March Madness 2014 Bracket Live, Predictions & Scores: Upsets Abound as Top Seeds Enter Round of 32
March Madness is living up to its name.
Outside of the court, there have been rumblings and rants about the seedings, which is nothing new. Duke University's coach, Mike Krzysewski, voiced his opinion on the quality of play in the A-10 conference earlier during an ESPN interview, questioning why the league had six entries led by Virginia Commonwealth University. VCU's coach, Shaka Smart, responded by saying that nobody had a right to compare the performance of teams in another league. He compared it to someone saying that one's daughter was cuter than someone else's.
Later in the day, Duke got upset by Mercer, 78-71. Likewise, VCU was also upset by SF Austin, 77-75, putting that debate to rest.
In the second round, the Mercer win was a big upset, but it was not the only one. Gonzaga, although seeded higher than Oklahoma State, was considered the underdog in their game, but was able to pull it out, 85-77.
Sixth seeded Ohio didn't get the breaks they needed in their game against state rival Dayton seeded 11th, losing by a point, 60-59. Other upsets included 10th seed Stanford winning against 7th seed New Mexico, 58-53; and 12th seed Harvard in a 61-57 win over 5th seed Cincinnati. In the Midwest bracket, 11th seed Tennessee routed 6th seed UMass, 86-67. Tennessee will meet Mercer next in a game of underdogs.
After the first round, there have been no perfect regional brackets. This is characteristic of a hectic single elimination bracketing tournament. There should be some more upsets in the round of 32, although the major surprises will have passed.
Teams to watch that are still on the board include perennial rivals Kentucky and Louisville, Michigan State, Texas, UCLA and Tennessee. These contenders should be able to give top seeds Wichita State, Virginia, Arizona and Florida some pause. Other games worth watching are those of Stanford, Harvard, Gonzaga, Wisconsin and N. Dakota State.