While all the NCAAW and NCAA teams are finishing up tough conference games, March Madness is approaching. If teams are successful in the tournament they may have a chance to improve their seeding for the National Tournament. As far as for the NCAA, unranked teams have given ranked teams a run for their money. Virginia beat Louisville by one point with a score of 67-66 and Michigan pulled off a great win against Iowa with a win of 77-71. Michigan State got a  good win against Wisconsin by three points, but unfortunately couldn’t continue their winning streak when they went up against Michigan losing with a score of 75-64. Duke had a nail biting game and a bittersweet final home game for Grayson Allen, as he checked out the game he received a loud standing ovation from his home fans. Coach Mike Krzyzewski had some beautiful remarks about Grayson and said “When you’re here with the program for four years, you’re going to get your butt beat sometimes. He got his butt beat in a lot of different ways, but he had the umbrella. Not just me, but he had a lot of people that were supportive of him, and our fans”.

It has been interesting to see some outstanding freshmen show up this season. Oklahoma PG, Trae Young, has been averaging 28.7 ppg and an impressive 8.7 apg. “Trae Young’s a special player. We’ve seen a lot in the Big 12 and he’s right up there with the best that have ever played here,” Baylor coach Scott Drew said. Another athletic player who is sure to be NBA bound is Duke PF,Marvin Bagley III, who has been averaging 22.0 ppg and 11.2 rpg. That’s just to name a few and everyone is excited to see how they step up for these upcoming big games. Also there are some Chicago Natives playing in some big time games including Simeon alumni, Zach Norvell, at Gonzaga and Whitney Young alumni, Lucas Williamson, at Loyola and St Rita alumni, Charles Matthews, at Michigan. I’m expecting some buzzer beaters and monster dunks. Freshman G, Lucas Williamson, helped lead his team to his first MVC Championship and he said “Feelings like this never gets old. I feel on top of the world and I just want to give all glory to God for putting me in this position. We earned this one it was a total team effort. I love these guys”.

Of course, we can’t forget about NCAAW! Whitney Young alumni, Khaalia Hillsman, and her teammates at Texas A&M gets a great win over LSU with a score of 75-69 but falls short to Mississippi State with a score of 55-70. When I asked her to reflect on her last SEC tournament she said “I was just trying to make my last one a good one. I wanted to be able to know I did good things not only for myself, but for the team”. South Carolina Gamecocks made SEC history with winning 4 Conference Championships and a dominant victory over Mississippi State with a score of 62-51. Louisville Cardinals took away Notre Dame Irish chance of winning 5 ACC Conference Championships in a row and took the victory of 72-74. MVC junior PG/SG and Whitney Young alumni, Katrina Beck led her ISU Redbirds team and secured the sixth seed with a win over Bradley with a score of 63-41. I asked how she felt going into the MVC tournament and she said “We are going to take one game at a time. Our energy is up and positive and we are going to take the confidence and momentum from our last game into the first round”. This is their best record in five seasons. Junior C, Simone Goods, had a great showing with a 23 point and 6 rebounds performance. Let’s not forget another Whitney Young alumni, Linnae Harper, winning a Big Ten Championship over Maryland Terrapins with a resulting score of 69-79.  “Overall our team played well. We’ve worked so hard to get to where we are in right now as a team. We’ve faced much adversity throughout the season and it is finally paying off. I think I played well. My main focus was to be tenacious on the defensive end and bring as much energy as possible,” when i asked about her performance ending with 14 points and 11 rebounds.

There were a lot of upsets and amazing games to kick off March. Make sure you tune in and make your picks when the brackets come out! This is the month of basketball where anything is possible and the underdogs that no one expects to win end up showing what they are made of. There won’t be enough TV’s for the amount of basketball that will be on! Let the Madness begin!