One of the most prominent basketball programs in the nation didn’t dance for very long as Buffalo upset the Arizona Wildcats.
There weren’t many people who thought Arizona would be facing an early exit in the NCAA Tournament. A 13 seed had only ever beaten a No. 4 seed 26 times before Thursday night. As a matter of fact, only 9.8 percent of brackets had the Buffalo pulling off the upset in their brackets on ESPN.
The 9.8% of people that picked Buffalo to upset Arizona right now... pic.twitter.com/HxhW3XDOgt
— ESPN (@espn) March 16, 2018
The funny thing is the score may not have even been indicative of how lopsided the game truly was.
All the rumors that have swirled around head coach Sean Miller might come to a head after this embarrassment. Not only is there the whole FBI probe but he’s getting some heat just for how he coached the team as well.
Sean Miller’s getting fired tomorrow right?
— Mark Ennis (@MarkEnnis) March 16, 2018
So, when Arizona loses this, is Larry Scott buying a drink for Sean Miller or is Sean Miller buying a drink for Larry Scott?
— Lindsay Schnell (@Lindsay_Schnell) March 16, 2018
It hasn’t been a good season for Pac-12 sports in college postseason play either, as they had a very poor showing in football during bowl season.
"They won't mention your 1-8 bowl season if you go winless in the NCAA tournament" - Pac-12 pic.twitter.com/g6LksLDHdY
— RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) March 16, 2018
It’s potentially a very long road ahead for the Wildcats. Not only could they be facing hiring a new coach, all five starters from their team this year are all gone at the start of 2018. There’s a lot to unpack from one of the weirder seasons in recent college basketball history.
Over-under on Arizona’s next NCAA Tournament appearance: 2021
— Dan Wolken (@DanWolken) March 16, 2018
The obituary on Arizona season could be novel-sized.
— Matt Norlander (@MattNorlander) March 16, 2018
If this Arizona beatdown continues, the FBI is going to wiretap Buffalo's phones tomorrow and find all the discussion is about wings, snow removal and how to pronounce Scajaquada.
— Dan Wetzel (@DanWetzel) March 16, 2018
Perhaps the biggest reason we should have seen this upset coming is when Skip Bayless tweeted he had the Cats cutting the nets down and winning it all.
I'm picking Arizona to win it all as a 4 seed because of Deandre Ayton, who at 7-1 has NBA superstar potential. Plays so hard and smart for his age. Maybe I'm expecting too much too soon, but he's easily the best player in this tournament.
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) March 15, 2018
This is truly a stunning loss on a lot of levels. Not only did many experts predict that Arizona would go deep in the tournament, they have the potential number one pick in the NBA Draft, Deandre Ayton. Arizona won the Pac-12 tournament and were heavily favored to make the Sweet 16, at minimum. Maybe it was all the distractions at the end of the season that piled up.
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Regardless of what issues Arizona had, the Buffalo Bulls deserve full credit for beating them soundly. This was no fluke victory at the buzzer. This was a well-deserved win by the better team.