There have been 48 games over the past four days to watch, and we can’t blame you if you didn’t have time to watch all of them. You have a life to live, we understand that. So, if things like “work” and “family” kept getting in the way of your hoops binge, here are the 10 best things you missed during the Madness’ opening rounds, ranked from pretty-crazy to gosh-dang-insanely-crazy.
10. Duke And Yale Meet For A Sweet 16 Spot
the thing about duke and yale is [takes a deep breath] booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
— “Mark Berman” (@markberman) March 17, 2016
Alright, so there’s no specific moment to go along with this. But if you missed their game on Saturday, you missed one of those rare moments on the Internet when everyone agrees on something — in this case, how obnoxious graduates of both schools are perceived to be. If it were possible for both teams to get a loss, we would have given a kidney to make it happen.
9. Pep Band Dance-Offs
Yes, we mock the band members who cheer for their teams so hard they get heartbroken when the ride is over. But let’s focus now on the celebrators, those band member who know your turn at the Dance could end at any moment, so you’d best enjoy it while you can.
8. Rico Gathers’ Block On A Yalie
Speaking of Yale, Baylor forward Rico Gathers’ rejection of Nick Victor was one of the top highlights of the first day. The Bears would ultimately lose, which was followed by Taurean Prince providing the best off-the-court moment with his hilarious press conference answer.
7. Cincinnati Buzzer-Beating Dunk That Wasn’t
But really, this is Cincinnati sports for you in one vine https://t.co/jhYsUuQ1Hz
— paco (@AllaireMatt) March 19, 2016
This came SO CLOSE to being the most bad-ass buzzer beater of all time. A dunk! Slam it in as the horn sounds! The lights explode! RAAAAARRRRRGHHHH!!!
Unfortunately, that’s not legal. Even if you’re dunking the ball like a boss, the act of dunking means your hands are still on the ball, which means you didn’t get the shot off before the buzzer. But let’s be honest with ourselves and ask what are we even DOING all of this for if you can’t slam it in at the buzzer?!
6. Texas A&M Pulls Off A Comeback For The Ages
This was almost truly unbelievable, even as we watched it happen. The Aggies were down 14 with 44 seconds to go, and even in the college game where the athletes aren’t so great at free throws, that seems insurmountable. But then a turnover happened. Then another. Then another. The pressure mounting and mounting for Northern Iowa. They took it to overtime, and then A&M finished the job.
5. Iowa Buzzer Beater Against Temple
Aw yeah, here we go. This was the first true buzzer-beater of the tournament, coming in overtime no less. Just because it ain’t flashy doesn’t mean it’s not exciting.
4. Notre Dame Tip-In Beats Stephen F. Austin
All America asks is to have ONE true Cinderella make a deep run in the tournament, and the Fighting Irish had to blow our best chance. And they didn’t even do it in a cool buzzer-beating way, like Northern Iowa, instead they volleyball’d the rock around for awhile until a lucky tip-in finally went though.
3. Middle Tennessee State Stuns Michigan State
Ignore the fact that Middle Tennessee got stomped in the second round against Syracuse, it had already done something 63 other teams didn’t think was possible by beating Michigan State, the favorite to win the whole dang thing. That’s the magic of March.
2. Wisconsin Hits A Buzzer-Beating Three To Beat Xavier
Back and forth game, coming down to a final shot at the buzzer? And he hits it fading away into his own bench?! Yes. YES. YES!
1. Northern Iowa’s Half Court Heave At The Buzzer
This is amazing. If you ever have someone tell you that college basketball isn’t as exciting as the NBA, show them this clip. It’s got an underdog, not well-known nationally against the biggest athletic department in the college sports. It’s got two buzzer-beaters in one! Let’s not forget how exciting it was seeing Texas carry the ball up the court, down a basket, wondering if they were going to lose to an underdog. And he sinks the shot! And for a second, just a second, you think Oh man, Texas almost blew it to a 14-seed. At least they can pull it together in over– and then that shot. Man, that shot. That shot is the reason we tune into the NCAA Tournament every single year, and it never disappoints.
