Sometimes, the madness of the NCAA Tournament strikes early. That would seem to be the case with the 2015 edition of March Madness, in which two No. 3 seeds have lost for the first time since 1995.
2015 March Madness bracket: Georgia State stages dramatic upset of Baylor, Arizona rolls
No one thought the 2015 NCAA Tournament would be down two No. 3 seeds by 4 p.m. on Thursday. But it is.
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After No. 14 seed UAB took down No. 3 seed Iowa State in one of the first games of the day, No. 14 seed Georgia State staged an epic 13-0 run in the final minutes against Baylor. The comeback was punctuated with a three by R.J. Hunter, son of stool-bound coach Ron Hunter, that has already produced a moment sure to go down in history -- the elder Hunter, who already tore his Achilles celebrating the team's Sun Belt conference tourney victory, fell off that stool in ecstasy after his son's three dropped to give the Panthers the 57-56 lead that would be the final margin.
That result also opens up the lower half of the South Region considerably. No. 11 seed Mississippi made its own late comeback against BYU in First Four action on Tuesday, and could ride the momentum to the Sweet Sixteen if it can get by Xavier. The Musketeers could be vying for their first Sweet Sixteen trip since 2012, though, and given that they got knocked out by Baylor that year they are probably happy that they won’t have to face the Bears this time.
The drama of the first three games of the day, decided by a total of six points, did not extend to Arizona's 93-72 win over Texas Southern. The Wildcats got 23 points and 10 rebounds from Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, and saw all five starters score at least 12 points, as they eased past the SWAC's NCAA Tournament representative. Arizona began the game on a 15-2 run, led by 21 at halftime, shot better than 60 percent from the field, and generally showed the sort of dominant form that makes them one of this field's most dangerous teams.
As of right now, the top half of the NCAA Tournament bracket looks pretty normal:
But the bottom half? Not so much.
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