Ranking The Best Moments From The NCAA Tournament’s Opening Rounds


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The first weekend of the NCAA Tournament is always one of the best weekends on the sports calendar. There are 48 basketball games scattered over four days, all of which carrying the drama of a “win or go home” scenario.

This year it took some time to get to the drama, as Vegas favorites cruised through the first round for the most part, with the exception of a trio of 11-6 upsets. There were close calls — with Princeton’s missed game-winning three being the closest we came to a buzzer-beating victory — but the first round didn’t offer its usual assortment of massive upsets.

Luckily, the second round picked up the excitement and randomness, with a number of top seeds crashing out of the tournament and some exciting finishes along the way. While not all the biggest storylines have been positive — the insertion of some aggressive refereeing into late game situations has cost Seton Hall and Arkansas opportunities to give us late game excitement — there have been plenty of good things that have happened as well.

In case you weren’t able to lock in for the full 50 hours of hoops, we’re here to help make sure you didn’t miss any of the best moments from the first weekend of the tournament.

Here are the five best things that happened in the first four days of the NCAA Tournament, ranked:

5. SMU’s Semi Ojeleye dunked all over USC

Semi Ojeleye is very good and it’s a bummer we only got one game out of SMU because they’re a really fun team to watch. However, Ojeleye did give us a moment to remember in the Mustangs’ loss to USC on Friday with an absolutely ridiculous putback dunk.

This man, from almost a standstill, jumped over someone and threw down a vicious slam. I can’t comprehend this level of athleticism, but I appreciate him for it.

4. Rhode Island’s bench celebration guy

The bench mobs are always one of the best parts of the NCAA Tournament, especially those from small schools in the early rounds. The bench mob can be a group of players that have choreographed celebrations, or it can just be one guy that gets really into celebrating his teammates’ success, like Will Leviton from Rhode Island.

He’s a delight, and I’m saddened that Rhode Island got bounced by Oregon because I will miss him.

3. Some early onions

While we haven’t gotten a buzzer-beater for the win yet, we have gotten some clutch shots and clutch defensive plays in decisive moments late in games. Sunday night, Oregon advanced past Rhode Island thanks to a three-pointer by Tyler Dorsey that ended up being the final bucket of the game.

Kentucky’s Malik Monk had a huge block late in the game against Wichita State to help the Wildcats avoid going down to the Shockers and keep Kentucky’s season alive.

Wisconsin scored the biggest upset of the tournament thus far, ousting top overall seed Villanova thanks to a terrific baseline drive by Nigel Hayes and a huge defensive stand on Nova’s final possession.

Even with a lack of buzzer-beaters the first weekend has given us plenty of late game drama, great plays and some stunning lapses in judgement (sorry, Vanderbilt).

2. Michigan’s amazing run continued

The Michigan basketball program making it to the Sweet 16 isn’t exactly a Cinderella story, but the Wolverines are, at this point, probably the best feel-good story left in the tournament. Michigan made the field by winning the Big Ten tournament after almost not making it to Washington, D.C. after their plane aborted takeoff and skidded off the end of the runway through a fence. Since then, Michigan has won six consecutive basketball games to reach the Sweet 16, including a tremendous battle with Louisville on Sunday. The Wolverines seem like that special team of destiny, and will get to continue their improbable run next week.

Also, their coach has a water gun.

1. Duke lost, and South Carolina’s tournament legacy was secured forever


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The only people upset about Duke losing in the first round are Duke fans. Even most people that picked Duke to win it all in their bracket will shrug and go “well, it was worth it to see the Blue Devils lose.” The Blue Devils are the most hated team in college basketball, and the collective levels of schadenfreude enjoyed by fans of every other team when Duke loses are unmatched.

Not only did Duke lose, but they did so to a South Carolina team that had never before reached the Sweet 16, and Duke’s Luke Kennard (a very good player, who probably doesn’t deserve this) became an instant meme. Watching Duke go down late on Sunday night was a delightful way to end the first weekend of the tournament.

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