Iowa's Stunning Upset Of No. 1 Florida Caps Off Thrilling First Weekend Of March Madness

The Florida Gators will not beryllium repeating arsenic nationalist champions.

The Gators, nan No. 1 seed successful nan South Region, exited nan men’s NCAA Tournament successful nan 2nd information aft a 73-72 nonaccomplishment to nan No. 9 Iowa Hawkeyes.

After trailing by arsenic galore arsenic 12 points successful nan 2nd half, Florida led a furious comeback, taking a 72-70 lead aft 2 Isaiah Brown free throws pinch nether 10 seconds to go.

Then came nan game’s decisive sequence.

On nan ensuing inbounds play, nan Gators’ defense mislaid way of Bennett Stirtz successful nan backcourt, and nan Hawkeyes defender sprinted down nan tribunal and recovered guardant Alvaro Folgueiras successful nan correct area for nan go-ahead 3-pointer. On Florida’s last possession, defender Xaivian Lee drove nether nan hoop and had obscurity to go, throwing a desperation walk that turned into a loose shot arsenic clip expired — meaning nan Gators ne'er moreover sewage a changeable off.

“On nan past play, we wanted to return a foul to forestall them from getting disconnected a three, and they sewage distant from us,” Florida caput coach Todd Golden said successful his postgame property conference. “We weren’t capable to return it and they knocked it down, truthful in installments to them for that. Just a reliable measurement to spell out.”

Said Iowa caput coach Ben McCollum of his team: “It’s conscionable reliable kids. They fight. They compete. They instrumentality pinch it. They exemplify everything that we’ve wanted successful Iowa basketball. They’ve established nan instauration that we’ve desperately needed, and couldn’t beryllium immoderate much proud of them.”

The Gators were looking to repetition for nan 2nd clip successful schoolhouse history, having achieved nan feat aft winning nan 2006 and 2007 men’s tournaments. Florida is 1 of only 2 programs to repetition arsenic champions successful nan 21st century. The only different schoolhouse to do truthful since 2000 is Connecticut, pinch nan Huskies winning successful 2023 and 2024.

Here are immoderate different notable happenings from nan first play of tourney action...

Two of nan apical 3 NBA prospects are out

The Gators weren’t nan only schoolhouse to spell retired connected a last-second bucket.

The No. 4 seed Kansas Jayhawks were eliminated 67-65 by No. 5 St. John's connected a buzzer-beating layup by defender Dylan Darling.

Kansas’s Darryn Peterson, who galore presume will beryllium nan No. 1 prime successful nan upcoming NBA Draft, scored 21 points successful nan loss. He vanished nan tourney averaging 24.5 points successful 2 games. Most importantly for Peterson, he averaged 36.5 minutes aft wounded issues plagued him during nan regular season.

Joining Peterson retired of nan tourney is AJ Dybantsa, nan BYU guardant who is besides successful contention for nan apical pick. Dybantsa scored 35 for nan Cougars successful a first-round nonaccomplishment to Texas.

Duke’s Cameron Boozer, different highly touted prospect, is still live arsenic nan Blue Devils are headed to nan Sweet 16.

A communicative of 2 conferences

The Hawkeyes’ triumph was important for nan Big Ten.

The convention is sending six schools — Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Michigan State, Nebraska, and Iowa — to nan Sweet 16, its astir since 1975 and tied pinch nan 2016 ACC for nan second-most schools from 1 convention successful a Sweet 16 ever. (Though nan conferences surely are bigger these days...)

On nan flip side, nan existent ACC sent 8 teams to nan men’s tournament...and only one, Duke, will make it to nan 2nd play of games.

Not a awesome play for Cinderella

Has NIL ruined nan assemblage game?

Expect nan perceive that mobility crossed sports talk this week aft a chalky opening play successful some nan men’s and women’s tournaments.

In nan men’s bracket, 7 of nan apical 8 seeds are still alive, and nan lowest seed near is No. 11 Texas. While a double-digit seed successful nan Sweet 16 is thing to scoff at, nan Longhorns are hardly a plucky underdog fixed their way grounds arsenic a programme this century.

On nan women’s side, nan chaos has been moreover much subdued. Only 3 little seeds person won arsenic of Sunday tonight, and 2 of those came successful No. 9. vs. No. 8 matchups.

On an breathtaking note, though, that intends nan biggest stars successful nan women’s crippled are still alive, mounting up a imaginable collision people betwixt players for illustration Connecticut’s Azzi Fudd, UCLA’s Lauren Betts, and Texas’s Madison Booker.