Fansided

March Madness 2017: Twitter reacts to the 2017 Elite Eight field

ByBrendon Kleen|
Mar 27, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; General view of the elite eight logo prior to the championship game in the East regional of the NCAA Tournament between the North Carolina Tar Heels and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 27, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; General view of the elite eight logo prior to the championship game in the East regional of the NCAA Tournament between the North Carolina Tar Heels and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Twitter had some reactions after the Elite Eight field was set

The Elite Eight is here! It may not hold the same weight in name or importance as the Final Four, but the remaining teams deserve heaps of respect for the seasons and tournament runs they’ve put together.

Whenever anything in the world of sports mixes prestige, competition and the earning of respect on Twitter, a massive group of thinkers and trolls comes out of the woodwork to comment on that thing. The Sweet Sixteen is for sure one of those things. Twitter was ready for the challenge tonight.

Let’s not forget how outrageous our path to this particular Elite Eight has been. We have a 11-seed who was a preseason top ten favorite and a 7-seed who’s had perhaps the most difficult path to this round of all. Debate the merits of those teams’ trips here all you want, but that is seriously wild:

Of course, there are also the shoo-ins. Kansas has won its three games by a combined 3 million points, give or take. John Calipari’s Wildcats beat LaVar Ball’s Bruins handily last night, and I’m not sure North Carolina has really broken a sweat since the conference tournament either.

Dickie V isn’t even calling these games, and he’s more excited than any of us. Don’t blame him for misplaying his @ game in the midst of a deep UK-UNC fantasy:

There is also a bit of geographical suspense involved in the later rounds of this year’s Dance:

South Carolina actually might be the tournament’s biggest surprise, led by Sindarius Treadwell, Frank Martin and a solid defense. They are downright scary:

The only explanation for this terrifying meme chicken is that it’s finally an example of what a gamecock is. Otherwise, I’m lost. There’s also no way it’s a coincidence that the chicken meme came out the same week that Mason’s team punished its way to the Elite Eight. Almost no one saw this coming:

Over on the other side of the bracket, the memes are drawing themselves:

Listen, we can joke into eternity, but as you settle into two more evenings of basketball that will be unforgettable, exasperating and everything else between, remember to enjoy this year’s tournament. As is true every year, there has never been anything like it, and there never will be again:

We have Kansas-Oregon and Gonzaga-Xavier tonight, then UNC-Kentucky and Florida-South Carolina tomorrow. Yes.

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