By Seth Douglas

It is March Madness when what you think will not happen doesn’t, and what you dont want to happen does. In the 2023 Men’s March Madness, the unthinkable has happened repeatedly. 

Most noticeably, this year, the Purdue Boilermakers, one of the four number 1 seeds, went down dramatically against 16th seed Fairleigh Dickinson University 63- 58 in Columbus, Ohio. 

The Boilermakers have a candidate for national player of the year in center Zach Edey, who averages 22 points and 12 rebounds, winning the Big Ten regular-season title and the Big Ten conference tournament. This was not the expectation or the goal to exit so early. 

Coming into this match, all the advantages were in Purdue’s favor, but FDU came in as the underdog and embraced it even more, led by native Ohio point guard Sean Moore. They were making it uncomfortable for Purdue to run their offensive through Edey and forcing them to be a perimeter-based team. Not able to handle or overcome the full-court press and active, hands-on defense down the stretch of the game, and poor shooting from the field, the Boilermakers were sent home packing. 

Another seed with high hopes coming into this tournament was the defending national champions, Kansas Jayhawks. They have been missing their head coach Bill Self since the start of the Big 12 conference tournament due to illness. They were going up against 8th-seeded Arkansas, a proven and battle-tested team. They were lipping into this game, missing some key players as well.  

You couldn’t ask for more of a back-and-forth game with highs and lows. Momentum changes from one team to another, and foul trouble, you name it. One thing you can say is that both sides didn’t give up. Arkansas pulled the upset 72-71 with an impressive performance by guard Davonte Davis, 25pts eight rebounds to advance to their second consecutive Sweet Sixteen appearance.  

Updates as of March 29, 2023: 

For the first time in the tournament’s history, no top-3 seeds will be playing NCAA Men’s Final Four. It will also be the first time since 1970 that three teams will appear in the Final Four for the first time in their program’s history. The Florida Athletics University, Miami, FL, and San Diego State will be making their first appearances, while UConn attempts to win their fifth championship.

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