March madness

By Ben Huber

Web Editor

The first round of March Madness 2021 kicked off with 64 teams all with a shot to win the title. Winners advance, and losers go home. The games kicked off on March 19 with a handful of upsets and thrillers. First, the Florida gators knocked off the Virginia Tech Hokies in overtime 75-70. Then the 5 seed Virginia Cavaliers lost to the 13 seed Ohio Bobcats.The biggest round one upset, though, came in the match between 15 seed Oral Roberts and 2 seed Ohio State where Oral Roberts beat Ohio State by 3 points on the backs of their two stars Max Abmas and Kevin Obanor. The Golden Eagles were money from beyond the arc connecting on 11 three pointers. Their hot hands took them all the way to the sweet 16, beating the Florida Gators along the way.

In the second round of the tournament, there were just as many shocking upsets with the biggest one being Loyola Chicago dominating number 1 ranked Illinois, beating them 71-58. In 2018 Loyola made it to the final four as the 16 seed with the raging support from their 101 year old biggest fan, Sister Jean. Syracuse also had a big win in the second round beating the number 3 ranked West Virginia Mountaineers 75-73. The Orange relied on their star guard Buddy Boheim who put up 25 points to get them the win.

After a short break March madness resumed for the sweet sixteen on Saturday March 27th. The round kicked off with Oregon State defeating Loyola Chicago 65-58. Baylor then knocked off Villinova and Oral Roberts’ improbable run came to an end when they lost to Akansas by two points. This year’s elite eight is shaping up to be a predictable one with 3 number one seeds still in the bracket, but maybe some underrated teams will rally for big wins. Gonzaga, USC, Baylor, Arkansas, Michigan, Houston, and Oregon State are the eight teams left.