The remainder of March Madness will go on without Gonzaga.
The runner-up in the 2021 NCAA Tournament, No. 1 seed in the West Region, and No. 1 overall seed are out. The Bulldogs were upset in the Sweet 16 of the 2022 NCAA Tournament on Thursday, falling 74-68 to No. 4 Arkansas.
🚨 THE NUMBER 1 OVERALL SEED HAS FALLEN@RazorbackMBB pulls off the UPSET of (1) Gonzaga! #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/aoTMsjkusJ
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 25, 2022
As the No. 1 overall seed, Gonzaga was naturally a popular pick. The Bulldogs going down drew a big reaction.
36% of brackets had Gonzaga winning it all 🤯 pic.twitter.com/hIrcNGQn2A
— Yahoo Fantasy Sports (@YahooFantasy) March 25, 2022
No sports book had more money on Gonzaga to win than @CaesarsSports.
A whopping 27% of the money was on Zags to win it all at that book.
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) March 25, 2022
Bleak
Good job Arkansas https://t.co/eBfh3tcuVd
— Kenny Mayne (@Kenny_Mayne) March 25, 2022
Stop calling Gonzaga a blue blood man. A whole bunch of No. 1 seeds and 0 national championships.
— Zion (@ZionOlojede) March 25, 2022
Of course, there are two sides to an upset. While a lot of focus goes to the losing team, the winning team must get its proper credit. Arkansas got a lot of that on Thursday.
WOO. DAMN. PIG!!
— Dari Nowkhah (@ESPNDari) March 25, 2022
I respect Muss told his guys that if they didn't think they could win then don't get on the bus. Arkansas is playing like the more confident group tonight
— Tate Frazier (@tatefrazier) March 25, 2022
Arkansas is shooting better from three than Gonzaga. Arkansas was 314th nationally in three point accuracy, Gonzaga was 22nd.
— Pat Forde (@ByPatForde) March 25, 2022
Arkansas basketball at least knows how to wrap up.
Might teach their football team a thing or two
— /r/CollegeBasketball (@redditCBB) March 25, 2022
Arkansas outworked the 'Zags tonight. Exhibited remarkable resolve/physicality and challenged shots repeatedly around the basket. Nails tough team with elite D.
Gonzaga guards didn't show up. Missed numerous wide open looks. Still, credit to the Muss Bus.
Rollin' on.
— Brad Evans (@NoisyHuevos) March 25, 2022
As is the case in every game, there was a third team on the floor. And in what has become an all-too-common theme during the tournament (and in college basketball in general), the officiating was a major talking point.
this game is the perfect combination of poor officiating hurting Gonzaga and Arkansas chucking up YOLO threes with no regard for human life to balance it out
— Mike Golic Jr (@mikegolicjr) March 25, 2022
Arkansas to its credit is about 80-20 on the 50-50 balls, but the officiating . . . a shame.
— Brad Townsend (@townbrad) March 25, 2022
Respect to Arkansas but they got blessed by the officiating big time.
— Chris Milholen (@ChrisMilholen) March 25, 2022
Looking forward to seeing if anybody actually tries to defend the officials after this mess of a performance in Gonzaga-Arkansas.
— Gary Parrish (@GaryParrishCBS) March 25, 2022
Neutral observer here, #Gonzaga is getting screwed by the refs. Sadly, the poor officiating is THE story of the 2022 #NCAATournament #MarchMadness
— Luke Russert (@LukeRussert) March 25, 2022
The refs calling this Gonzaga/Arkansas game pic.twitter.com/YGubPtEMJa
— Pickswise (@Pickswise) March 25, 2022
The refs know Gonzaga doesn’t have an online community like Hogville that could dox their entire families. They’re just working smarter
— Alex Kirshner (@alex_kirshner) March 25, 2022
They fouled Chet out on a garbage call and somehow missed the Arkansas guy stepping 9 feet out of bounds. College basketball refs — making us feel better about NBA refs one game at a time!
— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) March 25, 2022
Gonzaga would have lost anyway but those last two fouls on Holmgren were a joke.
— Seth Davis (@SethDavisHoops) March 25, 2022
Gonzaga has long been one of the top college basketball programs in the country. The Bulldogs have made every NCAA Tournament since 1999 and have generally made deep runs. Gonzaga finished as the runner-up in 2017 and 2021 and made the Elite Eight in 2019. A National Championship victory, however, remains elusive.
Gonzaga just never gonna win the chip pic.twitter.com/u0bwWBEH2d
— McNeil (@Reflog_18) March 25, 2022
The win over Gonzaga moved Arkansas into the Elite Eight for the second straight season. The Razorbacks are searching for the program’s second NCAA Championship, with the other coming in 1994.
