Now here’s a team nobody expected to make it this far (unless you somehow have a perfect bracket, in which case, congrats on being a psychic). The Princeton Tigers are firmly planted in the Sweet Sixteen after two significant upsets in the first two rounds.

Can the Princeton Tigers make history and advance to the Elite Eight?

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Looking Back

Princeton has an on-again-off-again past with the NCAA March Madness tournament. The team is never guaranteed to make it to the round of 64. The most recent appearance in the tournament for the Tigers was 2017, when they lost to Notre Dame in the first round. Prior to that, 2011 brought Princeton to the first round and a loss to Kentucky. Previous appearances also include 2004, 2001, and 1998.

To put it simply, the Tigers almost always enter the tournament as an underdog, if they make it at all.

But this year has proven different for the Ivy League school. March Madness 2023 has welcomed its fair share of upsets, and Princeton has been responsible for two of them.

By all accounts, Princeton was expected to fall to Arizona in the first round. The 2-seed Wildcats were a favorite in many brackets. In the first-round game, that all looked like it was about to pan out. However, Ryan Langborg gave Princeton the lead with two minutes left on the clock, and the Tigers used that shift in momentum to fuel a late-game run. The Tigers upset the Wildcats 59-55.

In round two, it was a trial of the tigers. The Princeton Tigers took on the 7-seed Missouri Tigers. IT wasn’t just an upset. It was a jaw-dropping decisive victory. Princeton’s Blake Peters drained five 3-pointers in the game’s back half, leading the underdog school to another victory and a slot in the Sweet Sixteen.

The Road Ahead

Now, the Tigers take on the Creighton Bluejays.

Creighton took down NC State in the first round and 3-seed Baylor in the second. The question is: if Princeton can take down a strong Arixons and Missouri team, can it do the same to the Creighton Bluejays?

It’s a bit of a hard sell. Both of Creighton’s victories in the tournament have been relatively decisive: 72-63 in round one and 85-76 in round two.

But you can’t underestimate the power of adrenaline and momentum. March Madness has played host to a bevy of Cinderella stories, and Princeton’s narrative is working up to quite the climax. If you’re betting on March Madness, a bet on Princeton may be long shot, but you could see a solid payout if successful.

If I had to make a guess, I’d take Creighton to end Princeton’s historic run. March Madness is always brimming with surprises, but even the highest-flying planes have to stop to refuel at some point.

What if Princeton wins? Then the team meets with the winner of Friday’s Alabama-San Diego State game. Either team will present a challenge, but Princeton is plenty familiar with playing a superior team.

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