The first round of March Madness is in the books, and as always we have a big group of upsets that shook up the brackets.
We may not have had an earth-shattering upset like last year’s UMBC over Virginia, which broke the internet, but March Madness delivered with its upsets. After a slower than expected Thursday, chaos broke out on Friday as upsets started dropping at a fast and furious pace.
These were the biggest upsets from the NCAA Tournament’s First Round, beginning with the Big Ten who came away with conference bragging rights after the first two days with an impressive 7-1 record, although the one loss resulted in one of the biggest upsets. More on that later.
7 – No. 10 Minnesota 86, No. 7 Louisville 76
It was Richard Pitino’s Minnesota squad taking on his father, Rick Pitino’s former school he led to a national championship before fired amid scandal. The younger Pitino came away with the win as Minnesota delivered the first upset of the NCAA Tournament in the first game of March Madness.
6 – No. 10 Iowa 79, No. 7 Cincinnati 72
Cincinnati built a huge lead early, but Iowa cut the deficit to five at halftime and absolutely exploded after the break. The Hawkeyes put up 48 points in the second half, a stunning total against a Bearcats’ team built on a defense that ranked inside the top 20 in the country in points allowed per game. The key for Iowa was explosive shooting, headlined by an 11-22 display from beyond the arc. The Hawkeyes’ tremendous outburst allowed the Big Ten to record its sixth consecutive win to start March Madness, a huge turnaround for the league a year after it only sent four teams to the NCAA Tournament.
5 – No. 11 Ohio State 62, No. 6 Iowa State 59
The Big Ten went 7-1 in the first round after the Buckeyes pulled off the upset win over the Big 12 Tournament champions. This was a great showing for the Buckeyes, with Greg Oden in attendance, as they played tight defense and had just enough clutch baskets to top 60 points and hold out for the win late.