If Arizona’s shocking loss to Buffalo in the first round of the NCAA Tournament crushed your dreams of winning an office pool, just know you’re not alone.
A whole bunch of brackets spiraled down the drain Thursday night when No. 13 Buffalo defeated No. 4 Arizona 89-68 in the tourney’s most surprising upset so far. The Wildcats were seen by many as a legitimate threat to make the Final Four and perhaps even win the national championship.
According to ESPN’s Tournament Challenge, 4.9 percent of all brackets submitted picked No. 4 Arizona to cut down the nets — more than No. 1 Xavier, No. 2s Purdue and Cincinnati, and No. 3s Michigan, Tennessee and Texas Tech.
Here’s more on how Arizona’s loss impacted brackets, according to ESPN’s Tournament Challenge:
Arizona; 90.2% of the 17.3 million brackets picked the Wildcats to advance tonight
— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) March 16, 2018
Bracket Buster? 18% of the 17.3 million brackets picked Arizona to advance to the Final Four
— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) March 16, 2018
Better Luck Next Year? Nearly 5% of the 17.3 million brackets in ESPN Tournament Challenge picked Arizona to win the National Championship
— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) March 16, 2018
PERFECT BRACKET WATCH: After 16 games, 6,306 of the 17.3 million brackets in ESPN Tournament Challenge remain perfect
— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) March 16, 2018
Here’s how Arizona’s loss impacted the brackets over at CBS Sports:
92.8% of https://t.co/rcnu55JnAf Brackets had Arizona over Buffalo
60.5% had them in the Sweet 16
22.4% had them in the Elite 8
18.1% had them in the Final Four
11.1% had them in the National Championship Game
4.2% had them winning it all
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) March 16, 2018
Long story short: Arizona losing to Buffalo changes everything.
If you bought into the hype, which seemed justifiable given the Wildcats’ potential with one of the best players in the country, DeAndre Ayton, you were rewarded with a slap in the face right out of the gate.
But if you foresaw an early exit for Arizona — maybe not against Buffalo; but at some point before the Sweet 16 or Elite Eight — and put your eggs in another team’s basket in the South region, then you’re in a pretty good spot relative to your bracket-following peers.
