Historically, 12-seeds in the Men’s NCAA tournament fare well against their 5-seed counterparts. It’s one of the more popular upset picks in brackets for diehard tournament fans and casual observers alike.
But when No. 5 Iowa (-9.5) took the court against No. 12 Richmond in Buffalo on Thursday afternoon, most expected the Hawkeyes to take care of business. Unlike many of their past predecessors, they would run roughshod on the Spiders. How could they not?
Iowa had won 12 of its last 14 games, including the Big Ten conference tournament title. The Hawkeyes had the potential National Player of the Year in Keegan Murray and one of the country’s top sharpshooters in Jordan Bohannon. Many — including this misguided writer — had them going to the Final Four as a dark horse.
None of that resume mattered to Richmond, who upset the Hawkeyes 67-63, and became the first bonafide Cinderella of this tournament. The Spiders effectively flipped many brackets, as far as bettors with Tipico Sportsbook were concerned. Sixty percent of the people who bet the spread on this game had Iowa covering that -9.5. A whopping 86 percent of moneyline bets came in on the Hawkeyes. In other words, not many saw this coming!
What was jarring about the Spiders’ victory over one of the hottest teams in the country was their complete control. Iowa never seriously threatened Richmond, at least in a way where they couldn’t recover quickly. That’s thanks to the steady leadership of senior Jacob Gilyard, who pitched in 24 points and dagger after dagger through the black and gold’s heart.
Richmond's not letting up. 😤@SpiderMBB #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/aFJlHCO9yo
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 17, 2022
And it was a pass from Gilyard to fellow senior Nathan Cayo on a late and-one dunk that made the rest of the game a free throw contest.
A contest Richmond would not lose.
CLUTCH AND-1! RICHMOND IS UP 6 WITH 30 SECONDS LEFT! 😱@SpiderMBB #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/qrorI9S0fk
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 17, 2022
The Spiders advance to the Second Round of the tournament for the first time since the early days of the Barack Obama administration, back in 2011. If they can take down a hot squad Iowa, you’d probably do well to bet on their chances moving forward against Providence (-2.5).
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