Connor Allen, Staff Writer
The NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball tournament has once again lived up to all the hype and excitement known as March Madness.
This tournament has been a great one filled with many spectacular upsets and incredible buzzer-beating shots. In case you haven’t been keeping up with the games, let me take you through some of the best moments of the tournament so far and a preview of the semi-final games this weekend.
Villanova was the first number-one seed to lose in the Round of 32 against eighth-seeded NC State. Many people chose Villanova to make a deep run in their brackets, and it was a huge disappointment for their fans.
NC State outplayed Villanova in just about every aspect of that game pulling off the upset. NC State’s “Cinderella story” only lasted until the next round, where they were beaten handily by veteran coach Rick Pitino and his Louisville Cardinals.
Fourteenth-seeded Georgia State penned one of the best storylines of this year’s tournament. Featuring a father-son combo as the head coach and star player, Ron and R.J. Hunter were a great story that made many want to root for Georgia State.
They knew they had a tall task at hand coming into the game against number-three seed Baylor. Georgia State didn’t back down from the challenge and with 2.7 seconds left R.J. Hunter hit a three point shot to win the game 57-56. What made the highlight even better was Coach Ron Hunter falling out of his chair at the same time his son R.J. made the shot, making for a very atypical game winner.
Another reason Georgia State was generally well liked was Kevin Ware, the transfer from Louisville. Last year on live television, he suffered a horrific injury to his leg, which forced him out for the rest of the season and out of Louisville. R.J. Hunter and Kevin Ware proved to be a good combination as they pulled off the upset against Baylor. Unfortunately, Xavier proved to be too much for Georgia State to handle in the next round.
Despite happening in round 32, the game between Wichita State and Kansas University was just as meaningful as a Final Four game to these players because both are Kansas schools. Kansas University is the well-known basketball powerhouse, consistently having good teams and a shot at winning the tournament. The Wichita State Shockers are a lesser known program playing in the Missouri Valley conference. The Shockers have been great the last two years, going undefeated in the regular season last year and only losing four games this year. This game was a battle and ended with the seventh-seeded Shockers beating the number two seeded Jayhawks to advance to the Sweet 16.
Heading into the semi-final matchups, there are three number one seeds left: Kentucky, Wisconsin and Duke. The other team is the number seven seed, Michigan State. Kentucky has a chance to make history this weekend, if they win by becoming the first team in college basketball to go undefeated since the 1976 Indiana Hoosiers. Kentucky is the favorite to win the tournament even after narrowly edging out Notre Dame in the Elite Eight. The Duke-Michigan State game features two of the best coaches in college basketball, Mike Krzyzewski and Tom Izzo, respectively.
The games this weekend will be some of the most exciting events in sports all year, and is easily comparable to any professional sports championships. March madness has been as exciting as advertised and has a chance to be a historic one if Kentucky wins. Tune in to find out!