By ANTHONY PUCIK
March is here, and that can only mean one thing: March Madness is approaching. Typically, the madness doesn’t start until the 68-team tournament begins, but this year teams have started the festivities early, kicking off March in the best way possible: with multiple trips to Upset City.
For the first time since Jan. 18, 2003, five AP top 10 teams lost on a single day, including five other ranked teams that were not in the top 10. Favored teams went 6-10 on Saturday: That’s 10 upsets on one day. With the NCAA tournament so close, each game is crucial for seeding for all of these teams.
Number one-ranked Florida and number two-ranked Wichita State were able to handle their opponents with relative ease, but top 10teams struggled mightily after that. Number four-ranked Syracuse, who already dropped two of their last three games heading into this game, lost to twelfth-ranked Virginia. This is not a major upset since Virginia is ranked, but Syracuse has been in a downward spiral for the last few weeks despite an amazing start. The win also gave Virginia the ACC title in a conference with powerhouses including Syracuse, Duke, UNC and Pittsburgh. Next, fifth-ranked Kansas lost to Marcus Smart and unranked Oklahoma State. Then seventh-ranked Louisville lost to twenty first-ranked Memphis, ninth-ranked Creighton fell to unranked Xavier and tenth-ranked St. Louis was upset for the second time this week after falling to VCU.
Outside of the top 10, it didn’t get much better. UConn upset eleventh-ranked Cincinnati, fifteenth-ranked Iowa State fell to Kansas State, South Carolina bested seventeenth-ranked Kentucky, Illinois shocked eighteenth ranked Michigan State and Oklahoma bested twenty fourth-ranked Texas. It didn’t take long for March to bring us one of the craziest days of the NCAA basketball season to date. In fact, it only took the first day.
On Sunday, one more ranked team dropped a game to an unranked opponent. Six ranked teams were in action, and while five were able to make it out without falling victim to the upset (Arizona, Villanova, Wisconsin, Iowa and University of New Mexico), number 22 Ohio State fell to Indiana, causing another Top-25 team to fall on the inaugural weekend of March.
Before this weekend, the Associated Press Top 25 listed Florida, Wichita State, Arizona, Syracuse, Kansas, Duke, Louisville, Villanova, Creighton and St. Louis in the top 10. We’re one weekend into March, and we’ve already seen a massive shakeup in the top 10 and plenty of question marks that have yet to be answered. Did Syracuse lose its chance at a number one seed? Is Wichita State for real, or is it the next Gonzaga who will be great all year and falter in the tournament? Which team deserves that fourth number one seed? Who is going to shock everyone and come out of nowhere in the tournament?
That’s the best part about March and NCAA basketball: anything can happen. The best teams can lose to unknowns, and conference tournaments can get extremely intense. The ACC will have five teams in UNC, Pitt, Syracuse, Duke and Virginia that are all ranked and have the potential to win the conference tournament and gain momentum before the dance.
What about the top heavy Atlantic 10? St. Louis looked to be the favorites for a majority of the season, but now St. Joe’s, VCU, UMass, GW and Dayton all have a chance to steal the title. Perhaps a team like Richmond or La Salle will get hot and shock the top contenders for the title. There’s also the possibility that a team like George Mason in the A-10 or Boston College in the ACC gets hot and make a long run in their conference tournaments. Sure, it isn’t likely, but stranger things have happened in the tournament.
If this weekend was any indication of what this March has in store for us, college basketball fans everywhere are in for a wild ride.