For a sports fan, some of the most exciting times of the year are when there are many games to watch. For football fans, it may be the Super Bowl, but for college basketball fans, it is most definitely March Madness. The tournament, initially made up of 68 teams, is able to leave fans on the edge of their seats with exciting upsets and intense games. Many students at Northport High School would agree in saying that this is one of the best times of year to watch sports. Many have even taken to making their own brackets to predict the outcomes of the many games taking place over the three week period of the tournament.
Now that the tournament is underway, many thrilling games have already taken place. Although some games were very exciting to watch, others were very predictable, such as the number one-seeded North Carolina Tar Heels beating the number 16-seeded Wagner Seahawks. Another game that did not surprise many fans was between Connecticut and Stetson. UConn is another number 1 seed who beat Stetson by a whopping 39 points and a final score of 91-52.
Some games on the other hand left many fans shocked and with their brackets busted. One of these games took place between number 12-seeded Grand Canyon University and number five-seeded Saint Mary’s. Although Saint Mary’s was the favorite going in, GCU beat them by nine with a final score of 75-66. Although this may have been a tough pill to swallow for Saint Mary’s, Auburn faced an even more upsetting loss to Yale in the first round. Going into the tournament, Auburn was seeded at four while Yale was 13. Despite the initial rankings, Yale was able to defeat the Tigers in a close game with a final score of 78-76. This game put Yale into the second round of the tournament where they faced number 5 San Diego State, although that did not go as well for the Ivy Leaguers, as they lost 85-57. While these games were certainly upsets, one of the biggest shocks so far was number three-seeded Kentucky losing to number 14 Oakland. For most people, Kentucky was seen as the obvious choice in this game as they were expected to go far in the tournament. This was not the case however, as they lost to the Golden Grizzlies with a final score of 80-76 and were prematurely eliminated from the tournament.
Even though it is still early on in March Madness, many people have made confident predictions as to what team will be able to win it all. At this point, FanDuel Sportsbook has determined the favorites to be UConn at +210 odds and Houston at +600 odds. While these two teams certainly seem to be the best picks at the moment, it is also not impossible for teams such as the Purdue Boilermakers (+600), Arizona Wildcats (+850), and Tennessee Volunteers (+1100) to also bring home the title.
As the tournament continues on, many fans are becoming more and more excited as to what it will bring. From crazy upsets to devastating losses, fans will be there to see it all. Students at Northport will definitely continue to watch the games and their brackets to see whether or not they are doing better than their friends. Whether you are a die-hard college basketball fan, or just interested in watching a few games, you are certainly in for a wild ride.
