March Madness is arguably the best postseason event in American sports. The intensity and suspense of the 68-team, single-elimination tournament makes for unforgettable wins and losses seemingly routinely.
Every year in March, history is made in one way, shape, or form. Teams reach the tournament for the first or second time ever, or perhaps for the first time in decades. It’s incredibly meaningful to these schools to accomplish these feats, even if it means an unfortunate first round exit. Making it to March Madness is history.
Digits decided to delve deep into the teams that made history for their respective programs this year, breaking down their season and how they made it to the 68-team bracket, as well as some future outlook. Without further adieu, here are the great, wholesome, and most importantly, historic, stories this March.
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Southeast Missouri State: This school made a dream run to make The Big Dance. Entering the Ohio Valley Conference postseason tournament as the #5 seed, they defeated #8 Lindenwood, #4 Tennessee State, #1 Morehead State, and #2 Tennessee Tech (in overtime!). This landed Southeast Missouri State in its second ever March Madness, the first being back in 2000. Although they suffered a 75-71 loss in the First Four to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, their postseason was a success, considering they were never supposed to be there. Sophomore Phillip Russell is coming off of an 18 point and 5 assist per game season, instilling some serious hope into this program for the coming two seasons.
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Northwestern: In 2017, Northwestern became the last Power 6 school to receive an NCAA tournament bid. 6 years later marks Northwestern’s second ever tournament appearance with what is arguably a better team than back in 2017. They finished as the #2 seed in the Big Ten, led by All-Big Ten First-Team guard Boo Buie and Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year Chase Audige. With both players being seniors, Northwestern is looking to make their mark on this tournament after beating #10 seed Boise State 75-67. They will face #2 seed UCLA on Saturday with hopes of pulling off an incredible upset.
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Furman: Entering the Southern Conference as the #1 seed, Furman beat #8 Mercer, #4 Western Carolina, and #7 Chattanooga to make their first tournament appearance since 1980. They have one of the country’s best offenses, led by their senior duo of Mike Bothwell (18.0 PPG) and Jalen Slawson (15.7 PPG). They rely heavily on three point shooting, attempting the 11th most threes per game (27.5 per game) among all D1 schools this season. Early on Thursday, they became the tournament’s first official upset, beating #4 seed Virginia and are now slated to face #5 seed San Diego State’s elite defense, rivaling Furman’s powerhouse offense, on Saturday.
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FAU: Before this season, the least amount of losses that FAU had suffered in a season was 10. Now, the new record is 3: FAU will be making their second ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Finishing 25th in the Final AP Poll, FAU is very talented on both sides of the court, boasting a top 40 offense and defense on Kenpom. The best part about all of this is that only one player in their rotation is a senior; in fact, arguably their three best players are all sophomores, providing an incredibly bright outlook for the Owls. Tonight, they will face a tough Memphis squad in an amazing 8-9 matchup that probably should not be happening given the talent of these two teams.
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Kennesaw State: The only program to make their tournament debut in 2023 is the Kennesaw State Owls, the ASUN champions. The Owls never finished above .500 in a single season until this year, where they became the #1 seed in the ASUN tournament. After knocking off #9 Queens, #5 Lipscomb, and #2 Liberty, Kennesaw State finally went dancing. Their guard play of junior Chris Youngblood and senior Terrell Burden, who combined for over 28 points per game, led Kennesaw State to this spot. At the time of the release of this column, they are facing #3 seed Xavier with hopes to land the first 3 vs. 14 upset of the 2023 tournament.
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Howard: The last time that Howard had a season with over 20 wins was all the way back in 1987. Now, in 2023, the Bison surpassed this with a 22-12 record and their third March Madness appearance, their first since 1992. Entering the MEAC tournament as the #1 seed, Howard took care of business, defeating #8 South Carolina State, #4 UMES, and #3 Norfolk State. Early on Thursday, Howard, a #16 seed, had their season end with a 96-68 loss to #1 seed Kansas. Sophomore Elijah Hawkins and junior Steve Settle not only formed a formidable duo this year for Howard, but they both should be back next season in Howard’s search to make back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances for the first time ever.
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Grand Canyon: This column started with a Cinderella run to The Big Dance, and it ends with it, too. Grand Canyon entered the WAC tournament as the #5 seed and defeated #12 UT Arlington, #4 Seattle, #1 Sam Houston, and #3 Southern Utah to go dancing for the second time in three years. Coach Bryce Drew is the brother of Baylor Head Coach Scott Drew and seems to be building something down in Phoenix. Sophomore Rayshon Harrison is a special scorer for this team, averaging 17.7 points per game. He, combined with Coach Drew, seem to be the future for Grand Canyon, who is set to face #3 Gonzaga tonight.
Charlie Spungin , NBA Analyst