by Chris Williams, Reporter

Following Notre Dame’s unbelievable buzzer beater three-pointer to claim the NCAA Women’s National Championship in an exciting 61-58 win over Mississippi State the night before, the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament ended in less exciting fashion on April 2, 2018 as the Villanova Wildcats dominantly won in a 79-62 blowout over the Michigan Wolverines in what most college basketball fans realize should not have been the “proper” matchup in the national championship game.

The 2018 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament will forever be remembered as one of the most, and perhaps the most, exciting and unpredictable NCAA tournaments of all time. From the first tip-off on the very first night of play, fans all throughout the country were treated to true excitement, or agony in some cases, from the get-go as the upsets began, the brackets busted (something that my bracket was all too familiar with), and the Cinderella teams made unexpected runs deep into the closing stages of the tournament. Some of the major talking points of this year’s tournament included a 16-seed, UMBC, not only defeating but destroying a 1-seed, the top ranked team in the entire country and tournament, Virginia Cavaliers, in the opening round for the first time in history, the 11-seed Cinderella that captured America’s heart, the Loyola-Chicago Ramblers, knocking off higher ranked opponents in every game, some at the buzzer, to advance all the way to the Final Four, the 4-seed Arizona Wildcats falling by twenty points to 13-seed Buffalo on the opening night, and the defending National Champions, 2-seed North Carolina Tar Heels, being sent back home to Chapel Hill in the second round after a dominant performance by the 7-seed Texas A&M Aggies. That’s just to start.

The night before the tournament began, I stayed up late filling out what I believed to be my well thought-out and invincible perfect bracket while also creating a preview of the tournament with all of my thoughts, predictions, upsets, and things to watch out for. Being the die-hard fan that I am, I proudly predicted the 2-seed Duke Blue Devils to be crowned 2018 NCAA Men’s Basketball National Champions over their bitter Tobacco Road rivals, the North Carolina Tar Heels, and to be the team to cut down the nets in San Antonio around 12.00 AM ET on April 3. Along with this I also predicted that three ACC teams (Duke, North Carolina, and Virginia) would reach the Final Four, and no 1-seed would reach the championship game. For upsets and bracket busters, I predicted that 5-seed West Virginia would upset 1-seed Villanova in the Sweet Sixteen, 3-seed Tennessee would advance to the Elite Eight, and I also noted that teams like 11-seed Loyola-Chicago, 7-seed Nevada, and 6-seed Houston could be possible Cinderella picks, although I did not pick any of them to go on that type of run.

After watching and studying basketball instead of doing my homework for months on end, picking my bracket, and creating a preview of the tournament, absolutely nothing that I had stated came true. Duke was a just fraction of inch away on a last second Grayson Allen bank off of the backboard that hit the rim twice from beating Kansas in regulation and advancing to the Final Four, but ultimately was dominated in overtime by a MVP performance by Malik Newman that sent the 1-seed Kansas Jayhawks to San Antonio and sent Coach K’s Blue Devils back to the “Bull City.” Out of the four teams that advanced to the Final Four, I had an astounding total of zero of them in my bracket, and, in fact, a 1-seed advanced to the championship game and cut down the nets unlike my predictions. As for my upsets and bracket busters, West Virginia advanced to play Villanova in the Sweet Sixteen but fell short and Tennessee did not make it past the second game after losing to Loyola-Chicago on a buzzer beater taken near half court. Although I said that Loyola-Chicago could make a deep run in the tournament, I did not predict in my bracket and, of course, they advanced to the Final Four. I guess that’s just what makes March Madness as magical as it always is.

I’m not the only one whose bracket was covered in red ink by the time Villanova hoisted the trophy. No one could possibly have ever went through all of the time and effort I did this year to create my bracket, but Jim Thorpe senior, Ian Montelius, also had his bracket busted in the end. However, he was the closest person that I know to have correctly predicted the Final Four.

Montelius stated, “Out of my final four teams, I had Villanova, Kansas, and Michigan correct, but of course I never predicted Loyola. I picked Kansas to win, but the team that busted my bracket the most was Buffalo. It made sense, since they were a hot team, but I had Arizona and Kansas in the final.” If only he would have chosen Villanova over Kansas and Michigan over Arizona.

At the end of the day, with all of the bracket talk finished, it hurts me to say, yet again, that Villanova was ultimately crowned the 2018 NCAA Men’s Basketball National Champions, and I’m sure that all of the Philadelphia sports fans in Jim Thorpe were absolutely thrilled at the sight of the Wildcats’ second national championship in the past three years.

Needless to say, I am already looking forward to and making way too early predictions for the 2019 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. With the top three recruits and the ninth overall ranked recruit in the nation being introduced into the program this upcoming season, my way too early prediction to cut down the nets next March (actually early April) are, you guessed it, the Duke Blue Devils.

I’m sure that I’ll find myself, this time at college, staying up late the night before to fill out my bracket just to have it busted yet again, but having a perfect bracket is not truly about March Madness is about. Support your team through and through and enjoy every second of the magic that is the tournament because before you know it, it will all be over.

Nevertheless, it was an amazing year for college basketball, and, without a doubt, it will be just as well next season. Good luck a year in advance with all of your bracket predictions for next season.