by Tyler Thompson
This year’s March Madness tournament featured many crazy storylines, as it seems to every year.
On the men’s side, we saw a 15 seed beat a 2 seed and make it all the way to the Elite Eight, a Duke v. UNC rematch in the Final Four, and a disappointing performance in the SEC.
On the women’s side, NC State made it all the way to the Elite Eight and South Carolina won the tournament. Overall, neither side disappointed and we saw many electric matches.
Men’s Tournament:
Perhaps the best storyline of the entire tournament was from a 15-seed. Saint Peters played their hearts out and made their way all the way to the Elite Eight before losing to UNC. Doug Edert was really the face of the Peacocks, and helped lead them to beat 2 seed Kentucky, 7 Murray State, and 3 Purdue. Unfortunately, the magic came to an end vs. Carolina, where the Peacocks just did not perform. This was one of the most epic Cinderella stories of all time.
During the tournament, the SEC disappointed big time. Of course tying in with the Peacocks storyline, Kentucky lost to a 2 seed. They were expected to go far, as any two seed would be, but were embarrassed by Saint Peters, losing by 6 in the first round. Along with Kentucky, Alabama and LSU both lost in the first round as well. Alabama lost to Notre Dame by a margin of 14 and LSU lost by 5 to Iowa St. 3 seed Tennessee made it to the second round, but then lost to 11 seed Michigan. 2 seed Auburn also made it to the second round, but then were shut down by 10 seed Miami and beat by a margin of 18. Arkansas was the only team who did well. They made it to the Elite Eight. Overall, fans expected more out of the SEC. Many believe the SEC is better than this and the result each team put out was unacceptable.
After UNC beat Duke in Coach K’s final home game, Duke had the rematch in the FInal Four. Unc doubled down and beat them again. To read a full length article on this, follow this link.
Of course, the championship game proved to be entertaining. 1 Kansas took on 8 UNC. After UNC beat Duke, they were looking for the cherry on top. Unfortunately, Kansas put an end to this and beat UNC 72-69. Still, it feels like this game was overshadowed by the Duke vs UNC matchup. It seems like this tournament had more memorable matchups than the championship game.
Women’s Tournament:
Carolina’s own NC State made a huge run in the tournament. NC State absolutely dominated in the first few rounds of the tournament. State destroyed Longwood 96-68. Raina Perez led State in points in this game with 16. In the second round, State dominated once again, beating Kansas State, 89-57. In the Sweet Sixteen, NC State snuck by Notre Dame, winning by only 3. Finally, their run came to an end in the Elite Eight in their matchup with 2 seed UConn. UConn edged out NC State winning by only 4. Overall, NC State fans were proud of their Wolf Pack and most were happy with how far they made it.
UConn then went on to the Final Four. The Final Four featured UConn vs. Stanford, and South Carolina vs. Louisiana. UConn beat Stanford by 5, and South Carolina beat Louisiana by a considerable margin of 13. This Final Four featured three 1 seeds and 1 two seed. This might be the most surprising part of the tournament. It is quite rare to see so many 1 seeds in the Final Four. In the championship game, UConn took on South Carolina.
The Gamecocks were able to beat the Huskies. South Carolina put up 22 in the first with UConn trailing putting up only 8. UConn could never seem to catch up, and South Carolina was able to win 64-49. Destanni Henderson led South Carolina with an astounding 26 points. Overall, this was a good matchup and produced a great game to watch!
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