March Madness kicks off Mar. 17!
No. 2 & No. 5 favorites fall short on day one of March Madness
Saint Peter’s legendary upset over the No. 2 Wildcats
March 18, 2022
Thursday was full of madness and excitement and it’s safe to say March Madness’ opening day was not a letdown. Only 161 out of ESPN’s 17 million brackets remain perfect after the first night (thanks to Richmond and Saint Peter’s).
The Peacocks came into the tournament as the No. 15 seed in the East region and were huge underdogs to the Wildcats, who had the third-best odds to win the national championship. Saint Peter’s were 18 point underdogs going into the game but came out on top in overtime.
In response to the game, Twitter, per usual, went insane.
“THE PEACOCKS HAVE DONE IT! 15-SEED SAINT PETER’S TAKES DOWN 2-SEED KENTUCKY pic.twitter.com/tqS07tJD4O,” said CBS Sports.
According to SB Nation, the loss busted 95.6% of the brackets filled out on ESPN’s website. A recent study showed that Kentucky actually spends 12.5 times more on men’s basketball than Saint Peter’s. Safe to say not many saw this upset coming.
On top of the Wildcat’s loss, many had the Iowa Hawkeyes advancing pretty far in the tournament. Well, the No. 12 Richmond Spiders had something to say about that. Richmond tops Iowa 67-63 in a thrilling win. Iowa entered the NCAA Tournament on an epic heater, but its season came to a quick end. Many people on social media are saying the Big Ten is a fraud considering the Big Ten champions couldn’t make it past day one.
A less surprising but still impactful upset took place around 2 p.m Mar. 17. No. 11 Michigan upsets No. 6 Colorado State after trailing nine at half. York County’s very own, Eli Brooks, ends the game with 16 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists, helping the Wolverines top the Rams. Eli Brooks continues to make his name present all over the Michigan men’s basketball record book. He recently became the program’s all-time leader in games played, 148.
The favorite to win the tournament, Gonzaga, had a little bit of a scare to begin the tournament. Facing No. 16 Georgia State, the Bulldogs were only up two points with twelve minutes remaining. The Zags went on a 24-1 run to turn what was a close game into the blowout we all expected to see. The final score was a 93-72 win for Chet Holmgren and Gonzaga.