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March 17 update: It turns out Iowa’s loss to Richmond was just the tip of the iceberg. No. 2 Kentucky fell to Saint Peter’s in overtime, sending shockwaves through the field once again. 95.6 percent of ESPN brackets had Kentucky winning the matchup, so we’ll see how many perfect brackets remain standing after this monumental upset.
We’ve got the first big upset of March Madness 2022 and it came in the 5-12 spot, as many expected. The Richmond Spiders, fresh off a run in the A-10 conference tournament, upset the Iowa Hawkeyes 67-63 to send the bracket into chaos. Although many who pick brackets take a 5-12 upset, this was not the one many selected.
85.6 percent of ESPN brackets had the Hawkeyes advancing out of the first round, so that’s a large chunk of brackets which are no longer perfect. However, that’s not the only impact of Iowa losing this game. The Hawkeyes were the 13th most popular title team, so the cascading effect of the team not making it in each round will eventually catch up to those who picked Iowa. 1.6 percent of brackets had Iowa winning it all.
Richmond was the least popular 12th seed in the tournament, with only 14.4 percent of brackets taking the Spiders. We’ll see if Richmond can keep this run going when the Spiders meet Providence in the round of 32.