Mythical March Madness: We’re playing out a projected NCAA Tournament bracket — and there was a big first-round upset
The curtains to the NCAA Tournament would have parted Tuesday and Wednesday in Dayton, Ohio.
A city devoted to college basketball, eagerly ushering in the First Four every March, also had a top contender of its own to root for this year. Dayton was expected to be a No. 1 seed with Kansas, Gonzaga and Baylor.
But brackets were busted early. All of them.
Let's pretend, shall we, that the tournament took place anyway. Thanks to ESPN's Joe Lunardi, who projects the bracket throughout every season, we at least can enjoy a hypothetical tournament. He revealed a final bracket and is "playing" the games on Twitter to help fill our sports void.
I'm with Lunardi. Let's have a little fun. Using his bracket, here's how I thought it might have played out this season.
Here's how the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament would shake out, per Shannon Ryan.(Chicago Tribune staff)
For only the fourth time since Mike Krzyzewski started coaching Duke in 1980, the Blue Devils qualified for the tournament and lost in the first round. Many suspected this wasn't Duke's year — and it wasn't.
The third-seeded Blue Devils had lost three times in their previous six games, while No. 14 seed Belmont had won 12 in a row. After beating Murray State for the Ohio Valley Conference championship on a layup with three seconds left, Tyler Scanlon did it again with a late jumper to take down Duke 73-71.
Luka Garza and No. 6 seed Iowa were too much for Belmont in the second round. Garza, a national player of the year contender, scored 28 points with 11 rebounds to easily dispatch the Bruins 77-64.
The Hawkeyes advanced to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1999. They'll face No. 2 seed Kentucky, an easy winner against No. 15 seed North Dakota State and No. 7 seed Providence.
Fourth-seeded Wisconsin breezed by No. 13 seed North Texas and had no problem dispatching No. 12 seed Liberty, a potential Cinderella. The Flames upset fifth-seeded Auburn in the first round, but the Badgers looked more prepared.
They'll face Kansas in the Sweet 16 in Indianapolis. The overall No. 1 seed looked dominant in a 30-point victory against No. 16 seed Siena and a 28-point win over eighth-seeded Houston.
Iowa and Wisconsin were among 10 Big Ten programs that made the NCAA Tournament field and five that made it alive through the first weekend. Two more came out of the South: No. 3 seed Michigan State and No. 7 seed Illinois. (Penn State, seeded sixth in the East, was the fifth team.)
The conference spent so much of the season beating up on each other, its teams might have been undervalued — and the Illini were a prime example.
In the first round, Illinois guard Trent Frazier broke out of his shooting slump to hit five 3-pointers in a victory over No. 10 seed USC. In the next round, No. 2 seed Creighton hit 50% of its first-half shots and built a 12-point lead. But Illinois got a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Ayo Dosunmu to advance to the Sweet 16 in Houston, where the Illini will face Big Ten foe Michigan State.
The Spartans faced No. 14 seed Bradley for the second season in a row in the first round, winning more easily this season 68-54. Then they slugged it out with Virginia for a 62-58 victory behind 14 points from Cassius Winston.
No. 12 seed Stephen F. Austin and No. 13 seed Vermont provided the region's major upsets. The Lumberjacks brought a 15-game winning streak into the tournament and took advantage of fifth-seeded Ohio State's inconsistency for an 89-80 victory. Vermont had lost only twice since Dec. 20, and the Catamounts stunned No. 4 seed Louisville with a late layup.
It was a shame the underdogs had to meet each other, but the high-scoring Lumberjacks should provide excitement against top seed Baylor in the Sweet 16. After the Bears clobbered No. 16 seed Winthrop, ninth-seeded Rutgers kept it close in the first half of the second-round game, but Baylor flexed its muscles for a 76-65 victory.
A Sweet 16 showdown in New York between top seed Dayton and fifth-seeded Butler should be a fun matchup between teams with devoted fan bases.
Obi Toppin displayed his dazzling dunks to help the Flyers defeat No. 16 seed Robert Morris and ninth-seeded Florida. Kamar Baldwin, meanwhile, played like a senior with everything on the line for Butler. The Bulldogs needed overtime to beat No. 12 seed Texas 77-74 in the first round behind 18 points from Baldwin. He followed up with seven points in the final two minutes to hold off Maryland 68-63.
Penn State is in the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2001. The Nittany Lions lost five of their last six regular-season games before going on a roll in the Big Ten Tournament.
The battle between Penn State's Lamar Stevens and Villanova's Saddiq Bey in the second round was a delight. The Nittany Lions won 74-69 behind Stevens' 23 points and 11 rebounds. Bey finished with 18 and six for the third-seeded Wildcats.
Penn State will face No. 2 seed Florida State, which narrowly escaped seventh-seeded West Virginia in the second round.
A star burst onto the scene in Seton Hall's Myles Powell.
Big East fans have known about Powell for years, but he is becoming a national household name with his tournament performance. He scored 42 points in a victory over No. 14 seed Eastern Washington and 38 to beat No. 6 seed BYU as the third-seeded Pirates advanced to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2000.
They'll face No. 2 seed San Diego State, which ousted 10th-seeded Texas Tech — last season's national runner-up — in the second round.
Top seed Gonzaga continued to impress in victories against No. 16 seed North Carolina Central and No. 8 seed LSU. The Bulldogs will face No. 4 seed Oregon in the Sweet 16 in Los Angeles.
The Ducks fought off pesky Michigan in the second round. Senior guard Payton Pritchard has averaged 20 points in the first two games.
No team distinguished itself as a clear favorite during the regular season. Will someone finally stand out in the Sweet 16?
Check back next week to see who advances in the Sweet 16 and Elite 8.
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