2010 March Madness – Bring on the upsets!

The 2010 March Madness featured eight upsets in the first round alone – including the shocking loss of third-seed Georgetown to the 14th-seed Ohio. The Sweet 16 features four Cinderella teams – Northern Iowa, St.Mary’s, Washington and Cornell.

I can’t help but give teams like Ohio, Northern Iowa, Georgia Tech, Murray St., Old Dominion and Missouri the recognition they deserve in upsetting some of the early favorites in the tourney despite messing up my tourney bracket.

Here are some snippets from the tournament’s biggest upsets:

13 Murray St. stuns 4 Vanderbilt in the West. Murray St. knocked out Vanderbilt in the first round and lost only by two points to Butler in the second. Murray St.’s third option on offense, Danero Thomas, made a 15-footer at the buzzer to lift Murray St. over Vanderbilt.

14 Ohio shocks 3 Georgetown in the Midwest. One of the biggest upsets in tourney history. It was not Ohio’s win that was really shocking, but how they won. Georgetown had no answer for Ohio’s scorching shooting in the first half and proceeded to win by 14 points.

10 St. Mary’s beats 2 Villanova in the 2nd round. St. Mary’s string of surprising wins continued in the second round. It was a close game in the final minutes until Mickey McConnell hit a three with a minute left – from then on the Gaels held on for the win. That kid Omar Samhan can really play – he is averaging 30.5 points and 9.5 rebounds for St Mary’s.

9 Northern Iowa beats 1 Kansas in the 2nd round. The game played as if both teams were ranked closer than they really were. It was a back-and-forth game until Ali Farokhmanesh hit a three-pointer that changed the tide and deflated the Jayhawks. Farokhmanesh also hit the game-winning three in the first round against UNLV. If Michigan St. wants to advance to the Elite Eight someone has to keep an eye on Northern Iowa’s sharpshooter.

With four Cinderella teams in the Sweet 16 expect at least one more upset. This is what it’s all about — teams that mess up brackets, shocking losses, and all-around excitement. Folks, get ready for the Sweet 16, it’s going to be a thrill ride.

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