March Madness has officially ended, and with that starts the ultimate recap of the 2024 edition. Presented by yours truly, Nest Network. This article will sum up each round in the tournament and the events that transpired in them, including upsets, blowouts that are too huge not to talk about, and any other notable events throughout March Madness. Let’s begin.
First Round:
The first round kicked off on the 21st of March with Michigan State beating Mississippi State 66-51, Creighton beating Akron 77-60, and North Carolina beating Wagner 90-61. Pretty normal start to a very normal tournament… Oh wait, upsets such as Duqesne beating BYU, Oregon beating South Carolina, and NC State beating Texas Tech allowed for most fan brackets to be broken on the first day of the tournament. But wait, the first day wasn’t even over before 14-Seed Oakland beat 3-Seed Kentucky 80-76 in a game that has the potential to be upset of the tournament. People may wonder if Kentucky truly has what it takes to win it all, considering the loss to St. Peters in the 2022 bracket and now the Oakland loss. Not a good look for the Wildcats.
Day 2 of Round 1 wasn’t as eventful as day 1, with most of the tourney favorites playing that day. UConn blew out Stetson 91-52, and Houston blew out Longwood 86-46. But upsets such as Yale edging out Auburn, James Madison curb-stomping Wisconsin, and Colorado beating Florida 102-100 in the waning seconds of the game would break the last few perfect brackets remaining, marking back-to-back years of no fanmade bracket making it out of the first round without some damage.
Second Round:
The second round would start somewhat slow without a single big upset, and only one real blowout where Gonzaga would hit the gas against Kansas to win 89-68. The biggest game would end up being a double overtime thriller between Creighton and Oregon, Creighton stood the test of endurance, exploiting the tired Ducks and winning 86-73.
Day 2 saw more traditional madness with two hundred point showings from Purdue and Houston who have a chance to meet in the Final Four if they keep going, and Duke’s thorough rinse of James Madison. San Diego State and UConn would also win their games and move on to face each other in a rematch of last year’s National Championship game.
Sweet Sixteen:
By far the most turbulent round in the tournament so far, the Sweet Sixteen featured any type of game imaginable, blowout, expectation, thriller, you name it, there was a game for it. Notable matchups would include the rematch of last year’s title game where UConn would again blowout San Diego State, this time 82-52. A thriller of a game between Alabama and North Carolina that would culminate in a Crimson Tide win 89-87. And perhaps most shockingly 11th seeded NC State beating No. 2 Marquette to seemingly keep their Cinderella story alive. The other big upset would come with Duke’s 54-51 over #1 seed Houston.
Elite Eight:
The Elite Eight kicked off on March 30th and it is hard to say that any of the games had anticipated outcomes, besides maybe UConn’s dominant 77-52 blowout over Illinois. Alabama would beat Clemson 89-82 to end day one of the Elite Eight, but don’t be sad, because day two was the undisputed better of the two. It would start with Purdue beating Tennessee 72-66 in a classic 1 vs. 2 matchup. It would end with NC State again upsetting a clear betting favorite in Duke in a 76-64 game. While not as turbulent as the previous Sweet Sixteen round, there were as always some shakeups and results that made way for an interesting Final Four.
Final Four:
The Final Four games were both played on April 6th, with both being really good games for once. Purdue played NC State, the latter tying notable teams such as 2021 UCLA and 2011 VCU as the lowest-seeded teams to ever make the Final Four. Despite putting up a fight, Zach Edey’s 20-point double-double would put Purdue ahead and NC State just couldn’t manage to get it going. NC State would fall to the Boilermakers 63-52, putting an end to their Cinderella run. However, they now have something to build on for next season, look out for North Carolina State, because there may be vengeance brewing. In the second of the two games, UConn surprisingly faced some struggles against Alabama, trailing 40-44 at halftime. Alabama was holding its own against the Juggernaut Huskies, but UConn would go on to outscore the Crimson Tide 42-32 in the second half to win it 86-72. Traditionally a football school, Alabama in recent years has shown that they can compete in basketball as well. Should be fair to expect them to be highly ranked next year come tourney time.
The National Championship:
In the final game of this year’s March Madness, the UConn Huskies would play the Purdue Boilermakers in one of the more hyped natty games in recent memory. Purdue entered the game with a 34-4 record, and UConn entered with a slightly better 36-3 record. It’s easy to say that this would be a battle of the titans. What happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object? This game would decide it. UConn and Purdue would engage in a struggle for the lead that lasted for nearly the whole 1st half, but UConn would use a 10-5 run to take a 36-30 lead going into halftime. Thought Purdue would come out and take the lead right back? Well think again. UConn would bury the Boilermakers in the 2nd half and it just seemed like nothing would work for Purdue. Zach Edey used a 37-point double-double as a reason to keep fighting, but it simply wasn’t enough to overcome the deficit put on them by the Huskies. UConn would end the second half outsourcing Purdue 39-30, and they would win back-to-back titles, becoming the first team since the Florida Gators in 2007 to accomplish the feat, with a blazing 62-11 record during the stretch of their championship seasons. UConn is a red-hot force in college basketball at the moment, and it’s hard to see them slowing down, especially now that they have a goal to become the second team in NCAA history to 3-peat, with the first team being UCLA who won seven straight from 1967-1973.
And that’s the end of the 2024 edition of March Madness, which as always lived up to its title of ‘Madness.’ We saw many upsets, a 2 round confusion of who this year’s Cinderella would be, and most importantly a rare feat in which a team has won back-to-back titles. The only question is, who will win next year? Probably not who you think or pick. Find out next time on March Madness.
