By Cyote Williams | Times Vedette
I had a friend ask me earlier this week, “Why is it called March Madness if the most important games are played in April?” I didn’t have a good answer. The entire Final Four and National Championship are played in April in a tournament with March in the name. Maybe that’s just part of the madness.
Last week I highlighted the Iowans and Iowa universities participating in March Madness, and I’m feeling quite vindicated right now. As of writing this column, Iowa and Iowa State are into the Sweet 16. This has become a habit for the Cyclones under T.J. Otzelberger as they make their third Sweet 16 appearance in five years under Otz. Iowa’s new head coach, Ben McCollum, in his first year with Iowa, has the team into the Sweet 16 for the first time since the 1990s.
I also highlighted Iowans who were on the rosters of teams in the NCAA tournament. Now, while a great few of them were knocked out in the first weekend, plenty still remain. Incredibly, three Waukee Northwest Wolves alone are playing in the Sweet 16. Cade Kelderman at ISU. Pryce Sandfort at Nebraska. And Peyton McCollum at Iowa. How cool is that?
Last year, the general public bemoaned the historically chalky results of last year’s tournament. This year has not been too different, but there have been some incredible moments along the way. Here are some of my favorite moments from the opening weekend.
Arguably, No. 9 Iowa’s win over defending national champions and No. 1 Florida on a last second three was the coolest, craziest moment so far. I always root against the Hawks, but watching that moment live, even for me, was hard not to love.
No. 12 High Point had the biggest upset of the first round, defeating No. 5 Wisconsin on a last second layup, scored by a player who had not made a single two pointer the entire season. High Point then took No. 4 Arkansas down to the wire in a 94-88 classic. Their Cinderella story ended there, but they made the most of their opportunity.
In a matchup of college basketball blue bloods, No. 5 St. Johns defeated No. 4 Kansas on a last-second layup, sending Bill Self and the Jayhawks packing, much to my delight.
Also in the second round, Nebraska, who had not won a single NCAA tournament game until their first-round win over No. 13 Troy, defeated No. 5 Vanderbilt to advance to the Sweet 16. Coached by ISU legend Fred Hoiberg, and led by his son and point guard Sam Hoiberg, the Huskers defeated Vandy in another classic, 74-72. Vandy’s Tyler Tanner’s half-court heave at the buzzer missed by inches.
The bracket is once again mostly filled with the favorites (except for Florida). The NIL era and lax rules on transfers means the talent has slowly but surely continued to amass at the top of the college basketball landscape. This makes for less shocking upsets but does make for some incredibly entertaining games. The talent level is arguably as high as it has ever been for college basketball, and the Sweet 16 has plenty of amazing games happening tonight and tomorrow for our viewing pleasure.
Reach out with comments, suggestions, story ideas and more to cyote@dmcityview.com.