all round one games as few as 1,825 brackets remained.
Leading the East in the number one seed is last year’s winner UConn who seeks to get back to back National Championships. Out of all the brackets made, UConn has the highest percentage of getting to the National Championship and winning with 26.09% falling behind Houston (1) and UNC (1). As the Sweet 16 matchups start this week, San Diego St (5) will have to put all their effort into defending the guard Tristan Newton. For this season Newton has led the Huskies in points, assists, and rebounds per game making him a palpable threat averaging 15.3 points a game.
A survey was sent to all Peace students to help create our own March Madness bracket. And the students of Peace voted for UNC winning it all in a Championship against Creighton. Unlike most brackets, Peace has UConn losing to UNC in the final four, a sentiment not shared by all.
Tori Lefevre a member of Peace faculty believes UNC winning March Madness is overrated and sees number two seed in the Midwest, Tennessee winning .
Ryan Laraway, a sophomore at Peace has UConn winning it all, a winner many have in their Bracket
As the Sweet 16 games begin later today it’s quite surprising how there are many one and two seeds still left. A rarity when it comes to March Madness.
“It’s crazy how many one and two seeds there are in the Sweet 16 making NC State the only Cinderella team which is pretty rare,” says senior basketball player Tyler Parton.
In the East later this evening UConn and San Diego St will face off at 7:39 pm and Illinois and Iowa St will follow at 10:09 pm.
The West has UNC vs Alabama at 9:39 pm and Clemson vs Arizona at 7:09 pm.
The Southern region matchup today is Houston vs Duke at 9:39 pm and NC State vs Marquette at 7:09 pm both on Mar.29.
Lastly, the Midwest has Purdue vs Gonzaga at 7:39 pm on Mar. 29 and Creighton vs Tennessee at 10:09 pm on Mar. 29.
The two winners from each region will face off in the Elite 8 round of March Madness on Mar. 30-31st. March Madness is winding down fast and is quickly proving that this year isn’t for the underdogs.