Busting Brackets
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March Madness: Breakdown of each region for Sweet Sixteen games

By Marcus Washington

CHARLOTTE, NC - MARCH 16: K.J. Maura
CHARLOTTE, NC - MARCH 16: K.J. Maura /
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CHARLOTTE, NC – MARCH 18: The UMBC Retrievers thank their fans after losing 50-43 to the Kansas State Wildcats during the second round of the 2018 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Spectrum Center on March 18, 2018 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
CHARLOTTE, NC – MARCH 18: The UMBC Retrievers thank their fans after losing 50-43 to the Kansas State Wildcats during the second round of the 2018 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Spectrum Center on March 18, 2018 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images) /

South Region

Bracket Busting Team: UMBC (Eliminated)

The only thing that can supersede Sister Jean in this tournament is a 16 seed beating a one seed. Something that has never happened…. until now. Not only did UMBC pull the stunner against the highest rank number one seed in the tournament but they did it by 20 points.

UVA never looked like themselves that night. They looked like a team who panicked when UMBC didn’t wilt early on in the game. Like many has said, it looked a lot like Mike Tyson’s improbable loss to Buster Douglas.

There was a star born out of UMBC’s brief stay and that was Zach Seidel. It was Seidel who was behind some of the best tweets in the history of twitter as UMBC pulled off the biggest upset in tournament history.

The Retrievers played Kansas St. tough but eventually fell 50-43. But, they will always have the honor of being the first 16 seed to upset a number one.

Favorite: Kentucky 

How did John Calipari’s group go from the fifth seed to the favorites? The region has been harder on top-ranked teams than any other. As mentioned, UVA lost to the 16 seed. The number two seed, Cincinnati Bearcats, blew a 22 point lead. Tennessee (three seed) and Arizona (four seed) are also out.

This gives us Kentucky against ninth-seeded Kansas St. This might be tougher than it looks on paper. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is coming off a 27 point game but the Kansas St. defense will be ready for him. Earlier in the season, Kansas St. forced Trae Young into 12 turnovers.

That will be the key for Coach Bruce Weber’s Wildcats. They will need to limit the Kentucky guards offensive output. When the guards are successful, it opens up the baseline shot off the flex cut. Kevin Knox lived off that cut in the win over Davidson.

The key could be how many three-pointers Kansas St. can force Kentucky into. The key number is 20. If Kansas St. can force Kentucky into 20 or more three-point attempts, the game should stay close.

Who Can Knock Off Kentucky?: Nevada

The Wolfpack are led by three juniors, Caleb and Cody Martin and Jordan Caroline. What’s been impressive is they’ve won in two different ways. In their win against Texas. They played a high-pressure game that they were able to force into overtime. In the overtime, they scored 18 points. What’s even more incredible is they were 6-6 from the field in the extra period.

In the Cincinnati game, Nevada was down by as much as 22 before ripping the hearts out of the Bearcats in the last 57 seconds. A three by Caleb Martin tied the game. Josh Hall’s rebound and tough put back in the lane with 9.1 seconds left won it.

Nevada is one win away against Loyola-Chicago from being in the Elite Eight. Having faced adversity in the one and done format will go a long way. Maybe even to the Final Four.

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