NCAA Tournament 2016: Biggest Bracket-Busters Through the 1st Round
Look more closely. Those aren't spring flower petals dancing in the breeze. After two days of action, college hoops fans are tossing brackets in the air like so many crestfallen dog track patrons.
Honestly, what did you expect? This is March, as people like to say. Ho-hum, 2016 college basketball tournament. You're just another collection of breathless, shocking upsets and nonstop nail-biting action and white-knuckled emotional extremes laid bare for all to see on national TV, and it all happens one after another on top of each other. Nothing to see here, right?
No, not right.
I know we say this every year, but this episode of March Madness really is one for the books. As CBS broadcaster Greg Gumbel noted, 10 double-digit seeds advanced out of the round of 64, the highest such number ever. Friday marked the first day in which a 13, 14 and 15 seed pulled upsets on the same day.
That must be why all brackets submitted to Yahoo Sports are already busted.
Every upset is noteworthy, but a few rose above the rest. Why don't we take this opportunity to breathe, look back on the first two days and rank the biggest upsets of this incredible run? Even if your bracket is floating in the breeze, you can't be upset at this. It's hard to stay mad this time of year.
5. No. 13 Hawaii Rainbow Warriors Defeat No. 4 California Golden Bears
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Turning point: The opening tip, or whichever point people realized guard Jabari Bird, arguably Cal's best shooter and hottest player heading into the dance, was not playing. Back spasms were the culprit, and they put Bird on the bench for the duration, right alongside leading scorer and senior leader Tyrone Wallace, who broke his hand in practice earlier in the week.
All respect to the Big West champion Rainbow Warriors of Hawaii for taking advantage of a weakened team and pulling the upset. These things are never a given. Still, the Golden Bears were a diminished squad from the opening horn.
Bracket impact: Kansas is still the favorite to win the South Region—and the whole thing in a lot of other places. That doesn't stop this loss from shaking up this quadrant.
Sixth-seed Arizona lost to Wichita State; Miami and Maryland withstood their own late upset bids.
Meanwhile, second-seed Villanova cruised by 30 in its first game. What's left to prevent a 1-2 showdown for the Final Four?
With all that said, given the late injuries to Wallace and Bird, this one wasn't as shocking as the raw seeds might indicate.
What we'll remember: Jaylen Brown is a talented player and, by many accounts, an intelligent and likable person. None of that changes the fact he was negative space for the Bears on Friday.
When his hobbled team needed him, the freshman responded with four points on 1-of-6 shooting from the field and seven turnovers to zero assists. He fouled out with more than six minutes left.
Yes, he's just a freshman. He's also an anticipated NBA lottery pick. Cal needed more out of its phenom.
What's next: Hawaii faces the Maryland Terrapins, a talented group that has struggled to find its groove this season. By this time Monday, the Rainbow Warriors could be in the Sweet 16 and the darlings of this tournament season.
4. No. 12 Yale Bulldogs Defeat No. 5 Baylor Bears
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Turning point: Baylor had a chance to turn away Cinderella at the door of the ball. Down 76-75 with seven seconds left, the Bears had the ball and a shot to win. Then Lester Medford's wraparound dribble went awry when he slipped and turned the ball over.
The loss wasn't Medford's fault—that was a team effort—but the misstep sealed Baylor's fate.
Bracket impact: This is Baylor's second consecutive unceremonious tournament bounce, so faith in the Bears was not at an all-time high. Still, with undermanned Duke and unsung Oregon heading up this half of the West Region bracket, plenty of fans may have tabbed the Bears for a deep run. Sorry, y'all.
What we'll remember: Yale guard Makai Mason, who scored a career-high 31 points in the game, calmly swishing free throw after free throw in the final minute as Baylor attempted to foul its way back into the game. Meanwhile, star Bears Taurean Prince and Rico Gathers seethed following a brief but heated sideline exchange.
What's next: Yalies vs. Dookies? The clothiers of Providence better order more ascots.
Saturday's matchup of the two preppiest private colleges that exist is a fun storyline, but the actual teams have real blue in the collars. Neither team is overly deep, particularly Duke, and this Yale team just out-rebounded perhaps the school most associated with rebounding in college basketball.
This will be a good one Saturday.
3. No. 12 Arkansas-Little Rock Trojans Defeat No. 5 Purdue Boilermakers
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Turning point: Josh Hagins' regulation buzzer-beater looked like something a physics major would hoist up at halftime to win a car.
The high rainbow shot, fired from closer to the half-court line than the free-throw line, buried itself in the net, and the Trojans were off to overtime. After just two of those, Arkansas-Little Rock had knocked off Purdue, 85-83.
