The NCAA tourney is called March Madness because so many wild things happen during the games. But it’s Madness also because those same unpredictable games destroy fans’ brackets and make them so angry they freak the [bleep] out. This year is no different. Thursday’s games didn’t exactly follow the script, so RedEye rated them based on how damaging — or nearly damaging — they were to brackets. REDEYE
No. 10 Maryland 84 No. 7 California 71
Unless you subscribe to the theory that basketball teams from out West aren’t as good as teams in the rest of the country, you likely picked Cal.
No. 9 Texas A&M 79
No. 8 BYU 66
The West strikes again. You could have gotten this one right if you researched and found out the Aggies beat BYU last year in the tourney.
No. 8 LSU 75No. 9 Butler 71
Trust us, millions of brackets across the country had Butler, the school with a giant-killer rep, winning this one.
No. 2 Memphis 81No. 15 CS Northridge 70
If you’ve got Memphis in the Final Four — or, bless your heart, winning the championship — this close call cannot sit well.
No. 10 Michigan 62No. 7 Clemson 59
Who saw this one coming? Who cares. Oklahoma will wipe out this fluke Saturday.
