WATERCOOLER CHAT: MAD MARCH MADNESS WEEKEND
BASKETBALL
Whoa — what a crazy weekend in March Madness. Because that’s exactly what it was… MAD!
To start things off on Saturday, #2 seed Villanova took on #10 Saint Marys. Villanova heavily struggled against #15 seed Robert Morris in the first round, and Saint Marys is a tough squad. Well, Saint Mary’s held the lead throughout, until, at the very end ‘Nova came surging back. They’re used to playing soft most of the game, and then winning it at the end. But this time, that strategy didn’t work. Saint Mary’s hung in there tough and eeked out the upset. Saint Marys 75, Villanova 68.
And later, it was the game that will be remembered for decades. Heading into the tourney, Kansas was the most favored team BY FAR. Nearly 85% of America’s brackets listed Kansas as the winner. They had a terrific team with most likely 6 future NBA players, plus the coaching experience to go with it. Sure, there was that potential matchup with #2 Ohio State and Evan Turner looming in the Elite 8, but the Jayhawks would deal with that when the time came. They NEVER expected to have their hands full with a ferocious Northern Iowa team. N. Iowa was up the entire game, but Kansas started pressing and got the game to within 1 point with just under 2 minutes left. Usually the little teams cave when the big boys come back, much less the juggernaut Kansas. But Northern Iowa just kept attacking, and with just under 30 seconds they hit a dagger 3 to essentially ice the game. The ship… has sunk. #1 Kansas went down, along with the majority of people’s bracket picks. Northern Iowa 69, Kansas 67.
And finally, the upsets weren’t done yet. #4 Wisconsin was hoping for an easy win against #12 Cornell. They’re an Ivy League bookworm school, right? How much harm could they do? Thing is, most experts felt Cornell was seeded way too low. Remember, Cornell went into Kansas earlier this year, and only lost by 4. Isn’t that an indicator that they don’t mess around? Well, now they had something to prove. Cornell had their way with the Badgers and defeated them with ease. Next up for Cornell, John Wall and mighty Kentucky. And after Northern Iowa defeated Kansas, it’s pretty clear that anything can happen in this year’s tourney. Cornell 87, Wisconsin 69.
