Gonzaga University may have been awarded a number 1 seeded heading into the NCAA tournament, but in the eyes of Wichita State, they were just another team that was ripe for an upset.
And to the dismay of those backing the Bulldogs to win the whole tournament, your bid was unceremoniously shut by the number 9 seed Shockers. Sounds appropriate that the team that produced the most shocking result of the tournament so far are called “Shockers”, right?
It wasn’t supposed to end this way for the Bulldogs. The field was about as wide open as any other year in recent NCAA history and it was all set up for a long run by the Zags. But like so often is the case with March Madness, logic takes a bad seat to, well, madness. The team barely made it past the first round against 16 seed Southern, casting a foreboding pall on a team that probably wasn’t as good as its ranking suggested.
For all the questions surrounding Gonzaga, Wichita State ultimately had the answer and they put a pretty resounding exclamation point on it, sending the first number 1 seed home, but also serving notice that the Shockers have some serious jolt in them that nobody should be taking lightly anymore.
Wichita State wasn’t the only provider of what has now become a daily dose of upsets in the tournament. 4 seed St. Louis also saw its championship hopes end courtesy of another dominant performance by 12 seed Oregon. Unfortunately, midnight struck quickly for 14 seed Harvard, bowing out to 6 seed Arizona after delivering its own upset of 3 seed New Mexico in the first round.
As for the rest of the action, top seed Louisville easily dispatched 8 seed Colorado State; 3 seed Michigan trounced 6 seed Memphis; 4 seed Michigan smacked 5 seed VCU silly; 3 seed Marquette squeaked past 6 seed Butler; and 4 seed Syracuse took down 12 seed California.
But for the third day in a row, Cinderella was in full bloom and apparently, she’s determined to keep shocking everybody that gets in her way.
