For some sports fans, it’s the most wonderful time of the year: March Madness. The marquee men’s and women’s NCAA basketball tournaments are underway and already producing memorable moments.
Lots of folks have been glued to their televisions over the last few days, watching game after game. In years past March Madness has produced great memes. Remember the sad flute girl and crying Northwestern kid? This year is no exception.
Here are some of the memes and jokes thus far from March Madness, which has been characteristically full of upsets, huge plays, and big emotions.
Caitlin Clark and her dad
Caitlin Clark, the uber-popular superstar leading No. 1-seed Iowa in the women’s tournament, is a famously heated player. Her Hawkeyes easily dispatched 16-seed Holy Cross, 91-65, in their opening game. Even still, Clark was still getting into it with the referees. To be fair, she did take a nasty elbow to the face during the game.
But Clark’s father was frustrated with her antics from the stands. He seemed to exasperatedly tell his daughter to stop complaining, and lots of folks found it funny. It seemed like an interaction lots of people had with their dads in youth sports.
Oakland’s upset and Jack Gohlke
The biggest upset of March Madness thus far was 14-seed Oakland’s stunning defeat of 3-seed Kentucky. Led by sharpshooter Jack Gohlke, Oakland squeaked by a Kentucky team full of future NBA stars. Folks online loved joking about Gohlke, who maybe didn’t look like a typical basketball star, but sure played like it.
Kentucky sadness
Speaking of Gohlke, lots of folks got jokes off at Kentucky’s expense after they were ousted by underdog Oakland. When you’ve had as much success as Kentucky has historically, it makes sense opposing fans would take pleasure in your demise.
Yale takes down Auburn
Auburn, a 3-seed, got upset by Yale, a 14-seed much better known for its academics than its hoops. There were, of course, some jokes about that.
Despite all the wild stories thus far, we’re still in the very beginning stages of March Madness, with Round 2 games underway. There will certainly be more memes and jokes to come.