New Orleans won't be serving as host to more than one No. 1 seed during the Final Four next month. Less than a week after defending champion Baylor fell to North Carolina in the second round, another two top seeds -- Gonzaga and Arizona -- suffered Sweet 16 losses on Thursday. Kansas, set to take the court on Friday, is now the last No. 1 seed standing.
Of the four regional semifinal games played on Thursday, no team scored 80-plus points. A pair of upset winners, Arkansas and Houston, relied heavily on physicality and toughness on defense, and Villanova succeeded with a slow-paced battle against Michigan. This edition of March Madness hasn't lacked drama, but all 40 minutes of action could be more entertaining for viewers.
"The theory I'm working on is, winning in the NCAA Tournament, finesse isn't going to do it right now," CBS Sports college writer Chip Patterson explained to The DA Show on Friday. "With the way the game is officiated, sometimes bringing that old SWC conference style of grinding this thing down, playing physically, knocking you off your block. Almost like playing defensive back before the NFL decided they needed points to sell tickets...
"If we'd seen Arkansas, Houston, and Texas Tech all win -- the year after we saw Baylor completely check Gonzaga -- then my working theory is, in the NCAA Tournament, the style of play isn't one that's particularly aesthetically pleasing. Just because of the way the game's officiated. Some of that hand-checking, physicality, disrupting offense from the perimeter. That's actually a style that wins in this tournament."
By knocking out Gonzaga, Arkansas became first team in history to defeat an AP No. 1 during the regular season and the tournament in the same campaign. The Bulldogs still haven't shed their reputation as underachievers in March -- according to ESPN Stats & Info, the school is now tied for the most top-seed tournament appearances without a national title (5).
Kansas will battle 4th-seed Providence in the East Region semifinal on Friday (7:30 p.m. ET tipoff). According to FiveThirtyEight projections, the Jayhawks currently have a 72-percent chance to reach the Elite Eight and a 57-percent chance to reach New Orleans. The last time the Final Four didn't feature one top seed was back in 2011.
The entire March Madness conversation between Patterson and DA can be accessed in the audio player above.
You can follow The DA Show on Twitter @DAonCBS and @CBSSportsRadio, and Tom Hanslin @TomHanslin.