Janet Conkin leads the field in first Big Bracket update

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The Sweet 16 is set in the NCAA Men’s Basketball tournament, as our Big Bracket Challenge is about halfway through.

The Round of 64 saw several upsets. Here is a recap of all of the winners from the first round of the tournament.

Gonzaga took down Norfolk State, 98-55, while Oklahoma won their 8 vs. 9 match-up over Missouri, 72-68. Number five seed Creighton avoided an uspet against 12th seeded UCSB, 63-62, while fourth seeded Virginia was stunned by 13 seed Ohio, 62-58.

USC handeled Drake, 72-56, while Kansas took down Eastern Washington, 93-84, and Oregon moved on, as VCU didn’t pass COVID-19 protocols. Iowa took down Grand Canyon, 86-74, Michigan blasted Texas Southern, 82-66. LSU won their 8 vs. 9 match-up in the East Region over St. Bonaventure, 76-61.

Colorado blasted Georgetown, 96-73, while Florida State pulled off a close game over UNCG; 64-54. 11th seeded UCLA upset sixth seeded BYU, 73-62, while Abilene Christian University stunned the University of Texas, 53-52. 10th seeded Maryland took down seventh seeded UCONN, 63-54, while Alabama handeled business against Iona, 68-55.

On the other side of the bracket, Baylor took care of Hartford, 79-55, while Wisconsin took down North Carolina, 85-62, in an 8 vs. 9 match-up. Villanova took down Winthrop, 73-63, while 13 seed North Texas stunned Purdue, 78-69, in overtime. Texas Tech took care of Utah State, 65-53, while, Florida held off Virginia Tech in overtime, 75-70. 15 seed Oral Roberts stunned number two seed Ohio State, 75-72, in overtime, while Illinois blasted Drexel, 78-49.

Loyola-Chicago won their 8 vs. 9 match-up over Georgia Tech, 71-60, while 12 seed Oregon State upset five seed Tennessee, 70-56, and Oklahoma State took down Liberty, 69-60. 11 seed Syracuse upset six seed San Diego State, 78-62, while West Virginia took down Morehead State, 84-67.

Clemson took down Rutgers, 60-56, while Hoston handeled Cleveland State, 87-56.

The upsets didn’t stop in the first round, as the Round of 32 had its fair share of stunners as well.

Gonzaga took down Oklahoma, 87-71, while Creighton bounced back with a, 72-58, victory over Ohio. USC knocked out third seeded Kansas, 85-51, while Oregon bounced number two seed Iowa, 95-80, and Michigan took down LSU, 86-78. FSU took down Colorado, 71-53, while UCLA took out ACU, 67-47.

Alabama posted another strong performance with a, 96-77, victory over Marland.

On the other side, Baylor took down nine seed Wisconsin, 76-63, while Villanova took down UNT, 84-61, and Arkansas knocked out six seed TTU, 68-66. Oral Roberts pulled another upset over seventh seeded Florida, 81-78, while Loyola-Chicago knocked out number one seeded Illinois in the Midwest Bracket, 71-58.

12th seeded Oregon State upset number four seed Oklahoma State, 80-70, while 11th seeded Syracuse knocked out number three seed West Virginia, 75-72. Houston avoided the upset against Rutgers, 63-60.

The Big Bracket Challenge standings heading into the Sweet 16 are as follows:

Janet Conkin leads the 27-contestant field with 42 points, followed close behind by Ronnie Martin and Teresa Carter, who are tied for second with 40 points each. Brenden Carter sits with 39 points, and Floyce Pierce, Hannah Conkin, Lonnie Neinast and Zeb Petty are tied with 38 points.

Lauren Petty, Richard Carter and Robin Cooper are tied with 37 points, while Brian Conkin and Christi Pointer are tied with 36 points, and Brandi Conkin and Chris Brown are tied with 35 points. Danny Davis and Tommy Cloninger are tied with 34 points, while Ben Eastepp sits with 33 points and Brett Neinast, Ivan Estrada and Larry Ashley are tied with 32 points.

Amber Martinez has 31 points, while Robert Conkin sits with 30 points and Jeremy Martinez and Keith Logan are tied with 29 points. Juan Hernandez has 25 points and Jaron Cabello rounds out the field with 23 points.

The Sweet 16 will be played Saturday and Sunday with the Elite 8 following on Monday and Tuesday. The next update will be in next Sundays edition of the LeaderNews.

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