It’s March, which means spring is in the air, cherry blossoms are blooming here in Washington, D.C., and the weather is warming up. But most importantly, March Madness is upon us.
The NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament, popularly known as March Madness, kicked off on March 18 and March 19 with the First Four in Dayton, Ohio.
The First Four consisted of two games determining the No. 11 seeds in the South and Midwest region and two games determining the No. 16 seeds in the same respective regions. The University of North Carolina demolished San Diego State University 95-68 to nab the No. 11 seed in the South region, while Xavier University pulled away late from the University of Texas 86-80, earning No. 11 seed in the Midwest region.
In the contests for the No. 16 seeds, Alabama State University used a stunning Hail Mary out-of-bounds play call to overcome St. Francis University 70-68 to earn the No. 16 seed in the South region and face off against Auburn University, the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament.
To conclude the action in Dayton, Mount St. Mary’s University held off D.C.’s own American University 83-72 to set up a date with the East’s No. 1 seed and national title favorite Duke University. American University felt the loss of star graduate student and first-team all-Patriot League big man, Matt Rogers, who left the game after badly injuring his knee midway through the first half.
The first weekend of the tournament kicked off shortly thereafter, with the first and second rounds taking place March 20 through March 23. In recent years, we have been accustomed to stunning upsets and the development of Cinderella stories, but thus far, the 2025 tournament has produced little shock value. Of the teams in the Sweet Sixteen, only the University of Arkansas has a double-digit seed (No. 10 seed in the West region), but the Razorbacks have one of the most talented rosters in the country and come from the heralded Southeastern Conference (SEC), making them hard to classify as a Cinderella story.
In the first round alone, the top 16 seeds went a combined 16-0, meaning no teams seeded No. 13 or higher advanced to the second round of the tournament for the first time since 2017. However, two No. 12 seeds, Colorado State University and McNeese State University, were able to upset their respective No. 5 seed matchups, Memphis University and Clemson University, before bowing out in the next round.
McNeese State’s student manager, Amir “Aura” Khan, a senior at the school, has been the closest thing to a Cinderella story so far. Khan, who went viral after walking out and rapping along with songs like “In & Out” by Lud Foe in front of the team with a large boombox during McNeese’s run to the title in the Southland Conference tournament, became an overnight sensation. He quickly became the first student manager to sign name, image and likeness (NIL) deals when he signed with Buffalo Wild Wings, TickPick and Insomnia Cookies.
McNeese’s 69-67 upset win over Clemson in the first round only took Khan to new heights, as Under Armour gifted him a custom jumpsuit with “Aura” emblazoned on the back and the McNeese State cheerleaders wore socks and then shirts with his likeness on them. Renowned college basketball broadcaster John Fanta even interviewed Khan after the first-round victory.
Shortly after McNeese’s exit from the Big Dance, Head Coach Will Wade signed with the North Carolina State Wolfpack to become their new head men’s basketball coach. Khan is expected to follow Wade to his next stop and become a graduate manager with the program.
Although the first round of the tournament produced no notable upsets, the second round had a litany of terrific contests that came down to the wire. The biggest upset of the tournament thus far came when No. 2 seed St. John’s University, the Big East champions who were in the midst of a historic season under legendary Head Coach Rick Pitino, fell short against No. 10 seed Arkansas Razorbacks 75-66. The Red Storm, who entered the contest at +2500 odds to win the national championship, could not overcome a remarkably poor shooting performance, as the team shot just 28% from the field and 9.1% from beyond the arc.
Elsewhere in the second round, Auburn faced a stern test by No. 9 Creighton University, but ultimately used a late second-half push to prevail 82-70 and advance to play No. 5 seed University of Michigan in the Sweet 16.
Fellow No. 1 seed and SEC heavyweight the University of Florida used a pair of clutch second-half 3-pointers from All-American guard Walter Clayton Jr. to sink the University of Connecticut (seeded No. 8 in the West region) 77-75. The Huskies, the two-time defending national champions, saw their modern day record-tying streak of 13 consecutive NCAA tournament wins come to an end, and the result was a fitting conclusion for a team that struggled to piece it fully together on a nightly basis this season.
In games that came down to the wire, No. 2 seed Michigan State University was able to stave off the University of New Mexico, the Mountain West regular season champion and No. 10 seed in the South, 71-63 in an ugly affair.
The Spartans, led by Hall of Fame Head Coach Tom Izzo, advanced to the Sweet 16 for the 16th time in Izzo’s career and will be the favorites in their Sweet 16 matchup vs. the University of Mississippi Rebels.
The tournament finally got its first buzzer-beater when University of Maryland’s star first-year center Derik Queen heaved up a game-winning jumper to sink Colorado State’s upset bid 72-71. The Terrapins, who are led by their starting lineup nicknamed the “Crab Five,” were put in a precarious position after Colorado State’s guard Jalen Lake hit a clutch 3-pointer from the right wing to give the Rams a 71-70 advantage with just seven seconds to go. After a quick timeout, Maryland inbounded the ball and quickly got it to Queen, who drove down the left baseline and hurled a jumper off the glass to stun the Rams and the nation.
The Sweet 16, which will take place Thursday, March 27 and Friday, March 28, will be made up of teams from just four conferences: the SEC, the Big Ten, the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and the Big 12. The SEC set a record with seven teams from the conference earning a place in the Sweet 16, followed by the Big Ten and Big 12 with four and the ACC with just one: Duke.
This weekend on CBS and TBS, starting Thursday evening, crowds will find out who will be heading to San Antonio to play for a national championship in the Final Four.
