Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images
Week one is in the books, and it’s final day was stellar.
After four days on non-stop madness on par with some of the most mad opening weekends we’ve ever seen before, it’s finally time to take a breath.
Before we do that, let’s relive all the magic and madness of the final day of the 2023 NCAA tournament’s opening weekend.
March Madness’ 3 best games of Day 4
1.
Author: Michael
Photo by Keith Gillett/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Arkansas showed what the catharsis of a tight March Madness win looks like in all its shirtless glory.
DES MOINES — It’s easy enough for a cynic to believe the celebration was premeditated, and maybe it was. When the final buzzer sounded and No. 8 seed Arkansas had done the unthinkable — knocking off the No. 1 seed Kansas Jayhawks in the round of 32 of the 2023 men’s NCAA tournament — Razorbacks head coach Eric Musselman knew exactly where he was going.
FAU ended the cinderella story that was Fairleigh Dickinson on Sunday by knocking off the 16 seed 78-70 to punch its ticket to the Sweet Sixteen. Some folks have a bad taste in their mouth about the Owls, however, after an FAU player attempted a 360 dunk in the closing seconds of the game.
With around five seconds left in regulation, sophomore guard Alijah Martin received a pass at the three-point line. Instead of standing still and letting the final seconds come off the clock, he elected to rise up and put an exclamation mark on the win.
St. John’s has reportedly zeroed in on hiring Rick Pitino.
The Iona coach has been floated as the likely next coach of the Red Storm ever since Mike Anderson was fired.
Now, it sounds like the university is getting ready to do whatever is necessary to land him. Jon Rothstein reported a meeting took place in person Sunday night between the two sides, and St. John’s has “no secondary candidate.”
Sources: Iona’s Rick Pitino will meet with St. John’s administration in person later tonight.
The Red Storm have no secondary candidate.
JaVale McGee had a very bizarre interaction with what appeared to be a relatively young person attempting to film him.
In a video that is going mega-viral, the Dallas Mavericks center filmed himself exposing some random weirdo who came up to him during a soccer game, fired up his phone and just filmed him.
Does that sound incredibly weird? Well, wait until you see the actual video.
JaVale McGee exposes someone filming him. (Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images)
“We grown men around here. We grew up before this social media age sh*t.
Kansas State basketball coach Jerome Tang didn’t mince words Sunday after beating Kentucky.
The KSU Wildcats punched a ticket to the Sweet 16 and sent John Calipari’s team packing after winning 75-69. It’s the fourth straight season Kentucky has failed to make a tournament run (2019-2020 was canceled because of COVID).
After the game, Tang let the world know Kentucky being a historic program doesn’t mean anything when it comes to winning today.
“You know, we have a program that’s rich in tradition also.
An upset finally rocked the women’s bracket as No. 1 seed Stanford is out and half the Sweet 16 is set.
The men’s regional semifinal round will feature plenty of schools who have never sniffed a Final Four and several upperclassmen you’re used to seeing this time of year.
After all the delightful tumult of the past four days, the NCAA tournament bracket has gotten a thorough scrubbing. As a result, we have arrived at a fresh-faced Sweet 16.
Welcome, Florida Atlantic. The Owls have never been here before and deserve to be celebrated, even if they did the dirty work of dispatching No. 16 seeded darling Fairleigh Dickinson.
Welcome back after an extended absence, Princeton.
Cameron Brink and the No. 1 Cardinal had no answer for the No. 8 Rebels’ overwhelming defensive showing in Sunday’s upset.
No. 1 Stanford knew early on that its matchup with No. 8 Ole Miss could be tougher than the seeding indicated. But it tried to set the tone at the pre-game press conference on Saturday.
“Some teams look at us and think, Oh, like, the nice girls from Stanford,” said junior guard Agnes Emma-Nnopu.
Stanford became the first No. 1 seed to fail to reach the Sweet 16 since 2009, falling to No. 8 Ole Miss on Sunday night.