One word succinctly describes what’s transpired so far in the NCAA Tournament:
Madness.
But even that’s probably underselling it.
A comeback for the ages by Nevada. An entire region left without a Top 4 seed in the Sweet 16 for the first time in tourney history. The 16-seed winner UMBC, falling short in its attempt to extend its historic run as underdog darlings. Oh, and defending national champion North Carolina is out, routed in its own state by Texas A&M.
And that was just on Sunday. When No. 1 seed Xavier was bounced, too.
A memorable, zany first two rounds — even by March Madness standards — set up what could be another wild two weekends in a tournament where anything can become reality.
“It’s what makes March Madness special and it kills the coaches because it’s so hard and you think you have a great team,” Kansas State coach Bruce Weber said. “It’s March Madness and you never know what’s going to happen.”
Before the first tipoff on Thursday, many prognosticators had deemed this tournament one of the most wide-open in recent history.
It’s turned into a nutty, once-in-a-generation kind of ride.
Loyola-Chicago won two thrillers to get to the Sweet 16, making a social media star out of their 98-year-old chaplain, Sister Jean. And then the telegenic nun who provides her own scouting reports to players got overshadowed by the ultimate Cinderella team.
The UMBC Retrievers became the first No. 16 seed in the history of the men’s tournament to beat a No. 1 seed, defeating Virginia in the first round Friday night.
By 20 points. Over the top overall seed and the unanimous No. 1 team in the AP poll.
The Retrievers’ run came to an end on Sunday night in a 50-43 loss to ninth-seeded Kansas State, but not before tattooing a lasting imprint on American sports, drawing attention from stars of the NFL, NBA and Twitch — and love from underdogs everywhere.
“We put our name on the map. We (gave) hope to teams that come to the tournament with lower seeds,” guard K.J. Maura said.
UMBC’s success story contributed to the messy, unprecedentedly jumbled bracket in the South Region, where the highest-remaining seed is No. 5 Kentucky. It’s the first time in tourney history that a regional semifinal will be held without a top 4 seed, according to the NCAA.
Seventh-seeded Nevada added to that by matching the second-biggest comeback in tournament history to beat No. 2 seed Cincinnati 75-73 after trailing by 22 points in the second half.
“That locker room right now, I’ve never seen anything like it in my life. It’s the happiest I’ve ever seen. It’s the happiest I’ve ever been in my life,” Wolf Pack coach Eric Musselman said.
The way reigning champion North Carolina got bounced from the tournament in an 86-65 loss to Texas A&M might have been the top storyline on any other tournament day. It left coach Roy Williams with the most lopsided tournament loss of his Hall of Fame career.
It was also the second straight year the titleholder lost before the Sweet 16. And it happened in UNC-friendly territory in Charlotte, North Carolina, where the Tar Heels hadn’t lost a tourney game since 1979.
“I didn’t picture it ending it like this,” said Williams with his players sitting nearby. “I pictured it ending with these guys having a huge smile on their face, but that’s not college basketball.”
PATH TO THE FINAL FOUR
EAST
This is the region that came closest to following the script.
Four of the top five seeds survived: No. 1 Villanova, No. 2 Purdue, No. 3 Texas Tech and No. 5 West Virginia. And the Wildcats (32-4) will have the shortest travel (about 315 miles) by heading to Boston as they pursue a second national title in three seasons.
“My good vibes are coming from how this team’s playing, how unselfishly they play,” Villanova coach Jay Wright said after Saturday’s win against Alabama .
“Honestly, we don’t care where we play. Boston is a great town, old Big East town like Pittsburgh. We stir up old Big East feelings. We like that.”
Villanova meets the Mountaineers (26-10) in one semifinal Friday, while the Boilermakers (30-6) face the Red Raiders (26-9) in the other.
One storyline to watch: the status of 7-foot-2 Purdue center Isaac Haas, who broke his elbow in the first-round win against Cal State Fullerton. Haas warmed up before Sunday’s win against Butler but an official said shortly before tipoff that the big man’s brace hadn’t been approved for competition.
MIDWEST
Consider this one an ACC Invitational.
Three of the four teams to advance to Omaha, Nebraska, are from the ACC: No. 2 Duke, No. 5 Clemson and No. 11 Syracuse. They’ll join top-seeded Kansas , with regional semifinals set for Friday.
The Jayhawks (29-7) are trying to return to the Final Four for the first time since 2012 after two straight regional-final losses. They’ll face the Tigers (25-9), who are in their first NCAA Tournament since 2011 and their first Sweet 16 since 1997.
The Blue Devils (28-7) meet the Orange (23-13), who took out third-seeded Michigan State on Sunday.
Duke and Syracuse met in Cameron Indoor Stadium on Feb. 24, with the Blue Devils holding the Orange to 32 percent shooting in a 60-44 win . The rematch will mark the second NCAA Tournament matchup between Hall of Famers Mike Krzyzewski and Jim Boeheim, with Coach K’s Blue Devils winning one in the Sweet 16 in 1998.
WEST
Things were set to go to form Sunday, only to see top-seeded Xavier and No. 2 North Carolina lose. Now Big Ten champion Michigan headlines the quartet in Los Angeles.
The third-seeded Wolverines (30-7) — who beat Houston on a last-second 3-pointer — will meet seventh-seeded Texas A&M (22-12) after the Aggies blew out the reigning champion Tar Heels in their home state.
Fourth-seeded Gonzaga (32-4) will face ninth-seeded Florida State (22-11) after the Seminoles’ upset of the Musketeers .
“I think what you see happening in college basketball, it’s almost like a revolution,” FSU coach Leonard Hamilton said. “And what happens is you start categorizing people by the reputation that their players get going into college.
“But in reality, kids are playing basketball all over the country and teams are getting better.”
SOUTH
This is where there was the most March Madness.
None of the top-four seeds advanced, the first time in tournament history that has happened in a region. So the games in Atlanta will now be headlined by 5-seed Kentucky (26-10).
The Wildcats (26-10) followed their run to the Southeastern Conference Tournament title by surviving an upset bid from Davidson then beating Buffalo — which had upset fourth-seeded Arizona . They’ll face another set of Wildcats on Thursday in ninth-seeded Kansas State (24-11), which ended UMBC’s historic weekend in Charlotte.
The other game features 7-seed Nevada (29-7), which tied the tournament’s second-biggest comeback by rallying from 22 down to beat No. 2 seed Cincinnati. The Wolf Pack faces No. 11 seed Loyola-Chicago (30-5), which advanced against No. 6 seed Miami and No. 3 seed Tennessee on final-seconds shots.
“We told the guys before, look at today alone: Michigan State, North Carolina, basically at home losing today,” Kansas State coach Bruce Weber said.
“It’s what makes March Madness special and it kills the coaches because it’s so hard and you think you have a great team. Matchups are important. Making the plays, having the right mojo at the right time.”
