As March Madness approaches its end, something stands out in the tournament. The Pac-12 has dominated in the tournament, and the Big 10 has stunk it up.
In the first round from the Big 10, Purdue and Ohio State, both lost in upsets. The first came in 15 seed Oral Roberts beating number 2 seed Ohio State, and the next occurred with number 13 seed defeating number 4 seed Purdue. For Ohio St, it seems as though they did not know what they were getting themselves into. For Purdue, the advantage they had from their bigs was unbelievable, but still could not get it done. No teams can underestimate anyone: it is called Madness for a reason.
In the second round, number 2 seed Iowa lost to number 7 seed Oregon. This was a travesty as Luka Garza, one of the best bigs in college basketball, could not get any help from his teammates. It seemed as if they came out flat and expected to win. The Pac-12 Oregon Ducks begged to differ and came out with some fire to play them and never thought they were going to lose that game. In a bigger upset, r 1 seed Illinois lost to number 8 seed Loyala Chicago. Not only lost, actually but got pummeled: 71-58. With Illinois as one of the overall favorites, coming up short in the second round made for a big surprise. This curse on the Big 10 has made for something ridiculous.
For Pac-12 fans, this tournament is probably a fantastic year. Number 12 seed Oregon State came out guns blazing to beat number 5 seed Tennessee, taking the lead and never looking back. Then in the second round, they ended up beating number 4 seed Oklahoma State, with arguably the top college basketball player this year. Heading to the sweet 16, they then beat number 8 seed Loyala Chicago. The Beavers were on a roll and a fun team to watch. However, their time had come when they played Houston and lost, despite coming back towards the end.
USC big win over Kansas. Kansas could not hang with USC. The Trojans ended up winning 85-51. The last Pac-12 team to remain as the number 11 seed UCLA Bruins. In their sweet sixteen games, they had to play number 2 seed Alabama and beat them 88-78. After that, they faced number 1 seed Michigan in the elite 8, had to get to work on them to win 49-51. Johnny Juzang and Bruins are a force to be reckoned with. There must be something different in the Pac-12 water because they have been putting on a show, especially now that the Bruins have made it to the Final Four.
