We’re right about halfway through the 2025 NCAA Tournament. And with no more mid-majors alive that doesn’t mean they didn’t contribute to some of the biggest moments of the first couple of rounds.
But what was the best moment of the first week of the men’s NCAA Tournament?
SB Nation asked the fans, and we here are Mid-Major Madness are not happy with some of the results.
Maryland’s game-winner over Colorado State won the poll with 36% of the vote. Yeah, we don’t like it. Just because we want to torture ourselves, here’s another look at Derik Queen bringing heartbreak to all of our hopes of the 12-seeded Rams making the second weekend.
Need we remind you of what set up that Queen shot. With 12 seconds to go, the Rams had the ball down two. Nique Clifford passes it crosscourt to a wide-open Jalen Lake, who calmly drains a 3-pointer with 6.1 seconds left. CSU takes a one-point lead.
Colorado State was six seconds away from its first trip to the Sweet 16 since reaching the region final in 1969. Yeah, more than 50 years. We were six seconds away from having a Mountain West team in the Sweet 16 for a third straight March Madness. But alas, it wasn’t meant to be. Thanks, Queen.
Anyway, the rest of the poll spotlighted some more bright spots for mid-majors.
Second place belonged to McNeese State upsetting Clemson and picking up the first NCAA Tournament win in program history. That claimed 18% of the vote.
The Cowboys, a 12-seed for a second straight year, survived a late push from the Tigers for a 69-67 win. The Pokes led by a dozen points with less than a minute to go.
You read that right. It was a 12-point lead, and the final margin was two. McNeese made just one basket and a pair of free throws to survive. But survive it did, and the Cowboys were onto the Round of 32.
We like this moment a lot more.
OK, so what about the rest of the top moments from the first couple days of the Tournament?
Rick Pitino vs. John Calipari was third at 17%. Dan Hurley’s meltdown received 12% of the vote. We won’t go into them.
Colorado State’s win over Memphis in the first round tallied 8% of the vote. While it’s mid-major on mid-major crime, we still love this. The graphic says upset, but was it really an upset? The Rams were favored over the Tigers. Anyway, that game set up the Rams’ epic second-round showdown with Maryland. (See above.)
And rounding out the list was Alabama State’s buzzer beater over Saint Francis (PA) in the First Four. That play received 7% of the vote and should have gotten more.
Talk about starting the Tournament off on the right note. Literally the first game of the 2025 NCAA Tournament, and it had all the madness in just one play.
A four-vertical Hail Mary to give the Hornets their first-ever NCAA Tournament win?!?!? How can that not be our One Shining Moment?
