First Round Update:

After 32 first round games, the “madness” of March has officially kicked in. Few Cougars-only three each- saw the upsets of #4 Wichita State and #4 Arizona coming. However, the win that no Cougars, nor history favored, #16 UMBC over #1 Virginia, may be the greatest blindside in the history of the NCAA tournament. However, the excitement is far from over as second round games take place. If your bracket was busted after the first two days of play, you are on par with the rest of the competitors in the bracket challenge: After Virginia was crushed by UMBC, no perfect bracket entered online remained. However, the excitement is far from over as second round games take place. Without further ado, here are the Cougar Daily March Madness Bracket Challenge standings after the first round:

1st: Mrs. Landolfi; 26 points

2nd: Jaelyn Hershberger, Mr. Stoughton; 25 points

4th: Bryce Van Caster; 24 points

5th: Grace Abernethy, Alex Costa, Maya Glaser, Maddy Morland, Abby Smith, Mr. Thomas; 23 points

11th: Bethany Heitland, Wade Rahaman, Becca Rugg, Joshua Sun; 22 points

15th: Mr. Kane, Roman Sorrels; 21 points

17th: Andrew Hill, Mr. Loeper; 20 points

19th: Isabella Janney, Lindsey Murray; 19 points

21st: Ashlynn Garcia, Kayla Garcia; 18 points

23rd: Ashton Rogers; 17 points

Second Round Update:

The first two rounds of March Madness decimated the future of many Cougars’ brackets. The second round losses of #1 seed Xavier, #2 seeds Cincinatti and North Carolina, and #3 seed Michigan State were particularly disastrous. Cougars whose predicted winner got knocked out in the first two rounds are denoted with an “*.”

1st: Jaelyn Hershberger, Mr. Stoughton*; 43 points

3rd: Bryce Van Caster; 42 points

4th: Mrs. Landolfi; 40 points

5th: Alex Costa, Maddy Morland*, Mr. Thomas*; 39 points

8th: Becca Rugg; 38 points

9th: Grace Abernethy, Abby Smith, Roman Sorrels; 37 points

12th: Bethany Heitland; 36 points

13th: Maya Glaser*; 35 points

14th: Andrew Hill, Mr. Loeper*; 34 points

16th: Lindsey Murray; 33 points

17th: Wade Rahaman*; 32 points

18th: Isabella Janney*, Mr. Kane; 31 points

20th: Ashlynn Garcia*, Kayla Garcia; 30 points

22nd: Joshua Sun*; 28 points

23rd: Ashton Rogers*; 27 points