I didn't follow the game because I thought it was a waste of my time.
Nobody saw this coming. (Well, to be honest, in the ESPN contest, 98% picked Arizona, but 98% is not 100%, so I guess I can't say "nobody.")
Why did 98% go with Virginia? Well, let's see ...
* Virginia was not only the top seed in their region, but was the top seed overall. They were 31-2. They were ranked #2 in the nation in BPI, and were the nation's UNANIMOUS #1 in the AP poll.
* Meanwhile, UMBC did next to nothing all year long. For example, they lost a game 83-39 in January, not to Kansas or Duke or somebody like that, but to effin' Albany!
This may be the greatest upset ever, and the crazy thing is this: not only did UMBC defeat Virginia, they slaughtered 'em by scoring 53 in the second half.
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Nothing else seems significant after that, but in other tournament upset news:
#13 Marshall defeated #4 Wichita State 81-75
#10 Butler easily sailed past #7 Arkansas, winning by 17.
#11 Syracuse beat #6 TCU 57-52
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Other notes:
UMBC actually has a decent chance to advance farther, because they will face a #9 in the next round. What the heck, after crushing a #1, a game against a #9 should be a breeze. I reckon they will have a lot of rooters. I think they just became America's Team.
Kentucky, having an off year by their lofty standards, really lucked out in their bracket. Although they are only a fifth seed and barely emerged with a win against a twelve in their first game, they are now the best team from their sub-group and likely to make the Elite Eight, thanks to defeats by #1 and #4. Their next game is against #13 Buffalo, and if they win that, they would be in the Sweet Sixteen against either #16 UMBC or #9 Kansas State.
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