Sunday brought madness for Cinderella teams and sadness for others including No. 2 Baylor falling to 10th seed South Dakota and No. 10 Creighton shocking No. 2 Iowa.
The action continues Monday with a slate of evening games in the women’s bracket starting at 4 p.m. ET. No. 1 seed NC State tips off the eventful evening, playing No. 9 Kansas State. The night ends with last year’s national championship runner-up, Arizona, hosting North Carolina in 4-5 matchup.
Monday’s games will determine which teams advance to the Sweet 16, which begins March 25. Eight women’s teams already punched their tickets on Sunday.
NCAA Tournament bracket:Follow March Madness
Stay up-to-date:Subscribe to our Sports newsletter now!
Follow along for all the action on Monday in the men’s and women’s NCAA Tournaments:
And we’re off…
Monday’s action is officially underway, as No. 9 Kansas State is looking to upset the No. 1 seeded NC State Wolfpack. For the Wildcats to do so, they’re likely going to need a big day from center Ayoka Lee, who set the NCAA single-game scoring record with 61 points in a January game against Oklahoma.
“I haven’t really ever played with a post player as talented as Yokie, believe it or not,” freshman point guard Serena Sundell said recently. “It just makes it hard for defenses to have to choose if they want to guard inside (or) guard our guards.
“They struggle most of the time to guard her with one player, so it helps me get some assists.”
If Sunday was any indication of what’s to come, buckle up
A pair of historic upsets shook the women’s bracket Sunday, with two No. 2 seeds dropping their games — both against No. 10 seeds.
The first of the day was Creighton, which pulled off a shocker in Sunday’s first gameslaying mighty Caitlin Clark and Iowa, 64-62, on the Hawkeyes’ home floor. Creighton advances to its first Sweet 16 in school history.
The second was South Dakota taking down Baylor 61-47 in a game that wasn’t as close as the final score indicated. The Coyotes never trailed, and led by as many as 16 in the third quarter.
— Lindsay Schnell and Nancy Armor
Are you not entertained? If not, the problem isn’t women’s basketball. It’s you.
Can we finally be done with all the silly stereotypes, USA TODAY Sports’ Nancy Armor asks?
As ratings have risen, attendance has grown and more sponsors have signed on, the fragile male egos who can’t handle the idea of women’s sports being mainstream have fumbled around in desperate search of a new excuse to knock the NCAA Tournament. The latest, that there are no upsets and that the tournament is too predictable, went down in a flaming heap Saturday.
Or maybe those flames were from all the brackets that are now toast after a day when utter chaos reigned.
Six double-digit seeds advanced to the second round, one shy of the NCAA Tournament record, and third-seeded LSU needed a furious rally to withstand what would have been a historic upset. Belmont, in shades of the Gonzaga and Butler men’s teams two decades ago, advanced to the second round for a second consecutive year with a double-overtime win over fifth-seeded Oregon.
But, please, tell me again how this tournament isn’t exciting.
— Nancy Armor
feeds.feedblitz.com
George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism