Mike Ridaught
Oh the Madness that is the NCAA Tournament.
Last night, two No. 1 seeds went down.
Arkansas, the No. 4 seed, upset overall top-seed and No. 1-ranked Gonzaga, 74-68, on Thursday.
If you had Gonzaga winning it all in your bracket, you’re not alone.
The Bulldogs (28-4) have been the most popular pick to win it all, with 27.1 percent of ESPN brackets having Gonzaga winning the national title.
In the past three tournaments, Gonzaga has been a No. 1 seed and has come up short every time.
Meanwhile, only 8.4 percent had Arkansas advancing to the Elite Eight. The Razorbacks’ (28-8) odds to win the national title are +1100.
But first they will have to knock off No. 2 seed Duke on Saturday night. The Blue Devils (31-6) got past Texas Tech, 78-73, in the Sweet 16.
It’s an SEC vs. ACC showdown between the Razorbacks and the Blue Devils.
Oh yeah, there’s also the Blue Devils’ Hall of Fame coach too.
Thursday night’s win against the Red Raiders (27-10) was Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski’s 100th career NCAA Tournament victory. He became the first coach ever to win that many games in the Big Dance.
Arizona, the top seed in the South, is also gone.
The Wildcats (33-4) lost, 72-60, to No. 5 seed Houston (32-5).
That means that Kansas (30-6) is the only No. 1 seed remaining.
The Jayhawks play No. 4 seed Providence (27-5) tonight at 7:20 p.m. (TBS). A win would match them up against a double-digit seed for the right to go to the Final Four.
In the other Midwest Region Sweet 16 game, No. 10 seed Miami (25-10) faces No. 11 seed Iowa State (22-12) at 9:59 p.m. (TBS).
It’s possible we could have no No. 1 seeds in the Final Four. That hasn’t happened since 2011.
However, Kansas being the last No. 1 seed is actually a good sign for Jayhawks’ Final Four chances.
Last week, No. 2 seed Kentucky’s upset loss to No. 15 seed Saint Peter’s was the biggest upset of the NCAA tournament, and one of the biggest all-time.
Saint Peter’s isn’t your average Cinderella. They’ve had to overcome a lot to get to this point.
The Peacocks (21-11) get the stage first tonight at 7:09 p.m. against No. 3 seed Purdue (29-7), the first of two games on CBS to be followed by a ‘Blue Blood’ showdown between No. 8 North Carolina (26-9) and No. 4 UCLA (27-7).
UCLA guard Jaime Jaquez Jr. will play tonight.
Four games on tap tonight and four games this weekend.
The one thing that is guaranteed is a new championship game match-up with Baylor and Gonzaga both done.
Enjoy the games!