85 Expansion Day 3 Update - The Madness We Want

The first day of the round of 32 brought us the madness we deserve in this tournament, albeit the madness we didn't want in the NY/NJ area, as the biggest upset of the day saw Italian on Italian crime with Arkansas upsetting St. John's. The first half of the game was some of the most physical basketball I've seen in this century, one that had Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith applauding at halftime, giving a nostalgic feel. However, on a personal complaint, that atmosphere changed in the 2nd half which was incredibly difficult for the players to adjust to borderline 90s era basketball to "a soft hand check is an off ball foul." Not only was it the upset the people didn't want, but John Calapari being a Cinderella simply does not fit, even if he is a 10 seed. Regardless, Texas Tech will have quite the test with Arkansas likely having their leading scorer Adou Thiero return from injury for the sweet 16. The Red Raiders avoided a minor upset in Drake (Jonathan, still got your pun in), sending Ben McCollum off to Iowa and the people's Cinderella packing.

We had two fantastic games in BYU beating Wisconsin by 2, and Houston beating Gonzaga by 5, but was a shot away from an overtime game. Two games down to the final possession is what we wanted to see. BYU ended up being the bigger story with the 6/3 upset over Wisconsin. A shout out to Rob D, Cameron, Rob K, and Carly for picking that upset. Houston holding on vs Gonzaga should be no worry, as the Zags had a top 5 offense and top 30 defense in the country. That was bound to be a test for the Cougars, and they kept Chris Puder and Joey's bracket hopes alive as they have Houstin winning it all.

Tennessee won by 9 but the game was never that close, leading by as much as 20 during certain points of the game, and Purdue did handle McNeese with ease as Will Wade AND Aura Kahn will pack their bags to NC State. Our only other games were Auburn over Creighton, which was close in the first half but the Tigers pulled away in the second half, and Michigan gave the finger to everyone who said UCSD was going to upset them by beating Buzz Williams and going to the sweet 16. They're both football schools, no one cares about them.

The second round had HUGE bracket shakeups. Lelia and Rob each had 6 of 8 correct games, catapulting them to the top representing the central Jersey crew (Piscataway & Freehold- is that Central? I'm still new here... I don't even know if Morristown is north or central). Ryan had a fantastic 5 games, but lost his Johnnies as the champion, so his only hope is to root for absolute chaos here on out.

Casey and Carley lost two of their final 4 teams, Casey losing his championship matchup overall. Thankfully they are much better at MEP Certification than Bracket Certification... but given their brackets, that's like calling someone a division 3 national champion... you're okay at best.

The Clouser Household are the only people here I predict to be happy at St. John's losing, as their road (both the Gators and their actual road, I heard the flights were already booked) to San Antonio just got a little easier, and their bracket odds a little better with Katherine in sole possession of 4th place.

A strong take from the halftime crew was that with the NIL deals, we may not see as many upsets in the first round as before. HOWEVER, I have a counter - due to NIL, most teams aren't recruiting out of high school anymore but other colleges. So we will see upsets, but then those players transferring immediately to bigger programs for more money, we just need to still let the tides settle from the NIL chaos that is still so new.

Games to Watch:

Florida vs UConn is currently on. Just like Gonzaga was a test to Houston, UConn's 2x championship experience should be a great game and test for Florida.

Illinois vs Kentucky at 5:15 is the closest line at Illinois actually being favored by 2.5 points.

Last chance for a Cinderella is Colorado State vs Maryland at 7:10PM, and we will see if Colorado State can continue their now 11 game win streak.

Enjoy the last games of the weekend and we'll see where we stand heading into the Sweet 16! As always double check your scoring as it is all manual.

Rory F Beglane

Founder of the 85 Expansion Bracket Challenge

Villanova Enthusiast

0 Time Bracket Winner