The first weekend of March Madness is now complete, and it was a great four days of basketball. This tournament always seemed to deliver some excitement and drama, and that was the case yet again.
In the second round of the NCAA Tournament, things started to straighten out a bit. This should lead to some great matchups in the future. With so many top seeds still in the field, there will be some great NCAAB matchups in the Sweet 16.
Here is a March Madness week one recap, and what to look out for moving forward.
Big Upsets Again
When putting together a March Madness week one recap, you simply have to start by pointing out the Cinderella teams. The Kentucky Wildcats were one of the expert picks March Madness that was out there, but they fell victim to the biggest upset.
Oakland used the sharp shooting of Jack Gohlke to stun the Wildcats in the First Round as a 14 seed. Other NCAA basketball teams were looking to play the role of underdog, including the Yale Bulldogs.
Yale stunned the Auburn Tigers in First Round, and they did it by hitting shots from all over the floor. The James Madison Dukes were a popular team in picks and parlays, and they blew out the Wisconsin Badgers.
The N.C. State Wolfpack came into the NCAA Tournament with a ton of momentum, but they were an afterthought when betting on March Madness. N.C. State is the only double-digit seed to win two games in the first weekend. They will face the Marquette Golden Eagles in the second round.
March Madness First Week: Top Eight Seeds Survive
The March Madness bracket tends to implode pretty quickly, and all of the top seeds rarely survive. That is exactly what has happened this year though as all of the number 1 and 2 seeds have moved on to the Sweet 16.
It’s hard to ignore how dominant some of these teams have been when putting together a March Madness Week One recap. The UConn Huskies and Purdue Boilermakers were at the top of the college basketball standings all season long, and those teams blew out their first two opponents.
North Carolina and Houston were the other two number-one seeds, and they both got the job done convincingly. The college basketball injury report was rough on some teams that were given top seeds, but all of those teams were able to survive.
Arizona, Iowa State, Marquette, and Tennessee are the number two seeds in the 2024 NCAA Tournament, and they got the job done as well. Marquette had to gut out a win against Colorado on Sunday while the other teams had some dominant performances.
Huge Games Coming
The Sweet 16 brings a plethora of massive games to the college basketball schedule, with the action set to intensify. UConn is still the favorite to win the national championship, but they have to run a gauntlet to get there. The Iowa State-Illinois game is going to be one of the best Sweet 16 games on the schedule, and the Cyclones are 2.5-point favorites. Another massive game will be the Houston Cougars taking on the Duke Blue Devils in the South Region.
There will be some great college basketball games, and some great betting options are going to be available as well. Even though this tournament is known for the madness during the first weekend, the second will provide the best basketball.
No more major Cinderella stories are remaining, but the best teams in the country are.
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