The NCAA Men’s Basketball tournament ended with the Florida Gators defeating the Houston Cougars. This year’s tournament brought fans memories they will never forget, from Amir Khan taking over social media at McNeese State to Cooper Flagg dominating for Duke.
Before the NCAA tournament started, there was controversy surrounding the UNC Tar Heels. The tournament always starts with a play-in round to finalize the teams in the bracket. One of the teams was UNC. The Tar Heels certainly had an uncharacteristic season, as they lost the ACC title game, which would have guaranteed them a spot in the tournament. UNC was not a consistent team this year, which gave fans the assumption that they would miss the tournament. During the selection show, UNC squeaked into the play-in round, and many questioned the decision. UNC did get knocked out in the first round, so it did not matter much, but many thought they should not have been there in the first place.
Every year, there is always a player who is remembered for their unexpected performance during March Madness, but this year, it was not a player; it was not even a coach. It was McNeese State’s intern team manager, Amir Khan. Khan, 22, is a senior majoring in sports management at McNeese State. Khan went viral before the tournament started when a video surfaced of him carrying a boombox while the McNeese players walked out of the tunnel. Khan then continued bringing out the boombox once the tournament began. McNeese ended up pulling off a big upset by beating Clemson. Purdue eventually knocked out McNeese in the following round, but Amir Khan not only got labeled with the nickname “Aura” but also ended up landing multiple endorsement deals. Khan announced that once McNeese’s tournament run ended, he would transfer over to the NC State Wolfpack to join head coach Will Wade.
While Duke did not meet many fans’ expectations of winning the whole tournament. Cooper Flagg met the expectations of what he could bring to the court. Flagg, 18, averaged 18 points and was a force on defense. Flagg is expected to declare for the NBA Draft this summer, though he may stay at Duke for another year. Duke had a strong year overall. At one point, the Blue Devils had a 15-game win streak during the season. Duke was strolling through the tournament, winning the majority of their games by ten or more points. The Blue Devils were playing well in their final four matchup against Houston, as they were up by more than ten points at one point. But the Cougars did not relent, as they went on to beat Duke 70-67.
The Florida Gators and Houston Cougars climbed their way to the final of this year’s NCAA Tournament. The Gators had won the NCAA title three times before their victory against Houston. Houston has never won the NCAA title, even though the Cougars qualify for the tournament yearly. The Houston Cougars had control over Florida, as Houston had a 12-point lead early in the second half. But Florida gained a lot of momentum and stormed back. Houston put up a fight and had the final possession, but did not get the last shot off, and Florida ended up winning their fourth national title.
