#11 Missouri 37 #19 Wake Forest 31
Missouri is going to the national semifinals! The Tigers defeated Wake Forest 37–31 to win the Notre Dame region, ending the Demon Deacons' remarkable run and claiming one of the final four places in the tournament.
This was a matchup between two teams that had already blown up expectations. Wake Forest had stunned third-seeded Notre Dame, while Missouri had eliminated sixth-seeded Kentucky in an 83-point shootout. Neither team was supposed to be here based on its seed, but both had earned the opportunity. And with a national semifinal berth on the line, there was no more room for another team's Cinderella story.
Wake Forest put up 31 points, enough to keep the contest competitive, but Missouri's 37 proved decisive. The Tigers won by six, a margin that gives them breathing room on the scoreboard without suggesting that the Demon Deacons were ever an opponent to take lightly. Wake Forest's run ends just short of the final four, but eliminating Notre Dame and reaching a regional championship is a tournament performance its fans can be proud of.
Missouri, meanwhile, has quietly become one of the most dangerous teams left in the field. The 11th seed has navigated a region that included Notre Dame and Kentucky, and now the Tigers are one of only four teams still standing. They may not have entered the tournament as favorites, but that distinction means very little now.
What's next: Missouri advances to the national semifinals, where the stakes rise again. The Tigers have won their region, but they'll need one more big performance to reach the national championship game.
#39 Clemson 45 #2 Georgia 42
Clemson has pulled off one of the tournament's defining upsets, defeating second-seeded Georgia in a 45–42 shootout to claim the Georgia region. The Tigers are headed to the national semifinals, and they'll get there carrying the scalp of one of the strongest teams in the entire bracket.
Georgia didn't go quietly. Forty-two points is an enormous offensive output, the kind of performance that wins plenty of games. But Clemson answered every challenge on the scoreboard well enough to finish three points ahead. In a game with 87 combined points, neither side could afford to leave much on the table, and the final margin shows just how thin the line was between advancing and going home.
For Georgia, this is a devastating ending. The Bulldogs had reached the regional final as the second seed and had looked the part against Wisconsin, winning 41–24. But Clemson came in with its own momentum after knocking out Indiana and Baylor, and the Tigers delivered their biggest result yet. Georgia's championship hopes end here, just as the tournament's final four comes into view.
For Clemson, this victory changes the whole story of the bracket. The 39th seed is no longer simply an entertaining underdog. It has beaten a second seed in a game where both teams scored more than 40 points. The Tigers have shown they can survive a shootout against elite opposition, and that makes them a terrifying opponent for whoever comes next.
What's next: Clemson moves into the national semifinals alongside Ohio State and Mississippi State. The Tigers have just taken down Georgia, but the championship road still has another obstacle — and after this performance, they'll believe they can beat anyone.
#20 Mississippi State 28 #5 Alabama 27
Somewhere in Starkville, Mississippi State fans are going to be talking about this one for a very, very long time.
The Bulldogs have done it again. After knocking out Texas and Miami, Mississippi State has now taken down Alabama, winning 28–27 in the kind of nail-biter that makes March Madness fans wish football had its own version of a buzzer. The 20th seed has eliminated the fifth seed by a single point, and the Bulldogs are heading to the national semifinals.
Alabama scored 27 points. In most circumstances, that would be enough to put a team in position to win. But Mississippi State found one more point's worth of answers, and that tiny difference has enormous consequences. The Crimson Tide are going home, while the Bulldogs are moving on after beating three increasingly formidable opponents.
Think about the road Mississippi State has traveled. Texas. Miami. Alabama. Those aren't three teams a lower seed is supposed to brush aside on the way to a championship. The Bulldogs have turned the bracket upside down, and now the underdog label feels almost ridiculous.
Alabama's exit is a brutal one. The Tide survived Iowa by three points in the previous round, but this time they came up one point short. In a single-elimination tournament, that is the difference between a season-ending disappointment and a place among the final four.
What's next: Mississippi State advances to the national semifinals, where the Bulldogs will have a chance to prove that this extraordinary run isn't finished yet. At this point, nobody should be betting against them lightly.
#1 Ohio State 49 #24 Minnesota 31
Minnesota's Cinderella story finally ran into the top seed, and Ohio State made sure this fairy tale wasn't getting another chapter. The Golden Gophers had already knocked off LSU and Texas Tech, proving they could take down teams with far more impressive seed numbers. But Ohio State was a different beast, and the Buckeyes put up 49 points to end Minnesota's run, 49–31.
Give Minnesota credit: 31 points against the tournament's top seed is no small accomplishment. The Gophers didn't simply disappear when the competition got tougher. They brought enough offense to make this a real regional championship contest, but Ohio State answered with an even bigger performance. When the final score settled, the Buckeyes had built an 18-point margin and punched their ticket onward.
For Minnesota, the dream ends one victory short of the next stage. They leave the tournament having made the 24th seed look like a serious contender. For Ohio State, the mission continues. The Buckeyes have survived the bracket's chaos and now advance with a powerful offensive statement behind them.
What's next: Ohio State moves on to face the winner of the tournament's other regions, carrying the weight of being the top seed — and the knowledge that the remaining opponents have earned their place the hard way.
