By Montanna Chambers
Following the Rounds of 64 and 32, March Madness has been nothing short of upsets, buzzer-beaters, and broken brackets. March Madness is one of the most popular months for college basketball fans and basketball fans. According to Yahoo! Sports, March Madness brings in around 9.4 million viewers from around the world.
One of the most shocking upsets was when No. 10 seed Arkansas took down No. 2 seed St. John’s. Arkansas won with a commanding 9-point lead but fell to No. 3 seed Texas Tech in overtime on Thursday, March 27.
Rick Pitino, the head coach of Saint John’s, took to the social platform X following the game, thanking his seniors for playing their hearts out.
Pitino wrote, “Thank you seniors. Losing always hurts, but you played with torn ligaments, sprained shoulders, pulled groins and you gave us a magical run. We will always cherish our time together.”
St. John’s had an excellent season but could not pull through against the Razorbacks. They shot 28% from the field and looked lifeless throughout the game.
Following St. John’s loss, UConn exited the tournament with their loss against No. 1 seed Florida. The Huskies and Gators had a close game, coming right down to the wire. The Gators won 77-75, moving them on to play the No. 4 seed, Maryland in the Sweet 16, who they defeated 87-71.
After the Florida and UConn game, Huskies head coach Dan Hurley was seen complaining about the referees to Baylor’s coaches, who were set to hit the floor right after.
Reporter Joey Ellis had taken the footage of Hurley dropping explicit language while heading to the tunnel, which proceeded to have UConn’s communications director, Bobby Mullins, threaten Ellis, saying he would “ruin his life.” Although there is no proof of this altercation, many reporters confirmed the dispute between the two.
Despite the hostile altercations, there was nothing negative about the buzzer-beater that freshman Derik Queen nailed against No. 12 seed Colorado State.
According to ESPN Research, Queen had become one of four freshmen to ever hit a buzzer-beater game-winner since the field expanded to 64 teams.
Queen explained how head coach Kevin Willard drew up the play. He saw his teammates trust him, and he trusted himself.
Queen told reporters, “That was my first game-winner.”
Queen finished with 17 points, six rebounds, and two blocks.
“It has been fun to watch, but my bracket is busted,” said Travis Odrobina, a junior at The University of Tampa.
This has been a common theme with many brackets this year. Many did not expect Colorado State to win or BYU to beat Wisconsin.
When Odrobina was asked what the biggest upset was for his bracket, he said it was St. John’s.
“I had them going into my Final Four,” Odrobina said. “I did not expect them to lose that early on.”
Updates are soon to come for the Final Four.
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Thumbnail image caption: A view of center court before the first round of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, Washington. Photo courtesy of Steph Chambers of Getty Images.