The women’s division’s dream of a perfect bracket was all but dashed.
All but one of the NCAA tournament’s field was eliminated in just two games in the second half of Monday’s second round after more than a dozen Yahoo Sports users went undefeated.
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While one team was eliminated after Louisville beat Alabama, most were eliminated after Virginia staged a wild comeback in double overtime to reach the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2000.
The Cavaliers defeated No. 2 Iowa 83-75 in double overtime in a second-round game Monday afternoon in Iowa City. Kymora Johnson scored 28 points and Paris Clark had 20 points and seven rebounds in the marathon game.
Virginia had to fight for survival throughout the tournament. They beat Arizona State by two points in Thursday’s First Four game before taking a first-round overtime lead over Georgia. This marks the program’s second trip to the NCAA tournament in the past 16 seasons and the first time the team has competed in the second weekend since 2000 when Debbie Ryan was still running the program. The Hawkeyes, on the other hand, have now lost in the second round of the tournament several years in a row.
As a result, 10 of the remaining 11 brackets were eliminated. That leaves us with just one.
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The tournament got off to a very slow start, with only 55 brackets filled by Yahoo Sports users making it past the first round. Those numbers quickly dwindled on Sunday, however, thanks in part to Minnesota’s buzzer-beater against Ole Miss. This alone eliminates over 35 brackets and reduces the count to under 20 for the first time.
The men’s team lost all of its perfect lineup on Saturday. After only six players advanced to the second round, Texas eliminated the rest with an upset win over Gonzaga.
Now, actually completing a perfect stand is an essentially impossible task. That’s part of the fun of the NCAA tournament. But maybe next year, we’ll actually have some users reaching the second weekend of the tournament. For now, everything depends on one.
