March Madness 2022: A Movie Filled with Joy, Thrills, Agony and Tears

The Big Dance’s return with fans was one for the history books

When it comes to chaos and drama, March Madness 2022 somehow topped the 2021 tournament, a feat nobody could’ve seen coming. From the First Four in Dayton to the Final Four in New Orleans, this year’s Big Dance had storylines galore.

Entering March Madness 2022, all eyes looked to the Gonzaga Bulldogs as the frontrunners for the title. Aside from a roadblock loss at Saint Mary’s, the Bulldogs were on fire heading into March and were projected to coast until, at least, the Sweet 16. However, in the round of 32, Gonzaga narrowingly edged out Memphis 82-78 in a game that would foreshadow the Zags’ Sweet 16 matchup in San Francisco.

To the shock of basketball fans everywhere, the Bulldogs were eliminated just a week later by a gritty Arkansas squad who played tenacious defense in the team’s upset win. Gonzaga’s loss opened the door in the West Region for the Duke Blue Devils, led by legendary head coach Mike Krzyzewski in his 42nd, and final season, at the helm. Led by Paolo Banchero and Jeremy Roach, Duke dispatched Arkansas enroute to a Final Four berth.

On the East side of the bracket, the North Carolina Tar Heels played a hard-fought game against number one seed Baylor, defeating the defending national champions. Weathering the Baylor storm after Brady Manek’s ejection due to a flagrant two foul, UNC survived the comeback attempt in overtime. The Tar Heels then went on to beat UCLA in the Sweet 16 and continue their scorching run as a #8 seed thanks to Caleb Love in the city of brotherly love.

UNC continued their winning streak in the Elite 8, beating the St. Peter’s Peacocks 69-49, but St. Peter’s historic performance in their March Madness journey was noteworthy and commendable. The Peacocks were the first #15 seed to ever make an Elite 8 appearance in March Madness, quickly becoming America’s darling while taking out perennial powerhouses Kentucky and Purdue along the way.

The Midwest bracket was controlled chaos, with the Kansas Jayhawks being the only #1 seed to survive past the Elite 8, and onto the Final Four. Kansas was led on the court by a balanced attack of Christian Braun — older brother of Santa Clara’s Power Forward Parker Braun — Ochai Agbaji and David McCormack on the offensive and defensive ends. Having survived a game against Creighton in the round of 32, Kansas put the pedal to the metal in Chicago, upending Providence before blitzing Miami in an avalanche of second half scoring as they punched their ticket to the Final Four.

For the first time in history, a rivalry game between UNC and Duke happened in the NCAA Tournament, and what’s more, it happened on the big stage of the Final Four. The game itself was a 12-round boxing match that had Coach K’s career on the line. UNC, led by first year head coach Hubert Davis and court generals Caleb Love and Brady Manek, made it apparent that they wanted nothing more than to send their rivals home and their legendary coach along with it enroute to a title opportunity. The Tar Heels succeeded, winning 81-77 and earning a game for the title against Kansas.

The title game was another matchup for the ages. Kansas opened the game on a 7-0 run before North Carolina recovered and went on a 16-0 run themselves, leading to a 40-25 lead at halftime -- the biggest deficit that Kansas faced during the whole tournament. The Tar Heels’ Armando Bacot wreaked havoc on the glass while RJ Davis hit his groove in the mid-range game.

The Jayhawks responded with an onslaught in the second half, erasing the 15-point deficit in just over seven minutes. The rest of the title game was a back-and-forth affair, with the Jayhawks’ Remy Martin taking over and Puff Johnson off the UNC bench to keep them afloat.

In a conclusion felt in the hearts of sports fans everywhere, UNC fell just short of the title after Bacot and Love injured themselves in the second half, while the Jayhawk offense took full advantage. Christian Braun and David McCormack for Kansas could not be denied in the final 20 minutes, as Love’s final heave at the buzzer came up short for the Tar Heels. The Jayhawks finished the job and brought the 2022 trophy home to Lawrence, Kansas.

The thrill of victory versus the agony of defeat. College basketball felt normal again in the 2022 March Madness tournament—an experience that sport-deprived fans have dreamt of since the very first shutdowns in March 2020. College basketball gave us everything we asked for and then some this season.