An incredible first round of the 2016 NCAA Tournament has done more than just bust your bracket — it's blown up the roads to the Final Four many teams had before them, and created some very favorable circumstances for certain teams.
March Madness 2016: Teams that now have the easiest NCAA Tournament roads
Let’s look at who has benefited from this year’s historic level of upsets.Watch on YouTube | Subscribe to SB Nation on YouTube
Take No. 3 Utah, for example. The Utes had a loaded bottom half of the Midwest Region bracket to deal with coming into March Madness, with No. 2 Michigan State lurking and No. 6 Seton Hall coming in off a brilliant run in the Big East Tournament. But No. 11 Gonzaga took care of the Pirates, No. 15 Middle Tennessee State upset the Spartans and No. 10 Syracuse thumped No. 7 Dayton, giving the Utes a chance to make the Elite Eight without ever seeing a single-digit seed. Even though Gonzaga isn't your average No. 11 seed, that's a gift.
No. 2 Xavier, too, is the beneficiary of chaos. No. 3 West Virginia’s vaunted press is no longer part of the East Region, and while No. 7 Wisconsin’s grinding style isn’t a low hurdle to the Sweet Sixteen, both No. 6 Notre Dame and No. 14 Stephen F. Austin are theoretically lesser challenges at that level.
For more on the easy roads created by chaos in the 2016 NCAA Tournament, watch Ryan Nanni and Dan Rubenstein discuss the games so far and what’s to come in “Wake Up, College Basketball!”
See More:
