After 32 teams punched their tickets to advance in the 2017 NCAA Tournament, what were the five biggest surprises from the First Round action?
Late on Friday night, the 2017 NCAA Tournament First Round came to a close. The field that sat at 68 teams at the start of the week had been whittle down to 32 and the favorites to win the National Championship (for the most part) remained alive. That is to say, there weren’t a great deal of upsets in the First Round of March Madness.
Just because there weren’t any upsets to start the NCAA Tournament, though, doesn’t mean that there weren’t plenty of surprises that we were treated to throughout the two days of First Round action. There were favorites that struggled mightily when they should’ve rolled, endings that were stunning, and plenty of other things that left fans a bit shocked.
If you just look at the bracket for the Second Round, you might not see all of this. You’ll see that the majority of the higher seeds advanced and that there are some great matchups on the horizon. Don’t be fooled, however. There were plenty of surprises worth noting, and these are the five biggest from the First Round.
5. USC Completes Another Comeback, Upsets SMU
In the First Four matchup between the USC Trojans and Providence Friars, the latter got ahead substantially over the former. However, Andy Enfield’s Trojans clawed back mercilessly and were able to come through with a big comeback victory. This has been commonplace for USC this season. But the fact that they followed it up in the First Round by doing it again to take down the SMU Mustangs is completely jarring.
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For one, it’s simply improbable that a team like USC would be able to get down so often and still be able to pull out victories. Frankly, thats not a sound strategy for having a successful college basketball team—especially in the NCAA Tournament. Yet they’ve played two games now and they’ve been able to make it happen in each victory to advance t the Round of 32.
However, what makes this comeback for the Trojans even more surprising is who it came against. SMU was a trendy sleeper pick for many people coming into the tournament. Though shallow in their rotation, their top-end is as versatile and dangerous as any team’s in the country. What’s more, they’d won 19-straight games entering the NCAA Tournament and could’ve conceivably gone on a deep run. So for USC to get down to a team that talented and then erase the deficit in thrilling fashion is truly remarkable.