Santiago Mendez 
March Madness is a month-long event filled with college basketball upsets. This year’s top teams were eliminated, leaving lots of so-called “Cinderella stories.” One unexpected performance was Princeton’s first ‘Sweet 16’ appearance since 1967! Furthermore, there were historical player performances like Marquis Nowell having the most assists in a March Madness Game. Players like this show the amount of talent coming out of March Madness. Closer to home, teams like Miami and FAU had amazing runs into the Final 4.
FAU
Before March Madness, FAU was just another team in Boca Raton, Florida. Prior to this year, FAU’s last March Madness appearance was in 2002 where they lost to the number 2 seed, Crimson Tide. This year they had their strongest roster yet, with players like Johnell Davis,V. Goldin, and Michael Forrest. In the state of Florida, teams have only advanced to the final four 7 times. In this run they beat the likes of No.8 Memphis, No.4 Tennessee, No.3 Kansas State. What makes this run even more unreal is how the school is only around 30 minutes away from STA! All in all, this team fell short to San Diego St. in the final four, but their run will be remembered for years to come!
Miami
Miami has come a long way in the college basketball world. Making the final four proved to be a spectacular moment for all involved in the program. Hurricanes men’s hoops attended an occasional ‘Sweet 16’ before something clicked with two straight ‘Elite Eights’, now turning to Houston for the Final Four. This is big, after all, from 1971 until 1985 their basketball team was canceled because it didn’t matter to people on campus. Miami will be sad to miss out on this year’s championship but will be a strong contender for many years to come!
Championship
This year’s NCAA Champion is UConn! The final was between UConn and San Diego St, the final score was 59-76. UConn dominated the game and kept a lead of around 20 points, with the game’s top scorer being Tristen Newton with 10 rebounds, 4 assists, and 19 points.
