NCAA Tournament Bracket Challenge - Sweet 16, Day 1 Update

The first night of Sweet 16 action was not kind to the favorites.  And as a result, not kind to many of the brackets in the BSSR Mega March Madness Matchup Monstrosity.

The first game of the night was between (6) Clemson and (2) Arizona.  And Clemson impressively led for nearly the entirety of the game to survive a late push from Arizona and claw their way to a win in the battle of the felines.

At the same time, (1) UConn took care of business in a major way to dominate the second half against (5) San Diego State.  UConn appears to be in prime shape to defend their title as the clear best team in the tournament so far.

The last two games of the night were both thrillers, as each game was decided by just one possession.  The low seed prevailed in both games, however, as (4) Alabama knocked off (1) North Carolina and (3) Illinois defeated (2) Iowa State.

As a result, we had a lot of missed games in our bracket challenge and you'll notice a lot of red on the leaderboard.  Just from last night's games, 13 brackets lost at least one Final Four team, most commonly either North Carolina or Arizona.  There is only one bracket remaining with all four Final Four teams remaining.  We'll see if that hold up after tonight's contests.

​With half the Sweet 16 games down, here's our BSSRMMMMM leaderboard:

1. Go Vols? (580 points)

• Points Remaining: 1120
• Champion: Tennessee
• Final Four: UConn, Marquette, Tennessee, Alabama

2. McInItToWinIt (560 points)

• Points Remaining: 1000
• Champion: UConn
• Final Four: UConn, Duke, Purdue, Arizona

3. Drew's (550 points)

• Points Remaining: 760
• Champion: Houston
• Final Four: Iowa State, Houston, Creighton, North Carolina

T4. CM's picks (540 points)

• Points Remaining: 1000
• Champion: Tennessee
• Final Four: UConn, Marquette, Tennessee, Arizona

T4. Pre-Wife Power (540 points)

• Points Remaining: 1000
• Champion: Tennessee
• Final Four: UConn, Houston, Tennessee, Baylor

T6. ajk1 (530 points)

• Points Remaining: 1040
• Champion: Houston
• Final Four: UConn, Houston, Tennessee, Arizona

T6. LOVER BOY (530 points)

• Points Remaining: 1000
• Champion: UConn
• Final Four: UConn, Houston, Creighton, Baylor

T8. Trizzy Tre (520 points)

• Points Remaining: 840
• Champion: Tennessee
• Final Four: Illinois, Houston, Tennessee, North Carolina

T8. WhoisMicah? (520 points)

• Points Remaining: 840
• Champion: Purdue
• Final Four: Auburn, Houston, Purdue, North Carolina

T10. okaymason (480 points)

• Points Remaining: 1040
• Champion: UConn
• Final Four: UConn, Marquette, Creighton, North Carolina

T10. Free money (480 points)

• Points Remaining: 600
• Champion: Purdue
• Final Four: Auburn, Kentucky, Purdue, North Carolina

12. Swatson (440 points)

• Points Remaining: 480
• Champion: Auburn
• Final Four: Auburn, Houston, Creighton, Arizona

T13. Barbie Dream Bracket (430 points)

• Points Remaining: 1000
• Champion: UConn
• Final Four: UConn, Houston, Tennessee, North Carolina

T13. The Feminist Movement (430 points)

• Points Remaining: 720
• Champion: UConn
• Final Four: UConn, Texas Tech, Gonzaga, Baylor

T15. Lincoln Bernhard (410 points)

• Points Remaining: 1000
• Champion: UConn
• Final Four: UConn, Duke, Creighton, Arizona​

T15. Tip in (410 points)

• Points Remaining: 880
• Champion: UConn
• Final Four: UConn, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina

T15. Andrew's 2 Time Champ (410 points)

• Points Remaining: 440
• Champion: North Carolina
• Final Four: Iowa State, Marquette, Purdue, North Carolina

18. Scorched Earth Theory (340 points)

• Points Remaining: 1000
• Champion: Houston
• Final Four: UConn, Houston, Creighton, Michigan State

19. Natasha (250 points)

• Points Remaining: 0
• Champion: UAB
• Final Four: UAB, Kentucky, Texas, Wagner

20. Bad Logos (210 points)

• Points Remaining: 400
• Champion: Washington State
• Final Four: Washington State, Duke, TCU, Clemson

Here's the schedule for tonight's games as the remaining eight teams vie for the final four spots in the Elite 8:

• (11) NC State vs. (2) Marquette (7:09pm EST on CBS)
• (5) Gonzaga vs. (1) Purdue (7:39pm EST on TBS/TruTV)
• (4) Duke vs. (1) Houston (9:39pm EST on CBS)
• (3) Creighton vs. (2) Tennessee (10:09pm EST on TBS/TruTV)

I'll provide an update tomorrow before the first set of Elite 8 games tip off.

Written by Nick Swatson