A University of Arizona men’s basketball team has lost in the first round of the NCAA tournament as a higher-seed again — continuing a maddening, alternating trend for Wildcats fans.
Arizona lost 59-55 to the Princeton Tigers on Thursday, giving up a 9-0 run in the closing moments of the game to give Princeton its first-ever March Madness win, per ESPN.
The stunning upset loss now continues a trend for Arizona basketball extending to 2016 where the school alternates between a Sweet 16 run and being upset in the first round.
To wit, in 2016, the 6-seed Wildcats were upset by the 11-seed Wichita State Shockers. In 2017, the school then made it to the Sweet 16.
In 2018, the school was a 4-seed and lost to the 13-seed University of Buffalo. In Arizona’s next NCAA tournament appearance in 2022, the top-seeded Wildcats made it to the Sweet 16 again.
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And now, the school has lost in the first round — again.
Given how fresh the loss is, it’s doubtful that any prospects of making it to the Sweet 16 next year in the NCAA tournament will be of much solace for Arizona fans.
And that’s primarily because this is about as embarrassing of a loss as a basketball program could suffer in the NCAA tournament.
Is your March Madness bracket busted?
Yes: 29% (2 Votes)
No: 71% (5 Votes)
Not only had Princeton never won a game in the NCAA tournament before, Princeton had never won a game against Arizona before (to be fair, according to Arizona, the two schools had only ever played one game, in 1985.)
On top of that, Arizona was also a popular pick to win not just the game against Princeton, but to win the entire tournament as well.
One such pundit who picked the Wildcats to take the whole tournament? None other than President Joe Biden himself.
Good luck to every team in this year’s NCAA tournament.
I’ve got Arizona in the men’s tournament and Villanova in the women’s – and as you know, in this household, Villanova always wins. pic.twitter.com/iILzABTCuo
— President Biden (@POTUS) March 16, 2023
“Good luck to every team in this year’s NCAA tournament,” Biden tweeted. “I’ve got Arizona in the men’s tournament and Villanova in the women’s — and as you know, in this household, Villanova always wins.”
Not only was the president wrong … he was wrong in spectacular fashion. His pick to win the entire tournament couldn’t even make it to the second round, let alone a round of the tournament with an alliterative name (Sweet 16, Elite Eight, Final Four.)
Of course, Biden wasn’t the only one who made the mistake of believing in Arizona. According to the March Madness official Twitter account, less than one percent of submitted brackets are “perfect” now.
Princeton STUNS Arizona and just like that, only 0.12% of brackets remain perfect. 😳 #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/pwkKpGPrVN
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 16, 2023
In other words, 99.88 percent of all submitted NCAA tournament brackets had picked Arizona to beat Princeton.
So it’s not just the president who was wrong. The overwhelming majority of March Madness fans were dead wrong on this one.
Take a bow, Arizona.
You made the president, and most fans who watch college basketball, to be complete fools and will forever be known as the first (and for now, the only) school to ever lose to Princeton in the NCAA tournament.
Bear down? More like “way down,” Arizona.
