2nd Round Update

My apologies to the FBC Blog-heads for the delayed post as it was a busy birthday celebration weekend. However last time I checked the last post only had 3 views, fear not we've got a double decker update recapping the Round of 32!

Saturday saw the chalk start to waiver in as 10 seed Arkansas took down Rick Pitino and St John’ while the sharp shooting super soaking stormin Mormons of BYU upset Wisconsin.

1 seeds Auburn and Houston survived furious challenges from Creighton and Gonzaga, while Tennessee and Purdue continued the 2025 tradition of blowouts. Elsewhere the B1G Ten kept rolling as Michigan cleaned out Texas A&M.

It took a while to get going, but at last Sunday delivered what we’ve come to expect from this tournament. After a last minute 3 from Colorado St, Derik Queen a buzzer beater to send Maryland and the Crab 5 to the Sweet 16. Arizona erased a disastrous start and edged out a win over Pac-12 rival in Oregon, while the Rebels of Ole Miss ran down Iowa St.

Michigan St and Florida fought back against sizeable 1st half deficits against New Mexico and UConn, while Kentucky and Alabama proved the SECs worth with double victories against the Fighting Illini and Australians respectively

Jake Wilson continues to roll setting a FBC record for most points after the 1st weekend of play while FBC veteran and son of the defending champion Jared Fillo sits 5 points back.

Regardless of the entertainment value, I’m never going to complain about four straight days of basketball. With 80 people still with intact brackets the Fader Bracket Challenge is as wide open as it’s ever been! Take some time to collect your breath, the Regionals start Thursday and chaos is just around the corner

FADERS THOUGHTS

• With this much chalk this year is an absolute track meet. Records have and will continue to be broken. With Sweet Sixteen games worth 4 points, every game is pivotal especially if you have Duke or Florida.

• I always get catfished by teams from the Big East. I picked Marquette to the final in 2023 and did the same thing with St John's this year. Why do I keep falling for it? It'll take some soul searching to find out but next year please hold an intervention with me before I fill out my bracket

• Duke certainly looks like the team to beat thus far, when they cycle and shoot the ball like they did today it's hard to think of a team to stop them. Cooper Flagg has the potential to join Christian Laettner, J.J. Reddick and Grayson Allen on the Mount Rushmore of Duke white boys

• A big thank you to the Crab Five for finally providing some excitement to this tournament, it certainly took a while but hopefully that provides a preview for next weekend. Furthermore, the best crab I've ever had was at Locust Point Steamers in Baltimore, MD. If you're ever there be sure to check it out

• It's with a heavy heart that I must relay the unfortunate news that The Keg Crowfoot has gone downhill. If you send a steak back that's overcooked, and then the 2nd steak comes out even more cooked than the first, you have a problem. This is coming from a Keg (Crowfoot) defender

• These next 72 hours are among the hardest of the year after 48 games of non-stop basketball, the Monday-Wednesday detox in late March is always a battle. I've always wondered why they don't stagger the Women's tournament so we can feed our fix