We’re 10 days into March, and we’ve already seen a fair share of madness.
Unranked Florida, which has teetered on the edge of the rankings in recent weeks, blasted 16th-ranked Alabama by 18 points on March 5. On the same day, UNLV beat a ranked San Diego State team, which lost again on Friday against Boise State at home, while Washington won at 18th-ranked Washington State on March 7.
Saturday brought its fair share of upsets. Kansas State downed sixth-ranked Iowa State. Tulsa beat 24th-ranked USF (South Florida). Fifteenth-ranked Kentucky beat fourth-ranked Tennessee, and Texas Tech topping 11th-ranked Baylor.
The most surprising upset of the day happened as the clock ticked into Sunday in much of the nation, and it could have a major effect on the UNC men’s basketball team ahead of the NCAA Tournament.
USC, which is tied for the second-worst record in the Pac-12, upset fifth-ranked Arizona 78-65. Former Tar Heel Caleb Love suffered through one of his worst shooting performances on the season, scoring just two points on 1-of-10 shooting.
Heading into the weekend, Arizona was being talked about as a potential 1-seed in the NCAA Tournament, while North Carolina was being touted as a 2-seed.
UNC won its sixth-consecutive game last night and clinched the ACC regular-season title at Duke. Combined with the Wildcats’ disappointing loss at USC, there’s a very good chance the Tar Heels could swap seeds with Arizona in the next round of bracketology. North Carolina could make a strong case with a great showing in this week’s ACC Tournament. Its first game will be in Thursday’s quarterfinals at noon ET.
Regardless of where UNC ends up, there’s no denying it’s one of college basketball’s hottest teams at the right time.
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