SI:AM | Day 1 of March Madness Was Everything You Could Hope For

Plus, the one skill that sets South Carolina star Aliyah Boston apart.

Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. I’m honestly a bit overwhelmed by all the basketball that’s going to be on TV today.

In today’s SI:AM:

🧠 Aliyah Boston’s secret weapon

🐅 Princeton’s historic upset

😞 Another disappointment for Virginia

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What will today’s encore be?

If yesterday’s results are any indication, get ready for today’s NCAA tournament action to be even more chaotic.

The first day of the men’s tournament saw three double-digit seeds pull off upsets, plus another five games decided by fewer than 10 points. Today promises to be even more action-packed since we’ll have double the amount of games with the women’s tournament also getting started.

Yesterday’s biggest upset was No. 15 Princeton over No. 2 Arizona. The Tigers became just the 11th team since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985 to pull off the 15-over-2 upset. (This is the third straight year that a 15-seed has won a game, after Saint Peter’s beat Kentucky last year and Oral Roberts beat Ohio State in 2021.) It was a hideous game that saw the two teams shoot a combined 17% from three, but Princeton hung tough with Arizona on the glass, outrebounding the Wildcats by a margin of 38–37. And as Kevin Sweeney points out, the Tigers’ win was especially impressive when you consider that Ivy League eligibility rules forced four starters from last year’s regular-season championship-winning team to transfer elsewhere for their final year of eligibility. Princeton will face No. 7 seed Missouri tomorrow in a matchup of Tigers.

The upset with the most quintessentially March moment—the highlight you’ll see in this year’s “One Shining Moment” montage and on tournament highlight reels for years to come—was No. 13 Furman’s win over No. 4 Virginia. The Cavaliers held a two-point lead in the final seconds with two Paladins defenders trapping Virginia fifth-year senior Kihei Clark in the corner of his own backcourt. Clark then desperately heaved the ball into the frontcourt, where it was easily collected by Furman’s Garrett Hien. Hien passed to JP Pegues, who buried the game-winning three with two seconds on the clock. Furman’s Jalen Slawson summed it up best in a viral video taken as he walked back to the locker room after the game: “He just freaking threw it!”

It was just the latest in a long string of tournament failures for Virginia, which won the championship in 2019 but is 7–8 in all other tournament games since Tony Bennett took over as coach 14 years ago. Pat Forde didn’t pull any punches, writing, “The Cavaliers are serial underachievers, glass-jawed tourney softies, the opponent every double-digit seed wants to see in its bracket on Selection Sunday.”

If it’s any consolation to Virginia fans, the Cavaliers won’t be the last proud program to suffer an embarrassing loss. Today’s slate of men’s games has three trendy upset picks: No. 12 VCU vs. No. 5 Saint Mary’s, No. 12 Drake vs. No. 5 Miami and No. 13 Kent State vs. No. 4 Indiana. If I had to pick one, I’d say VCU is the most likely underdog to pull off the upset. The Rams play a high-pressure style of defense that is capable of giving any team headaches.

The women’s action gets started early with No. 8 USF vs. No. 9 Marquette at 11:30 a.m. ET. Late at night, in a game scheduled to tip off at 10 p.m. ET, Princeton has another chance to pull off an upset. The 10-seed Tigers women’s team went 23–5 this season and will face No. 7 NC State. Other games that should be close include No. 6 Creighton against No. 11 Mississippi State, No. 8 Ole Miss against No. 9 Gonzaga and No. 8 USC vs. No. 9 South Dakota State. The Jackrabbits are actually favored in that one.

If you want to see a blowout, undefeated No. 1 South Carolina faces Norfolk State at 2 p.m. ET on ESPN. The Gamecocks are favored by nearly 50 points. No. 2 Iowa vs. No. 15 Southeast Louisiana is another game that shouldn’t be even remotely close, but it’s always fun to watch Hawkeyes star Caitlin Clark put on a show. The most intriguing matchup of the first round might be tomorrow’s game between No. 5 Washington State and No. 12 Florida Gulf Coast. The Eagles, who went 32–3 this season, are the betting favorite against the Cougars.

The best of Sports Illustrated

Chris Keane/Sports Illustrated

• Today’s Daily Cover story from Michael Rosenberg highlights the most difficult part of stopping South Carolina star Aliyah Boston: her brain.
• Pat Forde was in Birmingham where Houston survived a tough challenge from No. 16 seed Northern Kentucky but is dealing with injuries to two top guards.
• Michael Rosenberg argues that it’s time for the NFL to institute a draft lottery.
• Edwin Díaz’s freak knee injury cast a pall over the joyous WBC, but Emma Baccellieri writes that we shouldn’t blame the tournament for his getting hurt.
• Justin Barrasso spoke with Solo Sikoa, the newest star of wrestling’s biggest family dynasty.
• Kevin Sweeney has a guide to the men’s NCAA tournament sites with the best opening weekend matchups.
• Michael Jordan is reportedly seeking to sell his majority stake in the Hornets.
• Bills GM Brandon Beane gave a promising update about Damar Hamlin.
• Fred Couples didn’t hold back in his criticism of Phil Mickelson and LIV Golf.

The top five...

… plays from yesterday’s men’s tournament action:

5. This crossover by Northern Kentucky’s Xavier Rhodes.

4. Zach Martini’s brilliant assist on a clutch possession for Princeton.

3. This powerful block by UCLA’s Kenneth Nwuba.

2. An even more powerful block by Alabama’s Charles Bediako.

1. Texas A&M’s Dexter Dennis picking the ball clean off the backboard with two hands.

SIQ

Tomorrow marks the anniversary of the highest-scoring men’s NCAA tournament game, a 1990 second-round matchup featuring Loyola Marymount and which other team?

• Michigan
• Wyoming
• UNLV
• Arkansas

Yesterday’s SIQ: On this day in 1955, NHL president Clarence Campbell suspended which Canadiens star for the rest of the regular season and playoffs, leading to an infamous riot in Montreal one day later?

• Bernie Geoffrion
• Jacques Plante
• Maurice Richard
• Jean Beliveau

Answer: Maurice Richard. During a game against the Bruins in Boston on March 13, Richard appeared to punch linesman Cliff Thompson in the face, bloodying the official. It was the second time that season that he had struck an official. Three days later, NHL president Clarence Campbell announced that he was suspending Richard for the final three games of the regular season and the entirety of the playoffs.

Campbell’s decision was highly controversial in Montreal, where the city’s French-speaking population saw it as another instance of anti-Quebecois bias by Campbell and anglophone Canadians more generally. The ruling made Campbell public enemy No. 1 in Montreal but, despite advice to the contrary, he opted to attend the Canadiens’ next game, a home matchup against the Red Wings on March 17.

Montreal fans threw shoes and food at Campbell as he watched the game. One man even got close enough to shake Campbell’s hand—and then slapped him across the face. As tensions rose inside the arena, a tear gas bomb went off in one of the stadium’s passageways, and fans streamed out onto the street. When they did, they smashed shop windows, wrecked the doors of the hockey arena, damaged streetcars and telephone booths. Reports on the number of arrests were as many as 137. The rioting went on for hours, and people in the city were worried the violence would resume the next night, but Richard appeared on TV and radio to urge fans to be peaceful, saying he would accept his punishment.

Without Richard, the Habs lost to the Red Wings in the Stanley Cup final in seven games. But the following year, Montreal began its streak of five straight championships.