Bracket impact: Purdue had a pretty darn good season in the Big Ten, finishing 26-9 overall and running to the conference tournament final. Its frontcourt was one of the nation's best.
With the Boilermakers and a certain team from farther up north (more on them in a second) now out in the Midwest Region, talented but inconsistent Iowa State now stands as the only credible threat to a Virginia Final Four.
What we'll remember: Hagins, Hagins, Hagins. Not only did he send the game to overtime, but he also scored 31 points over 40 minutes of play. That's more than double the total of Little Rock's second-leading scorer in the game and 36 percent of the team's total scoring.
His play was clutch in regulation and during both extra periods. They're on their way back to Arkansas without the inspired play of this 6'1" senior.
What's next: That talented Iowa State Cyclones squad we mentioned? Yeah, them. They dusted off the Iona Gaels by 13 in their first tourney game behind 28 points from big man Georges Niang and 20 points and eight assists from Monte Morris, who might be the most underrated point guard among the power-conference teams.
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2. No. 14 Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks Defeat No. 3 West Virginia Mountaineers
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Turning point: In the game's closing minutes, Stephen F. Austin stole the ball as West Virginia brought it up court, then it nabbed an easy score.
Then the Lumberjacks stole it again.
Then they stole it again.
This wasn't a typical nip-and-tuck upset job. This was humiliation. The final score, 70-56, is a good indicator of how things went.
The Mountaineers dug a hole and couldn't climb out. For as great as the Mountaineers were during the regular season at forcing turnovers, they're almost as good at committing them. Their 14 giveaways per game ranked 294th in the nation, and 22 turnovers versus seven for Stephen F. Austin were like quicksand for their chances.
In other words: West Virginia died by the sword in Brooklyn on Friday night.
Bracket impact: Because of its high-risk, high-reward press and undistinguished outside shooting, West Virginia was a popular pick to fall victim to this. But how many people actually picked it?
Either way, there's a live dog in the East Region right now. If you're not at the table, you may be on the menu.
What we'll remember: West Virginia will see Thomas Walkup in its dreams for a long, long time.
The forward, who could double as the Lumberjacks' mascot on account of his beard and whatnot, scored 33 points—including 19-of-20 from the charity stripe—and added nine rebounds, four assists, four steals, one block and five golden rings.
The tournament can make stars out of players quickly. It made another one Friday in Walkup.
What's next: Stephen F. Austin meets Notre Dame on Sunday. The Irish are a frisky bunch but needed about 39 of their 40 regulation minutes to polish off Michigan on Friday. Walkup aside, the Lumberjacks get their work done on defense. They could lock down Notre Dame, and then after that, who knows?
1. No. 15 Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders Defeat No. 2 Michigan State Spartans
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Turning point: According to college basketball analyst Patrick Stevens on Twitter, "Michigan State is the first No. 2 seed that spent time at No. 1 in the AP poll to lose to a No. 15."
That makes this, from a certain perspective, the biggest upset in NCAA tournament history.
It started with the opening run, a 15-2 blitzing that put the Spartans on their heels. Michigan State never fully recovered from the early haymaker, and Middle Tennessee State never let up, hitting a number of Stephen Curry-esque shots, including an insane 11-of-19 (58 percent) from three-point land.
Bracket impact: The way is not paved for Virginia to come out of the Midwest Region; it is paved, graded, marked and lighted at regular intervals.
Purdue fell Thursday too. What did the top-seeded Cavs do? All they did was crush Hampton by 36 without breaking much of a sweat.
So much for that seeding controversy.
Michigan State was a widespread favorite to win the whole thing. If you saw an uptick in shredded paper in your storm drains Friday, this was the most likely cause.
What we'll remember: When the quadruple zeroes came on the clock, the Blue Raiders became just the eighth No. 15 seed in tournament history to upset a No. 2 seed, thanks to their 90-81 victory over Michigan State.
Under Tom Izzo, Michigan State has been one of the most reliable March programs in the nation. That's what made it feel like such a sure bet. And it's part of what made the loss such a jarring visual.
What's next: Middle Tennessee State takes on the Syracuse Orange for the right to keep dancing.
At Michigan State? Well, I wouldn't want to be next season's team, that's for sure.
"I thought they bullied us a little bit," Izzo said after the game, according to Jeff Seidel of the Detroit Free Press. "One area that I will make sure we do a better job is, we are going to take that weight room. ... We are going to make that one S.O.B. place to survive. We got outmuscled today a little bit."
Yikes.
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