March Really is Madness

College basketball fans all over the world wait for this time of the year; March. Millions fill out brackets to pick which teams they think will advance in that years tournament, while also having the opportunity to win some cash as well. But this year is different.

It was a shocking first day in the South region in the first round of the NCAA men's basketball tournament. 13-seed, Buffalo, knocks out 4-seed Arizona, 89-68. Arizona was not a name expected to be seen in the championship, however, it was far from a name that was going to be eliminated in the first round of the tournament. Buffalo then went on to lose to 5-seed, Kentucky. But that was just the beginning of the madness.

Still in the South region, 11-seed Loyola-Chicago knocks 6-seed, Miami, out early with a two point win over the Hurricanes. Loyola-Chicago then went on to play Tennessee on March yesterday on March 17, and punched their ticket into the sweet sixteen, defeating the Volunteers with a late shot and taking the 63-62 win.

History was made on Friday, March 16, 2018 in the South, when 16-seed UMBC handed 1-seed, UVA, just their third loss of the season. UMBC beat the Cavaliers 74-54, shocking the nation. University of Maryland-Baltimore County became the first 16-seed in NCAA history to beat a 1-seed. UMBC will move on to battle Kansas St. for a ticket to the Sweet Sixteen and face Kentucky.

Loyola-Chicago will be taking on 7-seed Nevada, who defeated 2-seed Cincinnati, while Kentucky waits to see who their opponent will be. The South region went from being the hardest region in the bracket, to arguably, one of the easiest in just the first two days of the tournament.

Moving over to the East region, nothing out of the ordinary has really happened. Those of a higher seed have moved on to the next round... other that 4-seed, Wichita State, who was defeated by 13-seed, Marshall. Marshall will now face 5-seed, West Virginia on March 18. 7-seed, Arkansas also took a tough loss to 10-seed, Butler, who later took a loss of their own to 2-seed, Purdue.

Moving down to the West region, most of the teams expected to make it out of the first round did. However, things got interesting in round two. The biggest shocker in the region was the University of North Carolina's loss to Texas A&M. The 2-seed Tar Heels loss to the 7-seed Aggies, allowing Texas A&M to enter their sixth Sweet Sixteen appearance.

Down in the Midwest region, the only upset in round one was 11-seed Syracuse defeated 6-seed TCU. The real upsets happened in round two when Syracuse defeats 3-seed Michigan State.

It is down to sixteen... and it's sixteen teams, where almost half of the teams where not expected to make it this far. Through all the upsets so far early in this tournament, there is no telling what will happen from here on out.