It is officially nearing the end of March, which means the weather is getting warmer, spring has begun, and most importantly, March Madness is heating up.

Every year, the tournament has a feeling to it that differs from any other sporting event, and this year it is especially electric with all of the storylines throughout the bracket. One of the most notable of these headlines is that it is the final tournament for Duke’s Coach K, who is the winningest coach in men’s college basketball history and is regarded as one of the greatest basketball minds of all time. Although they had a bit of a disappointing season headed into the tournament, No. 2 seeded Duke is looking to help their coach go out cutting down the nets one final time, led by their star freshman Paolo Banchero. 

Along with Duke, many other top teams are looking to prove themselves, including Baylor, who is hoping to repeat its success after last year’s impressive title run. Another team in the spotlight has been the Gonzaga Bulldogs, who has become one of the best programs in college basketball but still has yet to win a national championship. They came close last year, but ultimately fell short in the title game. This year, star forward Drew Timme has returned and is accompanied by projected top-3 pick center Chet Holmgren, and the two stars have made the Zags the favorite to win it all. 

Headed into the round of 64, there were bound to be some upsets, but one in particular busted a lot of brackets (including mine). The No. 2 seeded Kentucky Wildcats, led by legendary coach John Calipari and standout junior transfer center Oscar Tschiebwe, were set to face off against No. 15 St. Peter’s. I had Kentucky going all the way, as its roster looked like it could have been the most talented in the whole tournament, but the Peacocks shut that down very quickly and ultimately pulled off the upset 79-85.

Another notable game from the first round was between the Richmond Spiders and the Iowa Hawkeyes. While Iowa was ranked as just a No. 5 seed, it was one of the hottest teams headed into the tournament and many people believed its ranking was disrespectful. Well, disrespectful or not, Iowa cooled down at the worst time and was ultimately bested by No. 2 Richmond. 

As the tourney rolled into the second round, there were no perfect brackets left and madness was in full effect. Immediately out of the gates in the round of 32, things were no different as the deafening champs and No. 1 seed Baylor Bears fell to No. 8 seed UNC in a very controversial game. There were some questionable calls down the stretch, but ultimately UNC advanced and ended any chance for a repeat. However, the top story of the second round belonged to the Peacocks once again, as St. Peters won its second game of the tournament to advance to the Sweet 16, making them just the third No. 15 seed ever to do so. The remainder of the second round didn’t have any other major news, as many of the favorites were still dancing.

The Sweet 16 saw some incredible matchups, as top teams began to get knocked out one by one. The No. 1 seed Gonzaga Bulldogs saw their season cut short surprisingly early, as the No. 4 seed Arkansas Razorbacks secured an impressive win led by star senior guard J.D. Notae. Additionally, the Wildcats fell in the third round to the Houston Cougars, leaving the Kansas Jayhawks as the lone No. 1 seed in the tournament. 

Despite that, some incredible teams were able to make it to the Elite Eight with the Jayhawks, including the No. 2 seed Villanova Wildcats coached by Jay Wright. Nova has won two titles in the last decade, and looks to add a third as they cruised past Michigan behind some elite defense and energy. Joining the Wildcats in the Elite Eight is Duke, as Coach K propelled his team over a tenacious Texas Tech squad. The Blue Devils got off to a rocky start in the game, but their young group was able to bounce back after freshman Jeremy Roach put on an offensive clinic in the second half, along with freshman phenom Paolo Banchero and sophomore big Mark Williams. 

While all these distinguished programs moved on, the spotlight was barely on them as the nation’s attention had shifted to the Cinderella run of St. Peters. They were up against No. 3 seed Purdue, led by guard Jaden Ivy, who many believed to be the best player left in the tournament. Despite this, the Peacocks did not seem to care, as they were determined to make history, and their win secured them as the first No. 15 seed ever to make the elite 8. Additionally, No. 10 seed Miami and No. 8 seed UNC earned impressive wins as well to keep them alive.

The Elite Eight was now set, with matchups ranging from a No. 15 seed vs. a No. 8 seed, a No.1 seed vs. a No. 10 seed and a No.2 seed vs a No. 4 seed. So, there was a lot of variety in these matchups, but seeding pretty much is out the window at this point as all these teams have shown they were worthy to be in that position. 

The first game on the schedule was Villanova vs. Houston. After Houston’s win against top-seeded Arizona, they looked to defeat their second Wildcats team in a row, but Villanova wasn’t going to let that happen. Despite poor shooting and worse numbers in nearly every category, Jay Wright was able to lead his team to the Final Four. 

The second game on the schedule was Duke vs. Arkansas. This was a similar story, as Arkansas had just defeated the favorites in the tournament and were looking promising to go all the way. Unfortunately for them, they would have to go through Coach K, who had just received his 100th tournament win. Clearly, he was not satisfied with just 100, as the Blue Devils punched their ticket to the Final Four in a very impressive victory. 

The other half of the Elite Eight games were not quite as interesting, with two blowouts by the higher seeds. Kansas looked dominant in a 26 point win over Miami, and St. Peters’ incredible run came to a disappointing end vs. No. 8 seeded UNC. This sets up the Final Four, with Kansas set to face off against Villanova and Duke to play its biggest rival, UNC. It seems like a potential storybook end for Coach K’s career, but the Tar Heels won’t make it easy, as they already handed Duke a loss earlier in the year.

Regardless of what goes down, this tournament has already become an instant classic. Personally, I am going with the Blue Devils to go all the way, but we will find out next Monday, April 4, who will be cutting down the nets.