College Basketball Tournaments Continue to Surprise

Joseph Bender, Sports Editor

College Basketball fans have been in shock all weekend from the insane games played by both the Men’s and Women’s teams in the NCAA March Madness Tournament in Indianapolis, Indiana and San Antonio, Texas. This previous weekend a Women’s Tournament winner was crowned while the Men’s Tournament has found its two teams to battle out in the National Championship on Monday Night. There were many surprises this weekend but no one should be surprised that these games have been this incredible to watch.  

After a year of no NCAA March Madness Tournament due to the start of the Coronavirus Pandemic, this year’s tournaments did not disappoint and athletes in both tournaments brought everything they had to compete for glory and try to be the first National Champion since 2019. On the Men’s side all rounds of the tournament have been some of the best games in over a decade and the two-year wait was well worth it. While the Men’s Tournament was invigorating, the Women’s Tournament was just as surprising as the Men’s. Two of the recent games from the tournament were decided by one point, as a semifinal matchup with the two top seeds South Carolina and Stanford battling it out where the Cardinal won by one in a shocking ending followed by the National Championship game on Sunday Evening in San Antonio where the Stanford Cardinal shocked PAC-12 foes Arizona, winning by one point in another classic ending. In a year where there was more focus and ratings for the Women’s Tournament the ladies did not disappoint and brought College Basketball fans some of the best tournament games in a very long time, and by far the most competitive and shocking games in the tournament’s history.  

On Saturday Night the Final Four teams of the Men’s NCAA Tournament competing on the court where the winner would compete for a national title. Four teams remained out of 68 as Gonzaga, Baylor, UCLA, and Houston survived through this intense tournament. Baylor and Houston battled it out before the Bruins and Bulldogs of Gonzaga. At the end of the night the Bears and Bulldogs prepared as both number one seeds advance to the national championship game. Gonzaga will take on Baylor Monday evening on CBS as the whole world will be watching to see who will be the first NCAA Tournament winner since 2019, the first winner since the Virginia Cavaliers in that season.