Unexpected Teams
High Point: As a #12 seed, the champions of the Big South came into the tournament as winners of 14 consecutive games. Facing Wisconsin in the West 1st Round, the Panthers were 12.5-point underdogs. Down 8 with just over 5 minutes to go, High Point had only a 5.8% chance to win, according to ESPN Analytics. Down 82-81 in the final 30 seconds, sensation Chase Johnston hit the game-winner with his first two-point bucket of the year to steal an 83-82 victory away from the Badgers. Along with this performance, senior point guard Rob Martin led the team with 23 points and 10 assists. Unfortunately, this was it for High Point as they fell to Arkansas 94-88 in a thrilling game that remained close until the final buzzer.
Texas: Placed as an #11 seed and one of the last four teams selected, the Longhorns were forced to start their tournament run in Dayton against NC State in the First Four. This saw them survive against the Wolfpack with a game-winning shot by Tramon Mark with 1.1 seconds remaining. Despite this big win, UT had to bounce back quickly to get ready for BYU and freshman superstar AJ Dybantsa. BYU was unable to come back from as high a deficit as 17, and the Longhorns won 79-71.
These two wins set up a date with Gonzaga in the Round of 32. With 8 ties and 10 lead changes, the game was close throughout. Texas sealed the victory with a 3-pointer and wound up with a 74-68 victory to upset the #3-seeded Bulldogs. Facing Purdue in the Sweet Sixteen, the SEC team failed to keep its season alive against Purdue. In a truly heartbreaking finish, Purdue forward Trey Kaufmann-Renn made a put-back for the deciding basket in a 79-77 Boilermaker victory.
Iowa: First-year head coach Ben McCollum has won everywhere he has been. A 4-time D-II National Champion, the 1st year head coach had the Hawkeyes playing their best at the most opportune time. Iowa was marked as a #9 seed and faced Clemson in the Round of 64. After beating the Tigers 67-61, the majority of the country did not give them a chance to take down #1 Florida. Behind their shocking win over the Gators was a game-winning three from Robert Morris transfer Alvaro Folgueiras. With his mother in the stands for the first time in two years, the Spanish native’s shot led the Hawkeyes to their first Sweet 16 this century.
Facing Big Ten rival and familiar foe Nebraska in the Sweet 16, Ben McCollum’s squad rallied late behind a 20-point game from star Bennett Stirtz, who followed McCollum to Iowa. Not holding a lead until 2:10 left in the game, Iowa beat the Cornhuskers for the second time this year. Advancing to the Elite Eight, Iowa’s Cinderella run came to an end, 71-59, after a loss to Big Ten foe Illinois.
Death of the mid-majors?
For the 2nd consecutive year, not a single mid-major team made it to the Sweet 16. This is the first time in the history of the tournament that this has happened in back-to-back years. This has caused many concerns over the widening disparity between power conference schools and smaller schools. The era of NIL and the transfer portal has led many talented players to make their move to large schools for a hefty payment. For example, Naismith Award Finalist Yaxel Lendeborg made his move from UAB to Michigan for close to $3 million on his way to leading the Wolverines to the Final Four. In fact, the entire team’s starting five began their career elsewhere.
A rebuttal to this transitioning age is the rise of “Power Five Cinderellas” and the surge of newfound success for long-lasting programs. Along with aforementioned Texas and Iowa, Nebraska made its first-ever Sweet 16, and St. John’s reached that stage for the first time since 1999. While this trend may continue, the “blue-bloods” could be going down the opposite direction. This year was the first time since all the way back in 1954 that neither Kansas, Kentucky, UCLA, nor UNC advanced to the Sweet 16.
As this new era of college basketball is underway, questions that must be considered are whether there will be a change in the dominant programs and whether this is worth it if the mid-majors increasingly diminish.
Looking Ahead to the Final Four
Held in a hub for college basketball, Indianapolis will be hosting the Final Four this upcoming weekend for the 9th time in the tournament’s history. The first game to head to the National Championship will be UCONN vs Illinois. The Huskies made a historic comeback in the previous round, crawling back from a 19-point deficit to beat Duke. With only 0.4 seconds left, Braylon Mullins made a 35-foot three-pointer off a steal to shock the Blue Devils and steal a 73-72 win. With a victory, UCONN head coach Dan Hurley will be the first coach since legend John Wooden in 1973 to win 3 National Championships in 4 years. On the other side, Illinois is heading back for the first time since 2005. Illini head coach Brad Underwood took an unconventional approach by going overseas for talent. Illinois has been led by European talent who goes by the moniker the “Balkan Bloc”. Illinois is a slight 2.5-point favorite in what should be a great game.
Arizona and Michigan will face off against each other in a game that has been anticipated by fans as a potential matchup throughout the season. Arizona has been dominant all season, sitting at 36-2. A dominant second half propelled the Wildcats to victory as they outscored Purdue 48-26 on their way to a 79-64 win in the Elite Eight. It will be no easy feat for them to move on, however, as the Wolverines stand in their way. Crushing Tennessee with a 95-62 demolition, Michigan has rebounded mightily from a fall in the Big Ten Tournament Final.
Led by a plethora of transfers, Michigan went 35-3 on its way to a 19-1 Big Ten regular-season record. A trio of big men has been the strong point of the team as Aday Mara, Morez Johnson, and aforementioned Yaxel Lendeborg have made stopping and scoring on them one of the most difficult tasks in all of college basketball. Winning their 2nd ever National Championship would be a remarkable comeback from hitting rock bottom at 8-24 just two years prior. Dusty May’s leadership has been pivotal to bringing the squad back to where it expects to be every year. Michigan heads into the game as 1.5-point favorites over the Wildcats.
No matter what happens in these last 3 games, fans are in for what should be another exciting finish to the collegiate season.
