Many people tune into March Madness because of the chaos. It’s in the name. They were sorely disappointed on Friday.
Favorites have won in all 16 of the NCAA Tournament’s first-round games on Friday, from No. 1 seeds Florida State and Arizona State to No. 9 seeds Utah and Iowa State. Before you notice that a No. 9 seed beating a No. 8 seed is an absolute upset, please note that we’re talking about the spread at BetMGM.
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According to ESPN’s David Payne Purdum, this is the first time since March 19, 1992 that a first-round favorite has gone undefeated.
Utah State and Iowa were both favored and won in the tournament, giving them a sweep of the ninth seeds in four games in the first round. This is the sixth time since the tournament was expanded in 1985 that the ninth seed has achieved a 4-0 record, including 1989, 1994, 1999, 2001 and 2019.
Here’s how each match went down, along with the most popular ones:
Overall, the favorites outscored their opponents 12-4, with Virginia, UCLA, Kansas and UConn all unable to tie. Meanwhile, Florida State is experiencing its biggest blowout in the NCAA tournament since 1963.
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That’s not to say there’s no drama, though. Just look at how Kentucky forced overtime.
Even though Friday was the chalkiest of days, there were only six perfect brackets left in Yahoo Sports’ Bracket Challenge.
It was a familiar story for the women’s team that day as well, as the betting favorites went 15-1 on day one. The only upset was No. 7 North Carolina’s win over No. 10 Tennessee, which it won by 1.5 points despite being the seed. The higher-ranked team won all 16 games.
