The third and fourth rounds of the College Basketball March Madness tournament, also known as the Sweet 16 and the Elite Eight, happened this weekend, and made history in doing so. Several things happened that very few predicted, and some that have never happened before. 

This week’s games started on Thursday when Kansas State and Michigan State battled it out in a high scoring game that went into overtime. Both sides had resilient efforts, having to come back from deficits at times throughout the game, but in the end Kansas State was just the better team. When they needed it most, Markquis Nowell scored 19 points and 20 assists to power the Wildcats to the win and send the Spartans home. The next game on Thursday was between Uconn and Arkansas. TheArkansas  Razorbacks were coming into the game confident after their upset over defending champion Kansas on Saturday, but that was quickly shut down when the Huskies dominated the game from start to finish, winning by a score of 88-65 to advance to the Elite 8. The third game of the day had Tennessee and Florida Atlantic facing off for the right to play Kansas State. Tennessee gained a big lead and looked like they were going to run away with the game, but Florida Atlantic came out of the halftime break and dominated the second half to win 62-55 and end a good season for the Volunteers. The last game of the day was between UCLA and Gonzaga. At the beginning of the game, it was very evenly matched, but UCLA looked to be just a little bit better, and by the end of the first half, they led by 13 points. Then Gonzaga rallied out of halftime to take a big lead and put UCLA on the heels of being eliminated. Right when it looked like the Bulldogs were going to seal the win, UCLA came back and put themselves in a great position to win. There were a few minutes of high stress gameplay, but in the end, Gonzaga won 79-76 and advanced to the Elite 8. 

Friday would be the last day of the Sweet 16 and would feature the only remaining number one seeds in Alabama and Houston. The first game of the day was between Alabama and San Diego State, and to everyone’s surprise, San Diego State managed to hold Brandon Miller to just nine points to upset the overall number one seed 71-64 W. Now being the only remaining number one seed, Houston was looking to return to the Elite 8, and with Alabama gone, it didn’t feel like anyone was standing in their way. But that wasn’t the case. Despite Marcus Sasser being able to play, Houston, similar to Alabama, couldn’t play up to their potential as Miami controlled the entire game for an 89-75 win, making history. For the first time ever in March Madness, the Elite 8 will feature no number one seeds. The next game was between Creighton and Princeton, and even though it looked close for a while, Creighton ended Princeton’s miracle run, and the last game of the day happened when Texas handled Xavier seemingly easily to advance to the next round.

The Elite 8 started with Kansas State playing Florida Atlantc, and even though Kansas State was supposed to win, they weren’t playing up to their full potential, and late in the second half, they were down a few points and running out of chances to make it up. They ran out of time, and Florida Atlantic advanced to their first Final Four in school history, winning 79-76 W. Similar to their game against Arkansas, Connecticut dominated the entire time, advancing to the Final Four once again by beating Gonzaga 82-54 W. The last day of the weekend featured San Diego State against Creighton, and white it was close, but San Diego State managed to win 57-56 W, barely surviving to advance to the Final Four to play Florida Atlantic. The last game of the weekend featured Texas, who seemed to be superior to Miami, having a 13 point lead with only 10 minutes left, but then Miami started playing well, and managed to win 88-81 W.

For the first time ever in the Final Four, there are three teams that are making their first ever appearance. The only one who’s been there before is Connecticut. In addition to that, for the first time in history there will be no top three seeds in the Final Four. It’s been a crazy tournament so far, and with three games left, there’s still plenty in store.