Breakdown of the 30-Point Breakdown
March Madness gets its name from the madness that occurs when there are major upsets in the NCAA basketball tournament field. It's synonymous with wild upsets such as #15 St. Peter's over #2 Kentucky in 2022 and #16 Fairleigh Dickinson over #1 Purdue in 2023. Copyright NCAA, 2024 Sometimes, though, if your team is struggling to do anything right in a game that should be closer than the score indicates, it's less "madness" and more "maddening." On Saturday, March 30, TD Garden in Boston hosted the first Elite Eight game of 2024, with a trip to the Final Four in Phoenix on the line. Top-seeded Connecticut faced off against the University of Illinois. Historically, this was significant for both: Connecticut was the first defending champion to make the Elite Eight since Florida did in 2007; Illinois had not made the Elite Eight since their runner-up finish in 2005. Several current U of I freshmen had not been born yet. Copyright Illinois Athletics, 2024 I