A look at the updated 2017 NCAA Tournament bracket after Northwestern advanced in their first-ever March Madness game
The Northwestern Wildcats had never experienced the feeling of dancing, so to speak, before 2017. However, their name was called theiron Selection Sunday, announced as the No. 8 seed in the West Region. While not a favorable position, they were matched up with the highly over-seeded Vanderbilt Commodores in the First Round. And with that, they were faced with possibly advancing in the NCAA Tournament.
Despite being in unfamiliar territory, Northwestern jumped out to an early lead and took it into halftime. Down the stretch, though, their inexperience started to show. Vandy started getting their way and cutting the lead down little by little. The Commodores in fact took the lead with under a minute left to play—but then inexplicably fouled. Two made free throws and a missed three later, the game was the Wildcats’, who earned first ever victory in March Madness.
Brackets were busted just before that, however, courtesy of the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders for the second year in a row. As the No. 12 seed in the Midwest Region, the Blue Raiders—who beat Michigan State in the First Round last year—handily took care of the Minnesota Golden Gophers in an upset.
RELATED: Updated 2017 NCAA Tournament bracket
With the Northwestern win and Middle Tennessee upset victory, the bracket is looking much different than expected for some. Let’s take a look at the updated 2017 NCAA Tournament bracket after that and the other six games played midway through Thursday:
Next: 12 Biggest Cinderellas In March Madness History
With eight more games to go on Thursday and 16 left for Friday in the First Round, there’s still plenty left that could transpire. However, everything but the Middle Tennessee game has played out chalk to this point. If chalk means a historic moment like Northwestern winning, though, it’s worth it.