“MARCH Madness,” as the U.S National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) men’s basketball tournament is all about, is in full swing.
From an original 68-school cast, including eight lower-rated teams in the First Four games in the play-in first round, the race to the national championship is down to the Sweet Sixteen to be played from March 26-27 (March 27-28, Manila time).
Over the weekend (Rounds 2 and 3), 16 teams each won a pair of games in their respective regionals (Midwest, West, East and South) to advance to the Final 16 of the 3-week, 7-tier competitions.
The Sweet 16 matchups feature the following:
Nationally top-ranked and unblemished No. 1 seed Kentucky vs. No. 5 seed West Virginia and No. 3 seed Notre Dame vs. No. 7 seed Wichita State in the Midwest; No. 1 seed Wisconsin vs. No. 4 seed North Carolina and No. 6 seed Xavier vs. No. 2 seed Arizona in the West; No. 8 seed North Carolina State vs. No. 4 seed Louisville and No. 3 Oklahoma vs. No. 7 seed Michigan State in the East; and No. 1 seed Duke vs. No. 5 seed Utah and No. 11 seed UCLA vs. No. 2 seed Gonzaga in the South.
Kentucky, which lost to Connecticut in last year’s NCAA finals, is 36-0 so far this season and seeks to become the first unbeaten titlist since Indiana accomplished the feat in 1976 with a 32-0 record. At the moment, the Wildcats already own the longest win streak to begin a season in NCAA Division I history.
Certainly not a bad omen to coach John Calipari’s troops, none of the three schools that previously started at least 33-0 captured the NCAA title.
Last campaign, Wichita State was 35-0 before losing to Kentucky in the Round of 32. University of Nevada at Las Vegas was 34-0 in 1990-91 but went down in the Final Four (national semifinals) and Indiana State (bannered by Larry Bird) won its first 33 assignments in 1978-79 before being beaten by Michigan State (led by Earvin “Magic” Johnson) in the NCAA championship game.
Of the four No. 1 seeds in this year’s tournament, three reached the Sweet 16 – Kentucky, nationally third-ranked Wisconsin (33-3) and nationally fourth-rated Duke (31-4).
The other top seed, nationally No. 2-ranked Villanova (33-3), was upset by North Carolina State, 71-68, in Round 3.
Two No. 2 seeds – nationally 10th-ranked Kansas (27-9) and nationally sixth-ranked Virginia (30-4) – both lost in Round 3. The Jayhawks surrendered a 78-65 decision to Wichita State and the Cavaliers fell to Michigan State, 60-54.
Note that the top two seeds in the East Regional failed to advance to the Sweet 16.
Aside from Kentucky, Wisconsin and Duke, other Sweet 16 teams with a national top-10 rankings are Arizona (fifth, 33-3), Gonzaga (seventh, 34-2), and Notre Dame (eighth, 31-5). Iowa State (25-9), which was ranked ninth nationally, fell to No. 14 seed Alabama-Birmingham, 60-59, in first-round action as a No. 3 seed in the South Regional.
The 2015 NCAA Final Four will be held on April 4 (Apr. 5, Manila time) at the Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana with semifinal matchups featuring the Midwest champion vs. the West champion and the East champ vs. the South champ.
Two days later, the semifinal victors will duke it out for the NCAA title, also in Indianapolis.
For sure, a new champion will be crowned as the 2014 winners, the Connecticut Huskies, failed to earn a ticket to the Big Dance and were instead exiled to the also-ran 32-team National Invitation Tournament. The Huskies finished their season with a 20-15 card after losing to Arizona State, 68-61, in first-round NIT play.
Yesterday, Wisconsin beat North Carolina, 79-72; Notre Dane downed Wchita State, 81-70; Kentucky crashed West Virginia; and Arizona whipped Xavier, 68-60.