Iowa and Kentucky Upset in 1st Round of NCAA Tournament
They don’t call the NCAA Basketball Tournament March Madness for nothing, and Day 1 of the first round of this year’s tournament is a perfect illustration of that.
In Buffalo, the Midwest #12 seed Richmond Spiders took on the fifth seeded Iowa Hawkeyes, who were a 9 ½ point favorite. While Iowa’s program has done well in the Big 10 conference in recent years, they have not had much success in the NCAA tournament. In Iowa’s last 16 tournament appearances, dating back to 1989, the Hawkeyes advanced out of the second round only once, back in 1999 when they lost in the Sweet 16 round. Richmond, on the other hand, has often been a giant killer in its 10 appearances in the tournament. As a 12 seed in 1984, Richmond beat #5 Auburn. In 1988, 13th seeded Richmond beat #4 Indiana and #5 Georgia Tech. The Spiders pulled off a rare 15-2 upset when they beat Syracuse in 1991. As a 14 seed in 1998, they beat #3 South Carolina. In 2011, the Spiders again were a #12 seed and knocked off #5 Vanderbilt and #13 Morehead State.
Now, in their first appearance in 11 years, the Spiders again took down a higher seed, beating Iowa 67-63, keeping up that reputation as giant killers. Iowa continues its dubious reputation as an underachiever in the NCAA tournament.
One of the more elite college basketball programs of all time is that of the University of Kentucky. The Wildcats are a perennial power house in the SEC and have won eight NCAA championships. The ‘Cats are making their 60th all time appearance in the tournament in 2022. The #2 seed in the East Region began its quest for a ninth title against #15 Saint Peter’s, based in Jersey City, New Jersey and a member of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. The Peacocks were making just their fourth appearance in the tournament, and had lost in the 1st round in each previous appearance. Kentucky was an 18 ½ point favorite.
Apparently, no one told the Peacocks they were supposed to be cannon fodder for the Wildcats. The score was tied 37-37 at halftime. St. Peter’s Doug Edert tied it at 71-71 on a basket with 24 seconds left in regulation, sending it to overtime. The Peacocks would not be denied, outscoring the Wildcats 14-8 in the extra five minutes to emerge with their biggest win in program history, an 85-79 win over Kentucky. This was just the 10th time since the tournament field expanded to 64 teams that there has been a 15-2 upset.
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Mark, your first sentence is so correct. Watching Kentucky and Iowa go down yesterday was a shock to me especially Kentucky. I’ll be watching the games today to see what top ranked teams fall next if any. One can never predict these outcomes.
I forgot to mention the #12 New Mexico State upset of fifth seeded UCONN, but that was another first round shocker.
Mark, I never understood that ranking. New Mexico had only lost 6 games regular season. UCONN lost 9 games regular season. New Mexico also won more games than UCONN regular season. Kentucky and Iowa had a better season than their respective opponents so I can call those upsets. But the way New Mexico was seeded baffled me. Am I missing something?
The NCAA uses something called NET Rankings to evaluate teams, and one of the more important aspects of that is the concept of quality wins and losses. Essentially, a Quadrant 1 win against a highly rated team is good, while a Quadrant 4 loss (to a low ranked team) is bad. This explanation at the NCAA’s Website explains the NET Rankings and Quadrants. UCONN is also a member of the Big East, considered a very good basketball conference and as a result six teams from the conference were selected. The WAC isn’t a powerhouse basketball conference and only New Mexico State, the conference champion, made it in. But as we have seen, the better teams from under the radar conferences can, and do, pull off big wins in the tournament.
Mark, Thank you so much for clarifying my confusion. I get it now. I always wondered about the Tournament ranking and/or seeding system.