Not a single perfect bracket has survived through what’s been a wild first weekend of March Madness. No. 5 seed Oklahoma’s blowout win over No. 12 seed Portland in the NCAA Women’s Tournament on Saturday busted the remaining perfect CBS Sports women’s brackets. This coming just a day after all perfect men’s brackets burst into smithereens.
No. 16 seed Fairleigh Dickinson’s upset of No. 1 seed Purdue on Friday night was the game that busted the remaining perfect men’s brackets on CBSSports.com. FDU’s win was just the second 16-1 upset in NCAA Men’s Tournament history.
And even before FDU’s big upset, entering Friday’s NCAA Tournament action, only 0.002 percent of the men’s brackets on CBSSports.com were perfect.
That percentage actually dropped to 0.001% when No. 3 seed Xavier narrowly held on to beat No. 14 Kennesaw State, 72-67. But in reality, it’s not exactly shocking that zero perfect brackets remain, given the amount of chaos that Day 1 of March Madness ended up producing.
Thursday’s two biggest upsets came in the South Region.
In just the second game to tip off, No. 13 seed Furman was able to take down No. 4 seed Virginia in what was one of the most shocking endings in recent memory. In the final seconds, Virginia’s Kihei Clark was trapped by the Furman defense and attempted to heave the ball down the court in an effort to run out the clock. However, Furman was able to intercept Clark’s pass and JP Pegues connected on a game-winning three with just 2.2 seconds left to give the Paladins the 68-67 upset victory.
Later on Thursday afternoon, brackets were further busted when No. 2 Arizona was upended by No. 15 seed Princeton 59-55. It was a tight contest throughout, as the Tigers only trailed by a single point at halftime despite facing the Pac 12 Tournament champions. Arizona raced out to a 51-41 lead with eight minutes to go, but Princeton didn’t throw in the towel. Instead, the Tigers finished the game on a 9-0 run and kept the Wildcats scoreless over the final 4:44 of the contest.
The women’s tournament has been as unpredictable as the men’s one thus far. Georgia, Mississippi State, South Dakota State, Princeton, Miami, Florida Gulf Coast and Toledo have all won their opening-round games despite being the lower-seeded teams.
Remember: they call it March Madness for a reason.
