Unfortunately for them, there were some people who had un-good times in the tourney in the first two rounds. However, with two more rounds in the books, here is who’s having the worst NCAA Tournament…so far.
The Best of the Worst
Texas A&M’s Defense
Remember when before their Sweet 16 tilt with Michigan the Texas A&M defense was ranked 8th in the country in Adjusted Defense…yeahhhhhh, about that. Apparently, their defense was unaware what time the game against the Wolverines actually started, because approximately :27 in, Michigan was up 89-2*. It was, in a word, ouch, oof, owie. Now, we’re not astrophysicists, but when you give up 29 points more than your season average, allow 62% from the field, allow 14 3-pointers, and corral 8 less rebounds than your average, it’s probably not going to equate to a good defensive performance nor a W.
* – estimated
Anyone who tried to predict the South Regional
We’re early in the millennium, but to say that the South Regional went off script might be the understatement of the millennium. With all due respect to to the West Regional that had quite a few upsets on its own, picking the winners of the South Regional was like throwing darts in the dark, while blindfolded, left handed, only to take the blindfold off and turn on the lights and find out that you weren’t throwing at a dartboard all along, and instead were at your grandmother’s funeral. It was that bad.
Obviously, we had the first ever #16 seed over a #1 seed, as everyone’s darling UMBC upset Virginia. But the Madness didn’t stop there. You had a darkhorse to win it all, #4 Arizona, get blown out in the 1st round by #13 seed Buffalo. #7 Nevada beat #2 Cincinnati. #11 Loyola Chicago beat #6 Miami, #3 Tennessee, #7 Nevada, and #9 Kansas St. It was wildness all around.
Michigan (-4.5) backers vs Florida State
If you’ve ever bet on sports, you’ve had a bad beat. Chances are, if you’ve bet enough, you’ve had a soul-crushing, keep you up at night, make you question your entire existence, wish you had never been born bad beat. Anyone who got Michigan (-4.5) vs Florida St would fall in that category. It wasn’t the fact that Michigan won 58-54, it was how they won by only 4 points.
The Stage: Florida State, down by 4, misses a 3 with :13 left. Michigan rebounds the ball. The Seminoles then elect to not foul. Granted, the game was probably over. However, :13 is :13. The chances of victory were NOT zero. Then there was the strange postgame interview in which head coach Leornard Hamilton was borderline incensed that he be questioned on not fouling, when the game, however slim a chance, was not a forgone conclusion.
Just an absolute nightmare for Michigan (-4.5) backers. Hard to not feel for them. If you did have them and the hook got you, we have some good news for you: someday you’ll die and it will all be over.
Grayson Allen
Not to many people are going to feel sorry for college basketball’s biggest villain. The guy who plays for Duke and has pastimes of flopping, tripping players, and going insane on the bench. But it’s also hard to say he’s not in the running for who’s having the worst NCAA Tournament…so far.
The Blue Devils (-11.5) favorites vs Syracuse escaped with a 4-point win, in part, due to Allen’s terrible shooting. He went 4-15 from the field, including 3-14 from deep. To prove that was no fluke, in their biggest game of the year against Kansas with a trip to the Final Four on the line, he went 3-13 from the field, including 2-9 from deep. That included a short 10-footer for the game winner. In a game that ultimately was decided in OT, he shot 23% from the field. So in his last two games ever in college, Allen went a combined 7-28 (25%) from the field, including 5-23 (22%) from deep. Almost every fan outside of Blue Devil nation would admit: it couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.
