March Madness
First Round
The first round of this year's March Madness seemed to lack “madness.” No seed lower than 12 won a game, and there were only three out of 32 games that were decided by three points or less, along with no buzzer-beaters. The major upsets this year included 12-seed Colorado St. knocking off 5-seed Memphis 78-70, along with another 12-seed, McNeese State, beating Clemson 69-67. Donavon Dent scored 21 points as 10-seed New Mexico beat 7-seed Marquette, and 5-seed Michigan held on to beat UC San Diego 68-65 in a game that came down to the final shot.
Second Round
The second round of the tournament was far more entertaining. 10-seed Arkansas downed 2-seed St. John’s to start Saturday action, then Michigan beat Texas A&M to reach the Sweet 16 after only winning eight games last season. 3-seed Wisconsin and 8-seed Gonzaga both lost in hard-fought matchups (91-89, 81-76) to 6-seed BYU and 1-seed Houston, respectively. To start Sunday action, 1-seed Florida scraped past 8-seed UConn 77-75 to advance to the Sweet 16, and later in the day 4-seed Maryland survived against 12-seed Colorado St. 72-71 on a game-winning layup by freshman center Derik Queen to advance to the next round. The tournament turned out to be harsh toward Cinderella's this season, as only one team below a 6-seed (Arkansas) advanced to the Sweet 16.
Sweet 16
The Sweet Sixteen saw all favorites advance into their respective regional finals. Alabama rained 25 three-pointers (a tournament record) to rout BYU 113-88 to start off Thursday's action. Florida took care of Maryland 87-71 to advance behind a great overall team effort. The nightcap saw two highly entertaining games. Duke beat Arizona 100-93 behind Copper Flagg’s terrific 30-point performance, and Texas Tech came back from 16 down against Arkansas to win 85-83. Friday was also highly entertaining. Michigan State started off the day by winning a back-and-forth battle against Ole Miss 73-70, then Tennessee handled Kentucky 78-65 to avenge two regular season losses to the Wildcats. The late games also provided entertainment. Auburn beat Michigan 78-65 in a game that was close until the final four minutes, then, in one of the games of the tournament, Houston beat Purdue 62-60 on a dunk with one second remaining.
Elite Eight
The Elite Eight was a bit more of a mellow round, as all of the games were decided by five points or more and all 1-seeds advanced to the Final Four. It started out with a bang, as Florida came back from nine points down to beat Texas Tech 84-79, led by their star guard Walter Clayton Jr. Next, Auburn took care of business against Michigan State, led by star forward Johni Broome, to take a 70-64 win over the Spartans. The nightcap saw Houston dominate Tennessee 69-50, allowing just 15 first-half points and playing the best defense of the tournament, as well as Duke beating Alabama 85-65 in a dominant performance. Kon Knueppel led all scorers with 21 points.
Final Four
With all 1-seeds in the Final Four, it promised some amazing basketball, and amazing basketball was delivered. The first game was a back-and-forth brawl, with Florida coming out on top 79-73 behind Clayton Jr.’s 34 points, a career high. The second game was one of the best in the history of the Final Four. Houston was down nine with two minutes remaining but clawed back to within three with just 20 seconds left. They then got a 3-point play and nailed two clutch free throws to shock Duke 70-67 and advance to the National Championship.
National Championship
The National Championship was set up to be a classic between two of the best teams—not just this year, but two of the best of the last several years. The first half was slow and sloppy, as both teams couldn’t generate much offense, and Florida star Walter Clayton Jr. had zero points. Houston held a 31-28 lead at the break. The second half saw more of the same in terms of defensive intensity; however, Florida outscored Houston 37-32 in the second half to secure their first National Championship since 2007 in a 65-63 victory. Clayton Jr. was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player, and Florida proved to be the kings of this year's college basketball season.