March Madness in Full Swing

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Photograph courtesy of Wruf.com

All information up-to-date as of March 25.

March Madness has been in full swing since March 18, when the First Four games took place. All games for the tournament are occurring in the state of Indiana, with a majority of the games being played in various arenas in Indianapolis. Unlike most years, in which games would typically be played in various cities across the country, the NCAA made the decision to hold the games in a central location in order to limit the spread of COVID-19.

Though the tournament is missing many of the Blue Blood schools that normally finish well in the tournament, March Madness has still provided many shocks and disappointments to fans across the United States. From Ohio State (a No. 2 seed) being knocked out in the first round by No. 15 seed Oral Roberts and hometown favorites to No. 1 seed Illinois being bounced by Loyola-Chicago in the second round, the upsets have been plenty this year. The number one overall seed, Gonzaga, continues to dominate the competition and maintain their undefeated record as they beat the first two opponents by over 20 points.

This weekend is the Sweet 16, in which the winners advanced to play in the Elite 8 on Monday and Tuesday of next week. The matchups for the Sweet 16 for the West Region are Gonzaga (1) vs. Creighton (5) and USC (6) vs. Oregon (7). In the East Region, Michigan (1) faces off against Florida State (4), while UCLA (11) tips-off against Alabama (2). In the South Region, the Baylor Bears (1) have a bout against No. 5 seed Villinova, and Cinderella Story Oral Roberts (15) fights to play again against Arkansas (3). Finally, the Midwest Region has 8-seeded Loyola-Chicago against 12th-seed Oregon State and Syracuse (11) fighting for a spot in the Elite 8 against Houston (2).