Underdogs and Busted Brackets: The 2015 NCAA Tournament in ESPN, Yahoo Sports, and the 2014 Tournament in Charlotte, N.C.
Good things for college basketball can be found in the busted brackets. A flood of upsets mean that parity is alive and well, even in an age of conference consolidations. And for fans who love underdogs, their affections are being rewarded at this year’s tourney.
ESPN says that out of 20,056,273 bracket entries on its site, none are perfect. Yahoo says it only took 24 games to ruin all its users’ bracket entries. CBS Sports says predictions on its site were quickly obliterated for both the men’s and the women’s tournament — which has also seen early upsets, such as Ole Miss shocking Stanford.
The second no. 16 seed to beat a No. 1 seed is Fairleigh Dickinson University. They are the second #16 to ever win a game in the Big Dance. They did it despite being seeded No. 68 overall; they had to win a “First Four” game to reach the field of 64.
Three of the eight games follow the NCAA’s formula: UCLA and UCLA, and the other two are Texas and Longhorns.
Eleven conferences are represented in this year’s Sweet 16. To find a recent NCAA champion in the current field, you have to go all the way back to 2014 winners UConn.
No. 3 Kansas State vs. No. 7 Michigan State at 6:30 p.m. ET (TBS) 8 Arkansas at 7:30 p.m.
Two teams are getting the Cinderella label, especially the lowest seed still playing: No. 15 Princeton. The Tigers are making the case that their offense and rebounding is good enough to hang with the country’s best teams.
It’s the first time Princeton has made it to the Sweet 16 since 1967. Its coach, Mitch Henderson, played point guard during some of the program’s most storied moments in the 1990s, including the stunning upset of defending champion UCLA in the 1996 NCAA tournament’s first round.
The percentage of brackets that predicted a success rate lower than that of recent admissions to Ivy League universities is according to the NCAA.
The NCAA Cuts a Pinch in the Dark: Tip-Off Times for the Sweet 16 Matchup at Creighton and Princeton
If all the favorites make it to the second round, the sums add up to 9: No. 4, and so on. When you see higher sums, things have gone off-script.
For the favorites, the best sums would be 5. But with two No. 1 seeds eliminated, the math is all over the place. The most unlikely matchup features a sum of 21, as No. 15 Princeton and No. 6 Creighton face off.
The NCAA changed its transfer portal system in April of 2021 to allow athletes to switch schools and play immediately. It’s had a big impact on spreading talent: Last year, about 1,650 Division I men’s college basketball players went into the portal.
With the men resuming play Thursday, here’s a quick look at tip-off times for the Sweet 16, and where the tournament stands. (We’ll preview the women’s Sweet 16 before it begins on Friday.)
The Portal to the NCAA Championships: Why Is Michigan State a Bad Place? Why It’s Fake and Where I’m Going
The air of destiny usually starts to settle on a few teams that have the right mix of talent and luck to make the final of the tournament. It’s hard to pin down this year.
The teams that have looked like the hands-down best have been Houston and Alabama. Two other No. 1 seeds, Purdue and defending champion Kansas, are out. Two No. 2 seeds are also present.
There’s also Florida Atlantic. The No. 9 seed has rejected the Cinderella label, saying its 33-3 record came from hard work and focus, not a fairy godmother.
Coaches and programs are still figuring out how to adjust — and how to retain top players. Michigan State’s head coach Tom Izzo, a frequent transfer portal critic, says there are pluses and minuses.
There are some things that the portal is not bad. I mean … every place isn’t for everybody,” Izzo said recently. “What to me is bad about it is the fact that every kid who has a bad day just thinks about leaving. If you’re half in, you’re nowhere.