There is no attraction for the third time.
It is simply fascinating.
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13th seeded Ohio defending national champion Virginia 62-58 in the NCAA tournament on Saturday. The Bobcats joined No. 15 Oral Roberts and No. 13 North Texas in drawing major upsets in the first round of this year. The Golden Eagles and Mean Green are also wonderful Cinderella stories.
The best story in Ohio because it is part of a trilogy. The Bobcats are now tied with Richmond for their first-round win as the number 13 or below in the extended bracket era (which began in 1985) with three first digits. Were spiders That The team with the famous ups and downs of No. 4 Indiana in 1988 and No. 2 Syracuse in 1991. Richmond pulled off another draw against No. 3 South Carolina in 1998.
In the 21st century, however, there was no better first-round bracket than the Bobcats. So they were such a popular offset pick against Virginia, although some of them were based on the Cavaliers being ruled out of the ACC tournament due to COVID-19 issues.
Still, you can see this upset in the second half, when the Bobcats took the lead. Ohio has been there, done that.
Number 3 Georgetown was detected in 2010, when Armon Bassett scored 32 points and the Bobcats scored 13 points from 3-point range in a 97–83 fumble.
Number 4 Michigan was revealed in 2012 when DJ Cooper defeated Trey Burke in a 65–60 victory. Ohio said it became the first No. 13 seed to reach the Elite Eight in a Sweet 16 run and a 73–65 overtime loss to North Carolina. Both of them were run by coach John Gross before joining Illinois.
Now number 4 knows Virginia. Ben Vander Plass hit back-to-back 3-pointers in the second half for a 45–40 lead, which the Bobcats would not give back. Star guard Jason Preston had a triple-double with nearly 11 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists. Second-year coach Jeff Bowles – who was next on Ohio’s 1994 NCAA Tournament team with Gary Trent – guided the Bobcats through a season that was halted twice due to COVID-19. This is a dangerous team that heats up at the right time.
More: history of 13-4 upsets
Ohio lit up through the Mid-American Conference with wins against Kent State, Toledo and Buffalo, and it showed its high-end potential in a 77–75 loss to Illinois on November 27.
Ohio Cinderella once again believes that March Madness could rally for a few more days as it heads into a second-round matchup against No. 5 Crayton. Preston continues to attract NBA attention, and Bowles has been able to create a MAC program that could score an elite eight in 2002, like Kent State.
Bobcats is a funny story. Alumni know all telecast references. Court Street. Red Brick Bar Harvard at Hawking. Athens, Ohio’s favorite native son – Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow – still had something to say.
The Burrow knows. Athens is one of those special places where these first-round March Madness moments mean little more, and this tournament requires a few people to know VCU should not play on Saturday due to COVID-19 issues . Oral Roberts, North Texas and, yes, Ohio make this tournament even more attractive in uncertain times.
DeCURCY: VCU ‘heartbroken’ after missing NCAA opportunity
There is also a possible plot in this story. A win over Creighton could set up a matchup with No. 1 Gonzaga – a Cinderella-blue-blue-blood chasing the first undefeated season in men’s Division I since Indiana in 1976.
Imagine that the Bulldogs needed a win against the Bobcats to do so.
This is a March Madness story we haven’t seen yet.
Nothing seems more attractive than this.
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