Mt. Pleasant, IA- Sorry Prince Charming, you will have to hold on to that glass slipper for another year as the Final Four is completely populated with #1 seeds. With only 10 upsets throughout the entire tournament, the carriage has turned to pumpkin before the clock even touched 11 pm.
What Happened
All right, that’s enough Cinderella analogies for now, but the sentiment stands. This was not the year to venture outside the seeding. There were more upsets in the first-round last year than this entire tournament. It is also the first time since 2008 and the second time ever that the Final Four is only made up of the top seeds.
Although, there were moments where that notion was challenged in the last two rounds. The Sweet 16 saw #3 Texas Tech overcome the third-largest deficit in Sweet 16 history—16 points, aptly—to down #10 Arkansas in overtime, 85-83.
#1 Florida was down double-digits with about five minutes to play in the second half against those same Red Raiders, but a flurry of buckets later saw the Gators flip the script and come out with the 84-79 victory to advance to the Final Four.
#1 Duke and #1 Houston never trailed in their Elite Eight matchups and #1 Auburn kept two Michigan schools at arms-length to punch their ticket to the Final Four. Overall, entertaining games, just not an entertaining storyline.
Well, at least, not on the hardwood. There is a bit of Cinderella story brewing in KILJ’s Bracket Challenge as Wanda Broeker continued her dominant ways, going 7 for 8 in the Sweet 16 and a perfect 4 for 4 in the Elite 8. This impressive pick ‘em performance kept her solely in 1st place a year after finishing in the middle of the pack.
Terry McWilliams and Alan Buckert were the only brackets to go perfect in the Sweet 16 as Buckert moved up 21 spots in the rankings, tied for the largest move after these last two rounds. Including Broeker, six brackets went perfect in the Elite 8.
This was a very successful two rounds for the bracket challenge as 18 brackets at least picked seven of the eight games correctly in the Sweet 16, leading to a tight finish with three games left to go. Only five brackets out of the 46 cannot score anymore points.
In case you’re dubious of the validity of my statement, 27 of the 46 or 59% of the brackets still have both championship teams in the running. The most popular is Florida versus Duke with 13 brackets having the two face off.
Should be a thrilling day of basketball when the Final Four showdowns tip-off on Saturday, April 5th.
Standings
- Wanda Broeker: 230
- Karen Brimhall: 218
- Lysha Bunnell: 216
- Terry McWilliams: 212
- Aaron Freeman: 206
- Brent Broeker: 204
- Alan Buckert: 204
- Janae Body: 202
- Josh Moon: 202
- Julie Liechty: 200
More
Stay tuned to KILJ for an update on the standings after the Final Four.