Why the Iowa Hawkeyes and Kentucky Wildcats are on sale and everything else we learned on this crazy Thursday March

So how are you? March Madness’s curly braces? A 2022 NCAA tournament provides all the usual opportunities for volatility assigned to many of them. Seed number 2 Kentucky Forest Cata trendy Final Four pick enters the day, losing in shocking fashion to the 15 seed Saint Peter’s Peacocks. The Iowa Hawkeyesstarted an impressive show in the run for the Big Ten tournament title, falling to Atlantic 10 champion and frequent giant killer March Madness Richmond Spider.

There were other surprises – New Mexico State overtook UConn in another 12 vs 5 loss, North Carolina thrashed Marquette in the all-time flop 8 vs 9 – and they provide further proof of all of that. Both the unpredictable things that can happen in a knockout tournament are nothing but good teams.

As we take our breaths from Day 1 of the first round, ESPN executives including Myron Medcalf, Jeff Borzello, John Gasaway and Joe Lunardi considered Thursday’s events and also reviewed the schedule for tomorrow. Friday can bring more Madness.

Follow this link for Number of NCAA tournament tipsand go here to check your March Madness frame.

What happened to Kentucky against Saint Peter’s, and what next to the Wildcats?

For full details on Wildcats historic loss to Peacocks and what’s next for both teams, follow this link.

Before the fall of Kentucky, the Big Ten Iowa champion broke many tables with a loss to Richmond. In your opinion, why did the Hawkeyes continue to fail to make it to the second weekend? Can you give Iowa fans something to feel hopeful about?

Medcalf: Hawkeyes don’t protect anyone very often, and that’s why they’ve ruined my – our – frame again. Fran McCaffery had some solid defensive teams during his early years at Iowa City. But he’s had six straight seasons with shots outside the top 75 thanks to his revised defensive performance on KenPom. That run included three years in a row with 5th place in adjusted offensive effectiveness. Those incredibly balanced teams can do great things in the regular season, but they often fall short of expectations in the post-season. Sure, you have some teams that are great offensively and average defensively already running. But you don’t see a lot of great attacking teams with terrible defensive stats that cut the net. Richmond didn’t attack well, but Spiders had some solid runs to change the game and had a strong finish to seal the victory.

This year it’s Richmond, sixth in the Atlantic 10 rankings. Last year, the Hawkeyes dropped 95 points when they lost by double digits to Oregon in the second round. They lost to Tennessee in extra time, 83-77, in the second round in 2019. Iowa continues to encourage these penalty shootouts, but its defensive challenges create post-season challenges.

The positive for Iowa fans? I think a lot of elite transfers have seen Luka Garza win the Wood Award (nearly two years in a row) and Keegan Murray become the lottery in McCaffery’s offense and would believe they could do the same under that system. But those top talents failed to weather the program’s defensive challenges to help Iowa finish second for the first time under McCaffery.

Borzello: It’s easy to point to Iowa’s poor defense as the reason the Hawkeyes continued to struggle in the early rounds of the NCAA. And it’s certainly true that their offense always outweighs their defense – but it’s not always a fatal flaw. When they were eliminated in early 2015 and 2016, they had a defensive ability that ranked in the top 35 at KenPom. This year, their defensive ranks are similar to last season – but as of February 1, Iowa has a defense that ranks within the top 50 nationally. Not the elite, but certainly enough to pass Richmond. So there is a random number and “March-ness” for the exits.

I mean, look at last year: The Hawkeyes were up against an Oregon team that lost two of their last 13 games and didn’t even play a game in the first leg after VCU was forced to withdraw. It’s also important to note that Iowa has won one game in each of the past four NCAA tournaments, so it’s not like the Hawkeyes have suddenly become another team in Dance. So I guess that’s some reason to be optimistic going forward. At the same time, being 1-2 behind in two NCAA tournaments with the Wood Award winner and second-best player in the country is a pretty bad thing.

Gasaway: March will do whatever it wants every time, and that’s why this tournament is such a great spectator sport. Richmond hosted the game in Iowa with its third underperforming start of the season, and the other two were road games. The Hawkeyes scored 29 3-pointers and made six. According to sports-reference.com, the last time Iowa tried as many 3 balls and hit 6 or less was in January 2020 in Nebraska (4 out of 33). The last time before that was, we don’t know. The database goes back to 2010-11, so we only know that Hawkeyes was less successful in many of these tests just twice in 12 years. One of those times happened to be at the NCAA tournament. Steps are.

Lunardi: This version of Hawkeyes ranks fifth in the Big Ten in terms of defensive effectiveness according to KenPom. That seems to disappear as soon as Richmond connects on its back first, then another and another. The old, lousy Iowa defense is back, lacking floor balance and even basic awareness in the side plays. And Spider-Man may not be made, as their pending matchup against Providence looks pretty even. As for the Iowa fans, what you see is what you get. On a continuous loop.

