The madness has begun

A look at this year’s tournament (so far)

The 2023 March Madness Tournament has already been a thriller, with intense games, upsets, and crazy buzzer-beating shots that have kept fans glued to their television watching the games. 

In the first round of the tournament, many underdogs have made their presence felt. 16 seed Fairleigh Dickinson upset top seed Purdue in a tight game, making it the second time in tournament history where a 16 seed has won. To continue, 15 seed Princeton beat 2 seed Arizona. Meanwhile, 13 seeded Furman knocked out the 4 four seed Virginia in a tight game with a crazy buzzer beater to end.

As the tournament progressed the upsets continued. 7th seed Michigan State upset 2nd seed Marquette advancing to the sweet sixteen round with a favorable matchup against Kansas State. Also, 8th seed Arkansas took down top seed Kansas by one point. Arkansas is sneaky good and I would watch out for them in the later rounds.  Perhaps the biggest upset of the tournament was Princeton dominating 8 seed Missouri, winning by more than 10 points. These dogs are hot and they have a great chance to make some noise in the next round.

Despite the upsets, many of the top seeded teams continue to dominate awaiting their matchups in the sweet sixteen. Top seed Alabama has cruised through their first two opponents winning by more than 15 points in both games. Top seed Houston has also been superior in their first two matchups, winning comfortably in both games. The second seeds Texas and UCLA have also been in command making their way to the sweet sixteen round facing the three seeds in highly anticipated tough matchups. 

There have also been many individual stand out performers. Ryan Nembhard, Creightons top guard, exploded for a career high 30 points in their 85-76 win over three seeded past champion Baylor. Gonzaga advanced to the sweet sixteen round for 8 consecutive tournaments with help from the production of Drew Timme who has scored 49 points through two games. Another clutch performance came from Tyson Walker from Michigan State who scored 17 points in the final 20 minutes of play upsetting second seed Marquette. 

The tournament is just getting started and there is so much more thrilling action to come.

Who will win the tournament?

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