BSD Bracket Challenge: Elite Eight

We had a little delay in the playing of the Elite Eight due to the loss of Sharone Wright Jr. and the addition of Ian Dubose from Wake Forest, both by way of the transfer portal (real sports news takes precedence over fake, video game simulations every time). As far as other news is concerned, it looks like the Athletic Department has decided to go the route of just ignoring the problem and hoping it goes away, so I really have no idea how long they will make us wait before they mention Wake Forest Basketball again. In the mean time, here’s the Elite Eight results from the BSD Bracket Challenge.

Midwest Region

Iowa vs Auburn turned out to be a real shootout, with the two teams combining for a whopping 93 points. The Hawkeyes outscored the Tigers 30-19 in the second half to advance to the Final Four for the 4th time in school history.

East

A much better game in the East region, as the Dayton Flyers advanced to the Final Four for the first time since 1967. Obi Toppin led the Flyers with 14 points, 9 rebounds and 3 blocks. Lamar Stevens had another big game for the Nittany Lions, finishing with 25 points, 9 rebounds, and 3 blocks. Unfortunately for Penn State, Stevens didn’t get much help and PSU was unable to overcome the more balanced scoring attack from Dayton.

West

I think Gonzaga might be good, because they have basically annihilated every team they have faced in this tournament. This one was over as soon as it started as 7th seeded Arizona had no answer for the three pronged attack of Killian Tillie (19 points, 8 rebounds), Filip Petrusev (17 points, 11 rebounds), and Ryan Woolridge (5 points, 5 rebounds, 10 assists) from the Zags. The Bulldogs advance to the Final Four for the 2nd time in school history.

South Region

The surprise of the round was 10th seeded USC upsetting the 1 seed in the South region, Baylor, to advance to the Final Four. The Trojans were led by senior guard Jonah Mathews, who poured in 24 points and added 3 assists and 5 steals to help USC reach their 3rd Final Four. They become just the 6th double digit seed (Loyola Chicago-2018, Syracuse-2016, VCU-2011, George Mason-2006, LSU-1986) and the 2nd 10 seed to make the Final Four.

That’s it for the Elite Eight of the 2020 NCAA Tournament. You can check your score here if you made a bracket.