March Madness Is Already Off To An Absolutely Electric Start

For many sports fans, March Madness is the best time of the year. The annual 68-team NCAA basketball tournament provides some of the best excuses for people to take off work and sit at home and just watch sports.

Some of the best moments in March Madness history are ingrained in our national sports zeitgeist. This shot for Duke’s Christian Laettner to beat Kentucky in the 1992 elite eight is one of them.

Or this shot last year by Caleb Love to end the career of Duke coach Mike Kryzewski

And, this all-time shot by Valparaiso’s Bryce Drew in 1998 to upset Ole Miss, one of the great March Madness buzzer-beaters of all time.

And, last night was the first of the First Four games, which match up the four worst automatic qualifiers against each other. and the four worst at-large qualifiers against each other.

And, It didn’t disappoint. Last night featured two close games and great finishes.

In the first game, Texas A&M Corpus Christi beat Southeast Missouri State 75-71. They will play Alabama on Thursday.

But the main event of the even was a Power 5 matchup of Pitt and Mississippi State. It came down to the last minute of the basketball game, before Pitt’s Jamarius Burton put them up, 60-59.

But, Mississippi State still had a chance to win the game. Pitt’s defense came through, though, with this blocked shot. Mississippi State couldn’t score with the 2.7 seconds left on the clock, and Pitt advanced to play Iowa State on Friday.

Wednesday night will complete the first four, as Fairleigh Dickinson will play Texas Southern and Nevada will play Arizona State. The real tournament gets started Thursday, and we will play 48 games of March Madness hoops between Thursday and Sunday.