There are just four teams left in men’s March Madness fighting for the Championship trophy. The four teams remaining are completely shocking to just about everyone.

The highest seed remaining is a four-seed from the west, not bad by any means, but certainly far from what many would expect the highest seed to be. Overall, the tournament continues to be incredibly historic as 2023 is the first time no top-seeded team made the Elite Eight. 

As the final three games of the Tournament draw near, what even happened in the last two rounds?

Sweet 16 

The Last No. 1 Seeds 

Entering 2023, there had never been an Elite Eight without at least one top seed out of one of the regions. Entering the Sweet 16, Alabama and Houston were still alive and both were favored to continue their runs after two dominating wins a piece. 

The Crimson Tide had San Diego State and the Tigers had the Hurricanes of Miami. But, as spoiled earlier, both teams lost and expectations for what has already been a crazy March have been shattered. 

Alabama was the more shocking upset, as Brandon Miller is a projected top-5 pick in the upcoming NBA Draft. In the loss, he had just 9 points in 31 minutes – a performance that certainly will not have anyone claiming he is the best prospect in the draft.

For the Aztecs, Darrion Trammell led the way with 21 points and five rebounds and this is the run that was supposed to happen in the canceled 2020 Tournament. 

FAU

Everyone loves an underdog team, and Flordia Atlantic University continues to prove that. Against No. 4 seed Tennessee, the only ten America saw was the trio of Johnell Davis, Nicholas Boyd and Michael Forrest, who scored 15, 12 and 11 points a piece in the win. 

Gonzaga vs. UCLA 

By far the best game of pure basketball in the round saw the Bruins and Bulldogs have a dogfight to survive into the next round. The Bulldogs eventually came out on top 79-76 behind Drew Timme’s 36 points. But he was not the player who hit the big shot for his team. 

After trailing for most of the game, Gonzaga hit a three with under 10 seconds remaining to take a lead they held onto for the rest of the game. The play they ran to get the look was eerily similar to the play Villanova ran to win the National Championship in 2016. But see for yourself: 

Elite Eight 

The most disappointing aspect of this round was the matchup between Gonzaga and UConn. After an absolute thriller against UCLA, the Bulldogs looked outmatched against the Huskies and eventually lost by 28 points. The only memorable part of the game was when Timme got his curtain call by exiting his college career as the leading scorer in program history. 

Contrasting the disappointment, FAU continues to dance as in a thriller in its own right, the team beat Kansas State 79-76. In the win, the Atlantic Owls spread the offense around exceptionally well as they have done all year, with four players scoring double-digit points. 

The other two games in this round saw a 57-56 San Diego State win over Creighton and a 88-81 win for Miami (FL) over Texas. 

March Madness will return Saturday as the Final Four commences.

At 3:09 p.m. FAU and San Diego State tip-off and later in the day at 5:49 p.m. Miami and UConn will decide the second team in the Championship game.