We could call Friday “Giant Slayer Day”, at least on the Men’s side of the Tournament. In addition to the big one, the crushing defeat of Virginia (picked by many as the top seed to win the whole thing) by University of Maryland, Baltimore College, a historically Black College known more for turning out Physicians, Ph Ds., Cyber Spooks and Chess Grandmasters than NBA Hall of Famers, there were 5 lesser remarked upsets- Marshall, Butler, Kansas State, Syracuse, and Florida State.
Umm… that’s over a Third, 37.5% to be precise.
Only one Men’s team scored a Century (as opposed to 3 on the Lady’s side) and that would be Xavier (told you they had a cool name).
Friday’s Results
| Seed | Team | Record | Score | Seed | Team | Record | Score | Region |
| 7 | Texas A&M | 21 – 12 | 73 | 10 | Providence | 21 – 14 | 69 | West |
| 2 | Purdue | 29 – 6 | 74 | 15 | CSU Fullerton | 20 – 12 | 48 | East |
| 4 | Wichita State | 25 – 8 | 75 | 13 | *Marshall | 25 – 10 | 81 | East |
| 2 | Cincinnati | 31 – 4 | 68 | 15 | Georgia State | 24 – 11 | 53 | South |
| 2 | North Carolina | 26 – 10 | 84 | 15 | Lipscomb | 23 – 10 | 66 | West |
| 7 | Arkansas | 23 – 12 | 62 | 10 | *Butler | 21 – 13 | 79 | East |
| 5 | West Virginia | 25 – 10 | 85 | 12 | Murray State | 26 – 6 | 68 | East |
| 7 | Nevada | 28 – 7 | 87 | 10 | Texas | 19 – 15 | 83 | South |
| 8 | Creighton | 21 – 12 | 59 | 9 | *Kansas St. | 23 – 11 | 69 | South |
| 3 | Mich. St. | 30 – 4 | 82 | 14 | Bucknell | 25 – 10 | 78 | Mid West |
| 1 | Xavier | 26 – 8 | 102 | 16 | Texas Southern | 16 – 20 | 83 | West |
| 4 | Auburn | 26 – 7 | 62 | 13 | Charleston | 26 – 8 | 58 | Mid West |
| 1 | Virginia | 31 – 3 | 54 | 16 | *UMBC | 25 – 10 | 74 | South |
| 6 | TCU | 21 – 12 | 52 | 11 | *Syracuse | 22 – 13 | 57 | Mid West |
| 8 | Missouri | 20 – 13 | 54 | 9 | *Florida State | 21 – 11 | 67 | West |
| 5 | Clemson | 24 – 9 | 62 | 12 | New Mexico St. | 28 – 6 | 58 | Mid West |
Do we have favorites? Of course we have favorites.
Even though State is my pick for the Finals I just can’t help rooting for the ‘Cuse. Fortunately Richard is parked at Stars Hollow North Lake this weekend otherwise there might be grunts, I’ve given up on being included in the Will.
UMBC for sure because who hates on Cinderella? Xavier because cool name duh and from an aesthetic standpoint I wonder how the Tiger/Tiger matchup will work itself out.
| Time | Network | Seed | Team | Record | Seed | Team | Record | Region |
| 12:10 pm | CBS | 2 | Purdue | 29 – 6 | 10 | Butler | 21 – 13 | East |
| 2:40 pm | CBS | 3 | Mich. St. | 30 – 4 | 11 | Syracuse | 22 – 13 | Mid West |
| 5:15 pm | CBS | 2 | North Carolina | 26 – 10 | 7 | Texas A&M | 21 – 12 | West |
| 6:10 pm | TNT | 2 | Cincinnati | 31 – 4 | 7 | Nevada | 28 – 7 | South |
| 7:10 pm | TBS | 4 | Auburn | 26 – 7 | 5 | Clemson | 24 – 9 | Mid West |
| 7:45 pm | True | 9 | Kansas St. | 23 – 11 | 16 | UMBC | 25 – 10 | South |
| 8:40 pm | TNT | 1 | Xavier | 26 – 8 | 9 | Florida State | 21 – 11 | West |
| 9:40 pm | TBS | 5 | West Virginia | 25 – 10 | 13 | Marshall | 25 – 10 | East |