DaVaris Daniels had his Notre Dame Fighting Irish ousted.
Chris Rwabukamba saw his alma mater, the Duke Blue Devils, suffer a major upset.
Even Jarrett Boykin’s Virginia Tech Hokies got bounced back in the first round.
But the same cannot be said for the three members of Calgary’s defence whose respective schools have all advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Tournament.
In addition, the colleges formerly attended by Joshua Bell, Micah Johnson and Shaquille Richardson were seeded in separate regions, setting up a scenario that could see the Baylor Bears, Kentucky Wildcats and Arizona Wildcats each qualify for the Final Four.
Richardson – celebrating his 25th birthday on Tuesday – attended Arizona from 2010-13. And although the defensive back didn’t place any bets on this year’s edition of March Madness, there’s no doubt in his mind as to who will be the last team standing.
“I don’t have a bracket because it’s just too difficult,” the soft-spoken No. 35 for the Stamps admitted. “I already know I’m not going to get it right. But I for sure have us winning.”
That same confidence is shared by Bell, albeit in his beloved Bears.
“When those shots are falling, they’re deadly,” explained the veteran safety as he analyzed Baylor’s chances to continue on, beginning Friday against South Carolina. “They’re young and I don’t think they were picked by anybody out there to make it through the Big 12 with Kansas and Iowa State and Oklahoma State and teams like that. I’m excited to see them keep playing and keep going, hopefully to the championship.”
Arguably the most dominant program over the past handful of years has been Johnson’s Kentucky contingent. A drastic turnaround took place while the CFL all-star was enrolled in Lexington between 2006-09.
“In my freshman year at Kentucky and my sophomore year at Kentucky, the basketball team was down,” Johnson described. “One year, they didn’t even make the tournament and it actually worked out good for the football team because we were getting all the love. Going into my junior year, they hired (coach John) Calipari and then in comes John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins and it’s never been the same since.”
All three aforementioned members of the Red and White have been avid followers of the Tournament thus far after also keeping a close eye on their teams throughout the college season.
“I’ve been watching the games by myself or with my girlfriend,” recounted Richardson, who will surely be glued to the screen when Arizona clashes with Xavier on Thursday. “I can’t say I’ve seen every game, but I have tickers on my ESPN app when they start and when they finish. I haven’t really got together with any of my friends to watch the games but I’ve talked to my friends. Marquis Flowers, my friend from the Cincinnati Bengals, we talk a lot about Arizona.”
The same can be said for Texas native Bell, having spent the last several months tuning in to his Bears on a regular basis.
“I’m a Baylor man through and through,” the proud alumnus defiantly claimed. “I raced home some days on a Monday or Tuesday to watch them play. My coach that I help out with at my high school is an OK State guy so we’re going back and forth all the time. I’m always watching how well they play and what’s going on, especially when they didn’t have us ranked in the Top 25 at the beginning of the season. But it’s how you finish, and those guys have been finishing extremely well.”
Up next for the Wildcats of Kentucky is a star-studded UCLA squad highlighted by a player-of-the-year candidate in Lonzo Ball.
“They played once this season before and I think UCLA beat them by a couple and I think that revenge will be there because they remember that,” Johnson recalled in reference to an early-December matchup. “It’s going to be tough. You’ve got the Ball kid over there and I think it’s going to be a good guard matchup between Ball and (Kentucky standout Malik) Monk. But you know I’m going with Big Blue.”
Something that most fans across college hoops can probably agree on, however, is the struggle to embrace the jaw-dropping fluorescent jerseys of Baylor.
“I’m not really a fan of the yellow,” admitted Bell, who has drawn attention for an interesting game-day look of his own ever since he began applying a full coat of face paint last year. “But you know what? I might come up to Calgary this year with neon if we get to the championship game. I might have to buy me one.”