Princeton men’s basketball is doing the unthinkable during March Madness

Another year, another bracket buster. This year we’re seeing some history go down!

March Madness is Here 🔥

We all know March Madness started off crazy this week, but let’s talk about why Princeton’s two upsets are even more impressive and historical.

The Ivy Leaguers made a big statement and shook many after they took down No. 2 Arizona as a No. 15 seed. Two days later, the Tigers kept all the same energy once they took down No. 7 Missouri and showed them who the real Tigers were. For starters, Princeton is actually the only team in the whole NCAA tournament without any players on an athletic scholarship. The Ivy League policy simply does not allow them to. Those guys really put the student in student-athlete. It looks like it all paid off on and off the court for the Princeton Tigers. Now, compare this to a team like Arizona who has 11 scholarship players out of the 19 on their roster for the 2022-2023 season. As for Missouri, it is listed that they have 8 scholarship players out of the 15 on their roster. This all just sounds too easy for them, right?! Plus, if you look at the NCAA D1 men’s basketball teams, the Wildcats rank in the top 10 of scoring offense, Missouri sits at number 25, and where is Princeton? No where to be found on that list since they aren’t even ranked in the top 50.

That list may need some changes after the looks of this March Madness run. After all, both Arizona and Missouri are teams that have averaged at least 80 points per game this season, but Princeton held both teams down 63 points or less during their upset games– that tells you all you need to know about Princeton’s capabilities.

In general, Arizona is already at the advantage as a program that has won 17 Pac-10/12 regular season championship titles and 9 Pac-10/12 tournament titles. Of course many would think Princeton wouldn’t stand a chance against them. Yet…right off the bat, on day one of the big dance, brackets on brackets were busted. Bear Down…down real bad!

These upsets are a big deal for the Ivy League team in itself given the fact that their last tournament win was back in 1998 when they beat UNLV as a No. 5 seed. The Tigers are really trying to make something shake, becoming the first Sweet 16 appearance in school history and the second Ivy League team to make the Sweet 16 since 1985. Cornell is currently the only other Ivy that made the Sweet 16 back in 2010. Put some respect on Princeton’s name!

This Princeton upset against Arizona is almost like a deja vu of what went down 27 years ago. In 1996, the Tigers went into the tournament as a No. 12 seed and came out on top over the No. 4 UCLA with their 43-41 victory. That was truly a shining moment. Let’s not forget that was also the late, great Pete Carril’s final season as head coach of the Tigers. Across 29 years, the legendary coach ended his career with a 514–261 record. Winning over 500 games without athletic scholarships for his players is truly something! Yes, his players may not have been much of athletic beasts compared to stars at a Duke or a Kentucky, but the Hall of Fame coach worked his magic in implementing the infamous Princeton offense, and ultimately, his team even led the nation in scoring defense.

Decades later, almost no one would have predicted another Princeton upset, let alone Princeton in the Sweet 16… that is, besides the very small select few of people who went against all odds and bet on the Tigers. The official NCAA March Madness account reported that only 0.12% of the submissions are perfect brackets after that Zona L. This is the third year in a row that a No. 15 seed has prevailed in the first round. Can the Tigers keep clawing?

• Do you think this player is going to the Hall of Fame? 🤔

• This guy needs to be picked up by a pro team asap 😲

• She took one too many L’s here 😭

• The basketball gods were praying on this kid’s downfall 🏀

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