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NCAA Tournament Day 3

Seriously, this has been madness at its finest. Usually, we see upsets in the Round of 64, and then the Round of 32 filters out the Cinderellas from the dwarves. However, Sunday was as wild as we can remember any second-round being. Three double-digit seeds advanced and we saw our first one-seed fall (sorry, Illinois). It’s been wild, ridiculous, and unpredictable, and this seems like the year the Final Four has a few lower seeds. Oh, and day three of the NCAA Tournament was a great one.

Anyways, let’s recap day three of this beautiful, unpredictable, insane tournament of pure madness and mayhem.

NCAA Tournament Day 3

It came and went, and it was exciting- unless your team lost. However, there were upsets, there were blowouts, and there were tears of joy and sadness. Players jumping in excitement, others hanging their jerseys over their eyes knowing they will never wear that school’s uniform again.

Frankly, it’s hard to watch, and at the same time, exciting.

NCAA Tournament Day 3 Upset: Loyola-Chicago over Illinois

Sister Jean and the Ramblers are back with a vengeance. Sure, Loyola deserved a higher seed and we can talk about how unfair it was for Illinois to play them in the second round.

Nonetheless, it happened, and Loyola is back in the Sweet 16 and has legitimate hopes of making a Final Four run, especially after a few other surprising losses in the evening in their region.

Cameron Krutwig was unstoppable for the Ramblers, finishing with 19 points and 12 boards with five dimes and four steals, and just frustrated the Illini all game long.

For Illinois, many had them as a Final Four team, and for good reason. However, Porter Moser had his Ramblers squad ready to play. Kofi Cockburn had 21 points and nine boards, but couldn’t contain Krutwig.

Ayo Dosunmu struggled all game long and ended up with just nine points on 4-10 from the field with six turnovers as the Illini were bounced earlier than anybody imagined–except Sister Jean and the Ramblers.

Top Seeds Took Care of Business

With upsets galore, the top seeds did what they were supposed to–move on to the next round.

Arkansas squeaked out a win against Texas Tech after a furious Red Raiders comeback, and Houston just barely got past Rutgers by three in a wild back-and-forth game.

Also, that ending to the Arkansas-Texas Tech game was so wild, just watch it, even if you’ve seen it.

Baylor looked as dominant as ever and beat Wisconsin by a baker’s dozen to move to the Sweet 16. Houston might have been the biggest winners, especially since Oklahoma State and Illinois were knocked out of their region. Oh, and West Virginia.

Buddy Boeheim Strikes Again

Syracuse shot the lights out of the gym on Friday night against San Diego State and faced Bob Huggins and their famous full-court press. However, the Orange took care of business once again and moved on to the Sweet 16. In fact, it’s their third appearance in the past six years as a double-digit seed.

Buddy Boeheim scored 25 points on 8-17 from the field and hit six 3-pointers as Syracuse topped the Mountaineers by three. As it stands, Syracuse now has a very real shot to come out of that Midwest region, which is remarkable.

Jim Boeheim the greatest March coach ever? Possibly.

Double-Digit Seeds Went Wild

First, Oral Roberts unbelievable upset of Ohio State seemed like a fluke. Unfortunately, the Florida Gators received a harsh reality by losing to Oral Roberts, who advance to the Sweet 16. Also, they are the first 15-seed to make the Sweet 16 since Florida Gulf Coast in 2013.

The nation’s leading scorer Max Abmas was sensational and finished with 26 points while playing every single minute once again. Kevin Obanor had 28 points and 11 boards and, well, the Golden Eagles could advance even further–which is insane.

Sure, they face Arkansas, but we’ve seen crazier things happen, and a 15-seed in the Elite Eight really might happen this year.

The night-cap was spectacular. Oregon State, a team that won the PAC-12 tournament to earn an automatic bid, played spoilers to much of the nation. The Beavers topped Oklahoma State and potential top pick Cade Cunningham, sending the Cowboys home early.

Ethan Thompson went off for the Beavers and finished with 26 points, including an absurd, NBA-like 15-16 from the charity stripe.

As for Cade, his final collegiate game–barring some unforeseen circumstance–didn’t end as he had hoped. He shot just 6-20 and 4-11 from beyond the arc to finish with 24 points and five steals. Nonetheless, he’s the number one pick come NBA Draft time.

Oregon State’s next game? You guessed it, a game against Loyola Chicago, just like everybody predicted.

NCAA Tournament Day 3 Blowout: Villanova over North Texas

This was really the only blowout of the day. The Mean Green fought Purdue tooth and nail and escaped with an improbable first-round victory. However, their dance ended there, and Villanova showed they are ready to make a deep run.

Villanova won by 23 points and shot 55% from the field and 50% from deep to stomp North Texas and end their tourney hopes.

Sweet 16 Matchups

(15) Oral Roberts vs (3) Arkansas

(5) Villanova vs (1) Baylor

(11) Syracuse vs (2) Houston

(12) Oregon State vs (8) Loyola Chicago

Buckle up, we are only getting started.

Main Photo:
Embed from Getty Images

Matt Wadleigh, Associate Editor

Matt Wadleigh, Associate Editor

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