Lehigh stars in wildness of March Madness

Lehigh stars in wildness of March Madness
March 17, 2012, 10:49 pm
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I would like to meet the guy who has a perfect NCAA bracket after what happened Friday.

I was courtside for two upsets and nearly a third in Nashville. I saw No. 5 Temple and No. 4 Michigan go down and nearly witnessed No. 3 Florida State lose to Atlantic-10 champion No. 14 St. Bonaventure. The ACC Champs barely hung on after trailing most of the game.

Most years those games would be great drama in the Big Dance but not this year. I'm now heading to Greensboro to cover Lehigh, which pulled off one of the most shocking wins in NCAA tournament history over second-seeded Duke playing in its home state, where the Blue Devils rarely lose. It was only the sixth time a 15th seed won a game in the tourney but amazingly it was the second time in a matter of hours.

Earlier in the evening, Norfolk State knocked off Missouri.

KansasSports tweeted: "According to Las Vegas, based on point spread and seedings, Mizzou's loss was the biggest upset in NCAA history."

I've got to believe Lehigh's stunner isn't far behind. The Mountain Hawks lost by nine to Michigan State earlier this season, which proved to their players that they can play with the best in college basketball and they proved it against Duke.

Next up is No. 10 10 Xavier. A winnable game for Lehigh. A 15-seed has never made it to the Sweet 16. Why not the Mountain Hawks?

If you're wondering if all these upsets are attracting viewers, CBS-Turner says they delivered the highest-rated first Friday since 1991 in overnight ratings in metered markets. People are watching and in the Philadelphia market, the city 6 is no longer represented in the NCAA tournament but Lehigh has a chance to make a mark in this year's March Madness.

E-mail Neil Hartman at nhartman@comcastsportsnet.com

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