Survive and advance: First-day upsets set the table for March Madness

WICHITA, Kan. — It isn’t labeled March Madness for nothing.

The first day of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament didn’t pass by without surprises. But with Friday presenting another full day of games for the men and the beginning of the women’s tournament, it’s not out of the question for more provoked gasps by the results.

During the final minutes of 11th-seeded Drake University’s upset win over the sixth-seeded University of Missouri Tigers, the Drake Bulldog fans at INTRUST Arena chanted “Overrated SEC.”

Despite losses by the SEC’s Missouri Tigers and Georgia Bulldogs in the preceding game, Auburn as one of Thursday’s two No. 1 seeds in action still held up the strength of the conference.

The SEC sent a record 14 of its 16 teams to the NCAA men’s basketball tournament this season. Auburn advanced after an 83-63 victory over Alabama State. From the SEC, Texas A&M and Tennessee also advanced.

The University of Houston was Thursday’s other No. 1 seed to move forward in the 68-team bracket with a win over SIU-Edwardsville, 78-40. Since the NCAA tournament’s seeding system began in 1979, a No. 16 seed has knocked off a No. 1 seed only twice.

Despite the one-sided result of the Houston’s win over SIU-Edwardsville, Houston coach Kelvin Sampson still believes schools from the lesser-known conferences such as the Ohio Valley Conference, of which SIU-E is a member, should still be included in the field.

When talking about the NCAA selection committee, Sampson said, “The people that sit in these back rooms and try to make decisions on kids’ experiences, some of those people forgot where they came from.”

Sampson added, “Most of these low mid-major conferences are one-bid leagues and you never know if you can catch lightning in a bottle.”

Missouri, however, fell to a team under the first-year leadership of Ben McCollum, a coach who had four NCAA Division II national titles to his credit from within Missouri. McCollum coached at Northwest Missouri State University for 15 years before taking over the Bulldogs.

Drake, the only team representing the Missouri Valley Conference, advances to the second round for the first time since 1971.

“I kind of expected this. I did,” said McCollum after the Bulldogs’ first-round win. “I’d be lying if I said I didn’t. I know I’ve tried to be humble in other ones, but man I believe in these kids.”

The day’s biggest upset took place in Providence, Rhode Island, where No. 12 McNeese State from the one-bid Southland Conference stunned fifth-seeded Clemson University, 69-67. It was the first NCAA tournament win for MSU in program history.

Oddly enough, MSU coach Will Wade has already reportedly agreed to a deal to become the head coach at North Carolina State after the conclusion of the NCAA tournament.

At a time when one-bid leagues absorb the losses, Drake and McNeese State were the first-day exceptions.

On Friday, two-time defending champion Connecticut, as a No. 8 seed this year, squares off against another omnipresent SEC team, in this case, the newly-added Oklahoma Sooners.

The first full day of games in the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament will also stir up the madness associated with March. Debates have already been underway on whether UCLA or the University of South Carolina deserves the overall No. 1 seed.

Now it’s time for each team to prove it on the court as the women’s teams vie for an eventual trip to Tampa for the Women’s Final Four.