Three #12 seeds defeat #5 seeds to kick off March Madness tournament – All 1, 2 and 3 seeds advance
SportsFourteen top-four ranked teams reached the Sweet 16 and three 12th-seeded teams defeated the 5th-seeded during the first two rounds of the 2009 NCAA Basketball Tournament from March 19-22.
Advancing to the Sweet 16 to continue their March Madness offerings were No. 1 seeds Pittsburgh, Connecticut, North Carolina and Louisville, No. 2 seeds Duke, Memphis, Oklahoma and Michigan State, No. No. 3 Villanova, Missouri, Syracuse, and Kansas seeds, and No. 4 seeds Xavier and Gonzaga. Only #4 seed Wake Forest was eliminated by #13 Cleveland State and #4 seed Washington was eliminated by #5 seed Purdue.
The three #12 seeds that defeated the #5 seeds included Wisconsin over Florida State, Western Kentucky over Illinois and Arizona over Utah. Other upsets included #11 Dayton over #6 West Virginia and #10 Michigan over #7 LSU. Only one game went into overtime as #9 Siena eliminated #8 Ohio State in double overtime.
There were two horrible blowouts as #1 Connecticut outscored poor #16 Chattanooga by 56 points, 103-47, and #1 North Carolina outscored #16 Radford by 43 points, 101-58. Connecticut outscored #9 Texas A&M 26 (92-66) in their second contest. In addition to Siena’s double overtime victory over Ohio State, 6 other teams won games by one basket or less. They included Wisconsin, UCLA, Oklahoma State, Marquette, Purdue and Gonzaga. Only Purdue would make the Sweet 16.
Only one double-digit seed, No. 12 from Arizona, would make the Sweet 16. When all 16 seedings are added up, the total of 49 sets a record for the lowest in history, surpassing the previous record of 50 set. in 1989. The place where the top-ranked teams fared worst this year was the Midwest Regional, which saw #4 Wake Forest, #5 Utah, #6 West Virginia, #7 Boston College and #8 Ohio State were eliminated in their first game.
The Big East became this year’s elite conference with an NCAA record 5 teams among the Sweet 16 finals: Louisville, Connecticut, Pittsburgh, Villanova and Syracuse. North Carolina also tied Kentucky for the most NCAA tournament wins (98) with their victory over LSU.
Here are the regional semifinal matchups for the 2009 NCAA Sweet 16 Tournament:
Eastern Region:
#1 Pittsburgh vs #4 Xavier – Thursday, March 26
#2 Duke vs #3 Villanova – Thursday, March 26
West Region:
#1 Connecticut vs #5 Purdue – Thursday, March 26
#2 Memphis vs #3 Missouri – Thursday, March 26
South Region:
#1 North Carolina vs #4 Gonzaga – Friday, March 27
#2 Oklahoma vs #3 Syracuse – Friday, March 27
Midwest Region:
#1 Louisville vs #12 Arizona – Friday, March 27
#2 Michigan State vs. #3 Kansas – Friday, March 27
So who will make it to the Elite 8?
Consider these cold, hard historical facts:
1) When you know that no team less than No. 4 has won the championship for 20 straight years, you might want to eliminate No. 5 Purdue and No. 12 Arizona.
That leaves the No. 1 seeds Pittsburgh, Connecticut, North Carolina and Louisville, the No. 2 seeds Duke, Memphis, Oklahoma and Michigan State, the No. 3 seeds Villanova, Missouri,
Syracuse and Kansas, and #4 seeds Xavier and Gonzaga.
2) Only three of the #1 seeds are likely to advance to the Final 4 as only 70% of the #1 seeds advance to the Elite 8. Odds say Pittsburgh, Connecticut, North Carolina or Louisville will not be among the Elite 8.
3) Surprisingly, only one or two of the #1 seeds have reached the Final 4 in 18 of the last 24 years. Last year was an exception as ALL four #1 seeds reached the Final 4 for the first time ever.
Morehead State eliminated Alabama State 58-43 in the opening game for 64th place in the tournament.
These are the results of the first round of the 2009 NCAA tournament:
Eastern Region:
#1 Pittsburgh eliminated #16 East Tennessee State 72-62
#2 Duke eliminated #15 Binghamton 86-62
#3 Villanova eliminated #14 American University 80-67
#4 Xavier eliminated #13 Portland State 77-59
#12 Wisconsin upset #5 Florida State 61-59
#6 UCLA eliminated #11 Virginia Commonwealth 65-64
#7 Texas eliminated #10 Minnesota 76-62
#8 Oklahoma State eliminated #9 Tennessee 77-75
West Region:
#1 Connecticut eliminated #16 Chattanooga 103-47
#2 Memphis eliminated #15 Cal State Northridge 81-70
#3 Missouri eliminated #14 Cornell 78-59
#4 Washington eliminated #13 Mississippi State 71-58
#5 Purdue eliminated #12 Northern Iowa 61-56
#6 Marquette eliminated #11 Utah State 58-57
#7 California eliminated #10 Maryland 84-71
#9 Texas A&M eliminated #8 Brigham Young 79-66
South Region:
#1 North Carolina eliminated #16 Radford 101-58
#2 Oklahoma eliminated #15 Morgan State 82-54
#3 Syracuse eliminated #14 Stephen F. Austin 59-44
#4 Gonzaga eliminated #13 Akron 77-64
#12 Western Kentucky stunned #5 Illinois 76-72
#6 State of Arizona eliminated #11 Temple 66-57
#10 Michigan upset #7 LSU 62-59
#8 LSU eliminated #9 Butler 75-71
Midwest Region:
#1 Louisville eliminated #16 Morehead State 74-54
#2 Michigan State eliminated #15 Robert Morris 77-62
#3 Kansas eliminated #14 North Dakota State 84-74
#13 Cleveland State upset #4 Wake Forest 84-69
#12 Arizona stunned #5 Utah 84-71
#11 Dayton stunned #6 West Virginia 68-60
#10 Southern California eliminated #7 Boston College 72-55
#9 Siena eliminated #8 Ohio State 74-72 in double overtime
These are the results of the second round of the 2009 NCAA tournament:
Eastern Region:
#1 Pittsburgh eliminated #8 Oklahoma State 84-76
#2 Duke eliminated #7 Texas 74-69
#3 Villanova eliminated #6 UCLA 89-69
#4 Xavier eliminated #12 Wisconsin 60-49
West Region:
#1 Connecticut eliminated #9 Texas A&M 92-66
#2 Memphis eliminated #10 Maryland 89-70
#3 Missouri eliminated #6 Marquette 83-79
#5 Purdue eliminated #4 Washington 76-74
South Region:
#1 North Carolina eliminated #8 LSU 84-70
#2 Oklahoma eliminated #10 Michigan 73-63
#3 Syracuse eliminated #6 Arizona State 78-67
#4 Gonzaga eliminated #12 Western Kentucky 83-81
Midwest Region:
#1 Louisville eliminated #9 Siena 79-72
#2 Michigan State eliminated #10 Southern California 74-69
#3 Kansas eliminated #11 Dayton 60-43
#12 Arizona eliminated #13 Cleveland State 71-57
Copyright © 2009 Ed Bagley