This weekend the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, aka March Madness began, providing madness and excellent games right out of the gate. After two years since the last champions were crowned, the field of sixty-eight began to fight for the Final Four led by hopes to lead their university to a National Championship.  

The tournament began with the First Four on Thursday, March 18th where Texas Southern, Mount St. Mary’s, Drake, Wichita State, Norfolk State, Appalachian State, UCLA, and Michigan State battled out for the respective eleven seeds and sixteen seeds. In this pre-round before the First Round, it proved that this would be an entertaining tournament, as there were a few upsets and many surprises in these four games and in day one of the 2021 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. In game two of the day, Drake upset Wichita State in a thriller to win 53-52, sending the Shockers home early. After this matchup, another close battle occurred as Norfolk State defeated Appalachian State 54-53, as the Spartans moved on to the first round in Indianapolis while the Moutaineers were sent home back to Boone, North Carolina. In a surprise, UCLA beat Michigan State 86-80, with the Spartans not advancing in the Round of 64 for the first time in many years. Texas Southern, Drake, Norfolk State, and UCLA all advanced out of the first four into the NCAA Tournament for a chance to compete for a national title.  

After the First Four, the tournament officially began on Friday afternoon as the First Round took place in venues across Indianapolis. Sixteen teams competed on Friday in day one of the First Round that included crazy endings and surprising feats. Some of the biggest games of the day were (15) Oral Roberts knocking off (2) Ohio State, with the Eagles winning 75-72 in an overtime affair. After the completion of this game, another upset occurred with (13) North Texas defeating (4) Purdue 78-69 In overtime, a historic win for the Mean Green’s program. The upsets continued as the (10) Rutgers Scarlet Knights took down (7) Clemson 60-56 in one of the best games of the day. The upsets continued in the second and final day of the First Round, with (13) Ohio defeating the defending 2019 National Champions Virginia 62-58, in a close battle all game long where the grit of both teams was on display. After this stunning upset UCLA continued to roll as the eleven seed Bruins defeated (6) BYU 73-62. As the day winded down there was still another surprise to come, as the (7) Oregon Ducks advanced to the second round due to (10) VCU having issues due to COVID-19, making them forfeit.  

As Round One began to close, the Second Round began with teams looking to advance to the Sweet 16. Upsets and surprises continued to be plentiful as (8) Loyola Chicago defeated in state (1) Illinois 71-58, handing the Fighting Illini a ticket back to Champaign, Illinois. Great games continued with Syracuse, Arkansas, Houston, Oral Roberts, Villanova, and Oregon State moving on to the Sweet 16. Syracuse, Oral Roberts, and Oregon State moved on in stunning upsets that rocked the sports world, mainly with the Oral Roberts Eagles winning again, this time against the (7) Florida Gators, beating them 81-78 and advancing to the Sweet 16 for the first time in program history. Final four hopes for the Oklahoma State Cowboys diminished in the night cap of the tournament as the hot Oregon State Beavers defeated (4) Oklahoma State 80-70. Round Two continued Monday afternoon as the quest to the Sweet 16 would wrap up. Right out of the gate in the first game of the day the (7) Oregon Ducks, who hadn’t played in ten days defeated the (2) seed Iowa Hawkeyes 95-80 in a simply dominant game by the Ducks of Oregon. All of the higher seeds cruised for the remainder of the day excluding (3) Kansas, as the Jayhawks got demolished by another PAC-12 team, the (6) USC Trojans, losing 85-51.  

The Sweet 16 bracket is finally beginning to come together, with eight teams already in. Loyola Chicago, Oregon State, Baylor, Villanova, Arkansas, Oral Roberts, Houston, and Syracuse make up the field so far as eight other teams will see their fate Tuesday afternoon.  

As the second round of the tournament continues, the quality of games and number of upsets has been like no other as this looks to be one of the best Men’s Tournaments in a very long time. No one truly knows who will win a game and the talent gap doesn’t appear to be too wide.