WATCH: University of Dayton President crowd surfs down the street to celebrate the Flyers making it to the Sweet 16
The drama of “March Madness” has lived up to the hype this year with several jaw-dropping upsets that have not only left millions of basketball fans speechless but also puzzled over their busted brackets. Gone from the tournament are big names like Duke, Kansas, Syracuse and Ohio State after they were outplayed by teams making a case to be this year’s Cinderella teams. Three teams that have made a strong case to be the darlings of the tournament are the Midwest Region’s 14th seed Mercer Bears, the South Region’s eleventh seed Dayton Flyers and the tenth seed Stanford Cardinal.
The Bears pulled off the tournament’s biggest upset knocking off No. 3 seed Duke on Friday. No one had expected the Bears to have a fighting chance against the Blue Devils let alone make it to the round of 32, beating a team many had expected to make a deep run in the tournament. The team made up of seven seniors used their experience as a weapon against Duke whose offence ran through freshmen and potential NBA draft prospects Jabari Parker and Rodney Hood. However, Mercer’s journey to the big dance was short-lived as they were knocked out by a strong Tennessee squad on Sunday.
The Flyers managed to edge sixth seed Ohio State on Thursday and outlasted third seed Syracuse on Saturday night breaking the hearts of thousands of Orange fans in attendance at the First Niagara Centre in Buffalo. The unexpected win over Syracuse gives the Flyers their first trip to the Sweet Sixteen since 1984.
The Cardinal booked their tickets to the round of sixteen after getting victories over seventh seed New Mexico and second seed Kansas. Stanford’s stifling defensive effort left Canadian phenom Andrew Wiggins and the rest of the Jayhawks frustrated and they never seemed to recover from their lacklustre start in Sunday’s game. Most had expected the Jayhawks to make a deep run in the tournament with some picking them to go all the way. And while some might not think of Stanford as a Cinderella team, their effort so far has gotten a lot of attention including that from some of the big names left in the tournament.
The Cardinal will face the Flyers on Thursday for a shot at the Elite Eight and you can guarantee that the team that makes it through will not be taken lightly.
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