Our Big Bracket Challenge got underway last week, as the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament began with the first four in games on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Texas Southern and Texas A&M-CC battled it out for a 16 seed, with Texas Southern coming out on top, 76-67. Wyoming and Indiana were the second game on Tuesday, as they battled for a 12 seed, with Indiana coming out in front, 66-58.
On Wednesday, Wright State knocked out Bryant, 93-82, to earn the final 16 seed, while Notre Dame defeated Rutgers, 89-87, in double overtime to earn the final spot in the tournament.
On Thursday, the first round kicked off and was filled with upsets.
The most notable upsets were 15 seed Saint Peter’s taking down 2 seed Kentucky in overtime, 85-79, and 12 seed Richmond knocking off 5 seed Iowa, 67-63. 12 th seeded New Mexico State also took down fifth seeded UCONN, 70-63, and 11 seed Michigan knocked out 6 seed Colorado State, 75-63.
In the West Bracket, 1 seed Gonzaga handled business against 16 seed Georgia State, 93-72, while 9 seed Memphis took down 8 seed Boise State, 64-53, and fourth seeded Arkansas took down 13 seed Vermont, 75-71. The 11 th seeded Fighting Irish took down 6 seed Alabama, 78-64, while Texas Tech blasted Montana State, 97-62, and seventh seeded Michigan State survived a scare from 10 th seeded Davidison, 74-73. Duke handled CSU Fullerton, 78-61.
In the East bracket, 7 th seeded Murray State needed overtime, but prevailed over 10 th seeded San Francisco, 92-87. Number one seed Baylor took down Norfolk State, 85-49, while UNC won an 8-9 match-up over Marquette, 95-63. Number five seed Saint Mary’s took down 12 th seeded Indiana, 82-53, while 4 seed UCLA knocked out 13 seed Akron, 57-53, and sixth seeded Texas took down 11 seed Virginia Tech, 81-73. Number three seed Purdue took down 14 seed Yale, 78-56.
In the South Bracket, Arizona advanced to the second round with an, 87-70, victory over 16 seed Wright State, while TCU blasted Seton Hall in the 8-9 match-up, 69-
42. Fifth seeded Houston took down 12 seed UAB, 82-68, while four seed Illinois survived 13 seed Chattanooga, 54-53, and 3 seed Tennessee took down 14 th seeded Longwood, 88-56. Seventh seeded Ohio State took down 10 seed Loyola Chicago, 54-41, while 2 seed Villanova took down 15 th seeded Delaware, 80-60.
In the Midwest Bracket, one seed Kansas handled Texas Southern, 83-56, while Creighton won the 8-9 match-up over San Diego State in overtime, 72-69. Fourth seeded Providence prevailed over 13 seed South Dakota State, 66-57, while 11 seed Iowa State knocked off sixth seeded LSU, 59-54, and 3 seed Wisconsin took care of 14 seed Colgate, 67-60. 10 seed Miami pulled an upset over 7 seed USC, 68-66, and 2 seed Auburn blasted Jasksonville State, 80-61.
In the second round on Saturday, Saint Peter’s kept their Cinderella story alive, as they knocked off number 7 seed Murray State, 70-60. Baylor became the first number one seed to exit the tournament, after falling to ninth seeded UNC, 93-86, in overtime. Michigan also kept themselves alive in the tournament, knocking off number three seed Tennessee, 76-68.
Gonzaga knocked out Memphis, 82-78, while Kansas held off Creighton, 79-72, and UCLA handled Saint Mary’s, 72-56. Providence ended the tournament for Richmond with a, 79-51, victory, while Arkansas held off New Mexico State, 53-48.
On Sunday, one seed Arizona survived TCU, 85-80, in overtime to advance, while Villanova took care of Ohio State, 71-61, and 10 th seeded Miami knocked off number two seed Auburn, 79-61. Duke took down Michigan State, 85-76, while Purdue knocked out Texas, 81-71, and TTU held off Notre Dame, 59-53.
Eleventh seeded Iowa State upset number three seed Wisconsin, 54-49, while Houston kept on dancing with a, 68-53, victory over Illinois.
The BBC standings are as follows:
Danny Davis sits alone in first place with 50 points, while Richard Lewallen and John Hernandez are tied for second with 47 points. Tammy McDaniel is in fourth place with 46 points, while Dwight Lewallen is in fifth place with 45 points.
Brenden Carter, Lonnie Neinast, Brett Neinast and Oscar Sanchez are tied for sixth with 44 points, each while Zeb Petty, Robin Cooper, Robert Conkin, Tara Conkin and Shaun Lewallen are tied for 10 th with 42 points. Brian Conkin, Janet Conkin, Teresa Carter, Richard Carter and Sheryl Lewallen are tied for 15 th with 41 points, while Michael Cristan and Ronnie Martin are tied with 40 points, and Lauren Petty and Ben Eastepp are tied with 38 points each. Hannah Conkin rounds out the field with 37 points.
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