2024 March Madness Upset Update
It’s that time of year again. College sports fans try to make their perfect bracket and predict the outcome of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, only for their perfect plan to inevitably fail. This first round of March Madness was no different, as there were a ton of upsets that nobody expected in the first and second rounds.
Both the first and second rounds of the tournament were held this past weekend, and one major upset that took place was No. 13 Yale upsetting No. 4 Auburn in the Spokane, Washington regional. Yale was the Ivy League champion, defeating Brown with a buzzer-beater in the championship game by Matt Knowling. Yale had a rally after being down 10 in the middle of the second half, as their defense was stiff in the 78-76 victory. This marks the second year in a row that the Ivy League champion had an upset in the tournament. Princeton did the same in last year’s tournament against both Arizona and Missouri, and made the Sweet 16, where they would lose to Creighton. Yale would lose to No. 5 San Diego St. in the second round of the tournament.
Another surprising upset in the tournament came in the hands of Oakland University out of the Horizon League. They upset basketball-powerhouse No. 3 Kentucky in the first round 80-76 in the Pittsburgh regional, as they got their first win in the tournament in program history. Also in Pittsburgh, No. 11 North Carolina State upset No. 6 Texas Tech 80-67. NC State won the ACC Tournament as the No. 10 seed, stunning No. 1 seeded North Carolina, as the first double-digit seeded team to win the ACC Tournament championship. Oakland and NC State would face each other in the second round and would go into overtime, where NC State would have the upper hand 79-73. In this bracket, the winners will be playing Sweet 16 in Dallas.
Other notable upsets were No. 11 Duquesne upsetting No. 6 BYU in the Omaha regional, and in the Pittsburgh regional that will have the winners going to Sweet 16 in Detroit, No. 11 Oregon upset No. 6 South Carolina. Oregon and no. 3 Creighton went into double overtime in the second round before Creighton would eventually win.
This coming weekend, 16 teams will be fighting to go into the Elite Eight round as matches will be taking place in Boston, Detroit, Dallas, Glendale, and Los Angeles. All matches will either be on CBS or TBS this weekend, so check your local listings.
