Iowa State to the Sweet Sixteen
by Matt Lucas
It has been no secret that this year’s edition of March Madness has been a memorable one, to say the least. If I could pick my bracket all over again, I think I’d put more faith in T.J. Otzelberger and the Iowa State Cyclones.
I’ve been cheering for the Cyclones since I was a young tyke, and while I did have them winning their first game, I now deeply regret not picking them to beat Wisconsin to reach the Sweet Sixteen. Next time, I’ll put a little more faith in the Cardinal and Gold.
Richmond over Iowa
by Jonathan Michel
As the first Round of 64 game was finished, I immediately experienced regret – a familiar feeling when picking my brackets.
I honestly did not put any faith in the Richmond Spiders, who snatched a NCAA Tournament bid from what ended up to be their conference-mate, Dayton, by winning the Atlantic 10 conference tournament just hours before the selection show. I didn’t even pick them once in the eight brackets I filled out.
As someone who’s followed Illinois basketball for over a decade, it took a strong reversal of my conscience to pick the Hawkeyes. While it was a mature decision, it ended up not being the right one.
Arkansas over Gonzaga
by Mason Klemm
A March Madness upset that I wish I had picked would have to be the Arkansas Razorbacks beating the Gonzaga Bulldogs. I correctly picked Arkansas to make the Elite Eight last season, so I should’ve trusted that the “Muss Buss” would get it done again. This year, I didn’t even have them winning their first game.
They grinded out a tough SEC schedule, defeating teams like LSU, Kentucky, Tennessee and, most importantly, Auburn when they were the No. 1 team in the country. Gonzaga had some hiccups this year in non-conference play and they were not as dominant as year’s past. In hindsight, it was obvious.
Richmond over Iowa
by Colten Kahler
If there is one game that I want back this year when I picked the NCAA Tournament, it would be the Iowa Hawkeyes’ loss to Richmond. I should have known that the Hawkeyes would choke in the big moment, because that is what Big Ten champions have done lately. I had Iowa going far in many of my brackets and they turned out to be frauds.