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Nathan Cayo finished strong in the paint down the street for Richmond in a 67-63 win over Iowa in the NCAA Tournament.

1st seed overall Gonzaga overcame 16th seed Georgia State with 13 minutes left in the second half, before Zags flexed their muscles to win 93-72. What should we take from Gonzaga’s performance?

Lunardi: Not a stroke of luck, especially with a potential Memphis giant killer looming in round two. In November, with pre-season rankings in hand, Saturday’s game could be an encounter with the Elite Eight or the Final Four. I’m more interested in Gonzaga’s ability to deal with the Tigers than his focus on Georgia.

Gasaway: Yeah, I think I’m going with Monsieur Brackets on this one. It was a really, really slow start, but let’s see the final numbers for Chet Holmgren: 19 points, 17 rebounds, 7 blocks, 5 assists and 2 steals. Yes, it was a game against a Georgia State team that not only lacked stature but was also short. However, we’ve seen Holmgren do this against stronger opponents. Speaking of which, I’m really looking forward to seeing Holmgren up against Jalen Duren and Memphis.

Borzello: The biggest thing I learned is that Gonzaga should never fire 3 pointers when it has Drew Timme and Holmgren and the opponent have a player over 6 feet-7 and he is fouling. Timme and Holmgren completely dominated against Georgia State, scoring 51 points, 30 rebounds, 7 assists and 7 blocks. They outperformed the Panthers in paint colors 62-24. But given how Gonzaga looked in the first half and how Memphis looked in the first half of the win over Boise State, Saturday’s game could be closer than people think heading into the NCAA. This will be a big test for Holmgren (and Duren as well).

Medcalf: I think we’ve learned that a really good team can always end up in a battle with a big weaker team in the NCAA tournament, but maybe that’s all. I appreciate Rob Lanier for getting this team ready to compete against the top seeds. For 30 minutes, the State of Georgia will not leave Gonzaga alone. The Panthers took advantage of Gonzaga’s unusually cold offense. And then Gonzaga turned the corner with that spectacular run and we had a typical 16v1 in the first round. What I take away from the last 10 minutes is that Timme and Holmgren are a unique pairing and most teams won’t have two big boys who can challenge them. Georgia State has also experienced what the rest of the field may endure in the coming weeks.

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Chet Holmgren steals the pass and runs down the field to take out 1 and 1 dunk for Gonzaga.

Which game excites you the most on Friday’s schedule?

Medcalf: I prefer LSU, a 6 seed, versus Iowa State, an 11 seed. Kevin Nickelberry is the interim head coach after Will Wade was terminated for reasons last week following the announcement of the announcements. charges against the school. Nickelberry has been a head coach at two schools (Hampton and Howard), but this looks like one of those situations where the Tigers become motivated after all the emotions they’ve been through over the last few years. recent days or they are just down. But they will face an Iowa State team that is also prone to volatility.

Seven of Iowa State’s 12 losses this season have been by 12 points or more. The Cyclones are 8-12 in their past 20 games. But they also have wins over Iowa, Memphis, Xavier, Texas and Texas Tech. Izaiah Brockington (17.2 PPG 7.1 RPG) may well become a household name given the big performance in this game. No idea what to expect from either team and that’s what makes it so appealing to me.

Borzello: Virginia Technology versus Texas. The Hokies ended the season in tears, winning 13 of their last 15 games and fixing defense after defense throughout the season. Texas has lost its last three games in the NCAA tournament and has been erratic in the second half of the campaign. The Longhorns’ defense isn’t quite as stuffy as previous Chris Beard-managed teams, and that will be tested with Virginia Tech, which has shot at least 42.9% from three of three of its four league games. ACC.

I’m also intrigued by LSU and Iowa State, mainly because I wanted to see how the Tigers reacted to Will Wade’s firing last weekend. I don’t think it’s going to be an aesthetically pleasing match, given the teams’ tendency to overturn and miss, but the plot is interesting.

Gasaway: Loyola Chicago versus Ohio State. Never mind the seeds, because the NCAA notebook and even the NET rankings claim this is a change. Can the Ramblers pull off another magical run, just this time led by Drew Valentine? Will the Buckeyes shake off the memory of last year’s shock loss to Oral Roberts in round 64? Loyola played brilliantly defensively as usual, and Lucas Williamson and his teammates will have a reality test on their hands with EJ Liddell. This will appear in the early window on Friday, so we should get answers to all of the above in no time.

Lunardi: Can’t wait for Michigan State and Davidson. It wasn’t just the coach’s match – a pairing between Tom Izzo and Bob McKillop – but also the clash of styles between Sparta’s “let’s hit you” approach and the Wildcats’ offensive perfection. Plus, we have a helpful backstory about the star guardian Davidson Foster Loyer right back to his original team, with which he barely played double-digit minutes.

Regardless of the outcome – and I like Davidson – the winner of this game has a great chance to end Coach K’s career on Sunday against Duke.