Basketball fans claim March Madness is ‘rigged’ after Alabama loss with no No. 1 seeds among remaining men’s teams
BASKETBALL fans are claiming the NCAA Tournament is "rigged" after March Madness brought two stunning upsets this week.
Two No. 1 seeds, Alabama and Houston, lost on Friday night, meaning no top-seeded team has reached the Elite Eight for the first time ever in the men's competition.
The Crimson Tide, the top overall seed, fell 71-64 to San Diego State after a night to forget from star forward Brandon Miller.
Miller ended up with just nine points, three assists, and 11 rebounds after going 3-for-19 from the field.
Darrion Trammell shined for the Aztecs, inspiring San Diego State's 12-0 run with about 12 minutes in the game.
The late push allowed the 17th overall seed to wipe off a nine-point deficit and the underdogs kept the momentum until the end of the game.
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A few minutes later, Miami defeated Houston 89-75 to make March Madness history.
With the Cougars eliminated, the NCAA Tournament reached the Elite Eight without a No. 1 seed among the remaining teams for the first time since seeding started in 1979.
Purdue and Kansas, last year's winners, crashed out of the tourney in the first weekend of the competition.
And as the upsets keep coming, some fans believe the tournament must be "rigged."
One tweeted: "Either the NCAA tournament is rigged or the refs are atrocious take your pick."
Another wrote: "NCAA is rigged it’s no way."
A third said: "Alabama & Houston both #1 seeds lost, NCAA rigged too."
One commented: "I’ve never seen a more rigged game than Alabama San Diego State..."
And another tweeted: "I have never in my life thought sports were rigged until I watched this Alabama and SDSU game. Refs f***ed Alabama, no other way around it."
Basketball fans went wild when no perfect March Madness brackets were left just three days into the tournament following Fairleigh Dickinson's victory over Purdue.
The Knights' stunning triumph marked only the second time ever a No. 16 seed won a men's NCAA Tournament game.
Later on, the 15th-seeded Princeton emerged as this year's Cinderella after beating Arizona and Missouri in the first two rounds.
However, the Tigers' run also came to an end in the Sweet 16 as they lost 86-75 to Creighton on Friday.