NCAA Scores 2012: 4 Results That Shook March Madness to Its Core

The 2012 NCAA tournament is now underway, setting up to be one of the more interesting, hard-fought tournaments there has ever been.

Through Thursday's action, the college basketball world saw some teams triumph and win despite coming in as the underdog, as well as some top-notch teams who showed major vulnerability heading into the third round.

VCU was one of those teams who came out with a statement to make, taking down No. 5 seed Wichita State in their second-round matchup.

These are the four biggest shockers through half of the second round of the 2012 NCAA tournament 

Defending Champion UConn Huskies Go Down in First Bout

From the opening tip, it seemed as if UConn was no longer poised to be a contender in the 2012 NCAA tournament. They were out of rhythm and inefficient offensively throughout the contest.

The poor play resulted in what was a convincing 64-77 loss—a game in which Iowa State outplayed UConn in each facet of the game.

With four players in double figures, including a team-high 20 for guard Chris Allen, a once-championship-caliber UConn defense put up a significantly poor effort on Thursday. 

Syracuse Wins a Close One

Against most other teams in the country, the 16th-seeded UNC Asheville Bulldogs would have continued to dance on into the third round. Yet, in a close one with the Syracuse Orange, the squad was not able to hang on long enough to pick up the win.

Still, the 72-65 defeat was a major accomplishment for a team that was expected to be torn apart by the Orange offense.

Despite hanging their heads low after the defeat, there is no question that every fan of the game was up out of their seat to watch this one.

Colorado Stuns UNLV with Hot 1st Half

In spite of more than 25 wins this season, their sluggish play coming into the tournament was evident for these UNLV Rebels.

The Rebels would score a mere 25 first half points, allowing Colorado to get out to a 20-point lead at one point in the contest.

After rallying with an especially solid run in the second half, scoring 39 points in the 20 minutes, it was too little too late for UNLV. 

VCU Works Its Tournament Magic in Win over Wichita State

Primed for another Cinderella run in the 2012 NCAA tournament, No. 12 seed VCU has proven once again that they are contenders with an upset win over No. 5 seed Wichita State.

Talk about an impressive performance.

In the 62-59 victory, VCU's Bradford Burgess led the way with an impressive stat line of 16 points, five rebounds and four assists. Holding Wichita State to just 38.7 percent shooting from the field was key for the team, as it came down to the defense of the Rams holding off Wichita State's top-notch offense.

Easily the biggest "shocker" of March Madness in 2012, VCU's victory over the Shockers will have this team giving all the tourney's teams something to think about.