The NCAA men’s college basketball tournament is only entering its second full day of competition and one of the six major conferences has already been eliminated from March Madness.
After Arizona State and UCLA flamed out in their First Four matchups, the Pac-12 conference’s last remaining team, No. 4 seed Arizona, was knocked out of the tourney by No. 13 seed Buffalo.
The loss for the Wildcats, who many picked to make it to the Final Four, concludes a lost year for the Pac-12 that saw the conference’s teams struggle off the court (The UCLA shoplifting scandal in China, Arizona coach Sean Miller’s reported involvement in a payment plot) as well as on it.
The loss was also historic, as this is the first time one of the six major conferences (the ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, SEC and Big East are the others) failed to send a team to the second round in 20 years, according to ESPN Stats & Information research.
The other big upset on Thursday was Loyola-Chicago’s 64-62 win over Miami. Before their victory, the Ramblers got some love from 98-year-old team chaplain Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt’s pregame prayer. After the win, Loyola-Chicago got some love from someone else …
Congrats to @LoyolaChicago and Sister Jean for a last-second upset – I had faith in my pick!
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) March 15, 2018
Loyola will play third-seeded Tennessee in the second round while Buffalo will take on fifth-seeded Kentucky.
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