The NCAA Tournament has been Upset City so far
It’s March, and the madness has already consumed the 2016 NCAA Tournament as upsets lurked around every corner of the first round. The Wisconsin Badgers managed to stave off a last-second Pittsburgh shot attempt to avoid being upset, but numerous other higher-seeded teams weren’t as lucky.
It was truly chaos as at least one upset occurred in every matchup possibility outside of a 1-16 game, as the four No. 1 seeds all avoided being the first No. 1 seed to lose in the tournament.
But in every other matchup possibility we saw the lower seeded team come out on top at least once.
Related Story: Badgers to Face Xavier in Second Round
The biggest upset of the day, by far, was No. 15 seed Middle Tennessee taking down No. 2 seed Michigan State in a 90-81 game.
Other top seeds fell as No. 3 seed West Virginia was defeated by No. 14 seed Stephen F. Austin 70-56 and No. 13 seed Hawaii upset No. 4 seed California 77-66.
More from Badger of Honor
- Wisconsin Football flips 3-star defensive tackle from Northwestern
- Former Wisconsin Football stars to be featured on the next Wheaties box
- Believe it or not, Wisconsin Football has never played these FBS teams
- Four-star running back Darrion Dupree commits to Wisconsin Football
- Wisconsin Football wide receiver enters the transfer portal
The 12-5 games were not kind to the higher seed, as both Yale and Little Rock took down five-seeds, with Yale upsetting Baylor 79-75 and Little Rock defeating Purdue 85-83.
The 6 seeds fared even worse as 11-seed Wichita State won a play-in game to get to the round of 64, then proceeded to knock off No. 6 seed Arizona 65-55. Gonzaga earned a win as a No. 11 seed, taking down Seton Hall 68-52.
Northern Iowa became the third 11-seed to win a game late on Friday night, winning on a half-court buzzer-beater from Wisconsin native Paul Jesperson in a 75-72 victory over Texas.
No. 10 seeds won half of their games as Syracuse routed Dayton 70-51 and fellow No. 10 seed VCU snuck by Oregon State 75-67.
Rounding out the upsets was the No. 9 seeds, who won three of four and nearly sent the fourth game into overtime.
Connecticut defeated Colorado 74-67, Providence upset USC 70-69 and Butler took down Texas Tech 71-61. Cincinnati looked to force overtime against St. Joseph’s with a last-second dunk, but it was called off after review.
In case you missed that, let’s recap. Thursday and Friday saw the following lower seeds advance:
- 15-seed Middle Tennessee
- 14-seed Stephen F. Austin
- 13-seed Hawaii
- 12-seeds Yale and Little Rock
- 11-seeds Wichita State, Gonzaga and Northern Iowa
- 10-seeds Syracuse and VCU
- 9-seeds Connecticut, Providence and Butler
That’s a combined 13 wins from the lower seeds, and an NCAA record 10 wins from double-digit seeds, breaking the mark of nine set in 2001 and 2012.
With lower-seeded teams winning left and right, the Badgers managed to hold off 10-seed Pittsburgh on the way to a close victory.
Wisconsin was cold as can be from the field in their victory, but unlike so many other higher-seeded teams, did survive and come away with the victory.
Next: Badgers Survive Pittsburgh Despite Dreadful Shooting Night
Now it’s Wisconsin’s turn to contribute to the upsets, as they’ll look to knock off the No. 2 seed Xavier Musketeers on Sunday.
Madness indeed.