March Madness and religious schools: A stunning upset, a top seed and honor for the Sabbath

Oral Roberts players and coaches celebrate after beating Ohio State 75-72 in a first round game in the NCAA men’s college basketball tournament, Friday, March 19, 2021, at Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, Ind. | Robert Franklin, Associated Press

Oral Roberts stuns Ohio State while No. 1-ranked Gonzaga prepares for its first game, and two BYU wins would alter the tourney schedule to avoid Sunday play

The first major upset in this year’s NCAA Tournament was pulled off by a private evangelical school from Tulsa, Oklahoma.

The 15th-seeded Oral Roberts Golden Eagles knocked off the second-seeded Ohio State Buckeyes 75-72 in overtime Friday at Mackey Arena in Indianapolis.

Oral Roberts University is one of 12 religiously affiliated schools competing in this year’s March Madness. Here’s a little about each school with religious ties.

Robert Franklin, Associated Press

Oral Roberts’ Max Abmas (3) goes up for a shot over Ohio State’s Musa Jallow (2) during the second half of a first round game in the NCAA men’s college basketball tournament, Friday, March 19, 2021, at Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, Ind. Oral Roberts won 75-72 in overtime.

Abilene Christian University: Founded in 1906, ACU is a private Christian university affiliated with Churches of Christ. Students are required to attend daily chapel sessions and take several Bible courses before graduation. The Wildcats earned their first NCAA Tournament appearance by winning the Southland Conference in 2019.

ACU is a No. 14 seed and plays No. 3 seed Texas on Saturday.

ACU’s all-time NCAA Tournament record is 0-1.

Baylor University: Baylor is a private Baptist university. The school is No. 9 on The Princeton Review’s list of the Most Religious Students and No. 16 on Stone-Cold Sober Schools list. The Bears have twice reached the Elite Eight in their school’s history.

The No. 1 seed Baylor defeated No. 16 seed Hartford 79-55 in the first round Friday.

Baylor’s all-time NCAA Tournament record is 15-14.

Brigham Young University: Owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, none of BYU’s team compete on Sundays because of its Honor Code. The NCAA Tournament said it will flip the tourney schedule if BYU reaches the Sweet 16 to help the school honor its commitment.

NCAA regulations include the so-called “BYU Rule,” but the tournament Selection Committee placed BYU in the East Region, which means that if the Cougars win two games, the schedule would place them in a Sweet 16 game on Sunday, March 28. The NCAA has a contingency plan, however. If BYU reaches the Sweet 16, the NCAA will swap the schedules for the East and Midwest Regions. The East’s games, including BYU’s, would move to Saturday, March 27, with the West moving to Monday, March 29.

Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

BYU and Gonzaga, two of the religiously affiliated schools in this year’s NCAA tournament, prepare to play in WCC men’s basketball tournament finals at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas on Tuesday, March 9, 2021.

BYU has been ranked the nation’s No. 1 Stone-Cold Sober school for 23 years by the Princeton Review and is No. 2 on the Princeton Review’s 2021 list of the Most Religious Students.

BYU, a No. 6 seed, plays No. 11 UCLA on Saturday.

BYU is 15-32 in NCAA Tournament games.

Creighton University: Creighton, located in Omaha, Nebraska, is one of the 28 schools nationwide that are part of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities. The Bluejays have made 20 appearances in the NCAA Tournament.

Creighton, a No. 5 seed, plays 12 seed UC Santa Barbara on Saturday.

Creighton’s all-time tournament record is 12-21.

Georgetown University: While Georgetown is part of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities, the campus welcomes students from a wide variety of religious and nonreligious backgrounds. The team rose to basketball prominence behind Hall of Famer Patrick Ewing in the 1980s, and now Ewing is the school’s head coach.

No. 12 seed Georgetown plays No. 5 seed Colorado on Saturday.

Georgetown is 47-29 in tournament games.

Gonzaga University: This private Jesuit, Catholic university was founded in 1887 when Father Joseph Cataldo purchased land in Spokane, Washington, with 936 silver coins. It’s interesting to note that more than 55% of Gonzaga undergraduates study abroad before graduation, according to Gonzaga.edu. The Bulldogs, the top-seeded team in this year’s NCAA Tournament, finished as the runner up in 2017.

Gonzaga has been ranked No. 1 in the country all season. It is only the 13th team in the history of the Associated Press poll to accomplish the feat, according to the NCAA Tournament record book.

The Bulldogs are one of the four No. 1 seeds in the tournament and play No. 16 seed Norfolk State on Saturday.

Gonzaga is 34-22 in the NCAA Tournament.

Iona College: Founded in 1940 just before the United States entered World War II, Iona is a small private Catholic college in New Rochelle, New York. A Gael, the school’s mascot, is a person of Irish-Gaelic ancestry. It stems from the school’s founders. Iona has appeared in 14 NCAA tournaments.

Iona is a No. 15 seed and plays No. 2 seed Alabama on Saturday.

Iona is 1-14 in NCAA Tournament history.

Liberty University: Liberty is a private evangelical University in Lynchburg, Virginia. The university was founded by the late Jerry Falwell Sr., a prominent Baptist minister, televangelist and founder of the Moral Majority. Liberty has an honor code called the Liberty Way and requires three Bible studies classes for undergraduates. It also has a campus doctrinal statement outlining the school’s beliefs.

The Flames have four appearances in the NCAA Tournament, with a fifth trip canceled by the COVID-19 pandemic.

No. 13 seed Liberty lost to fourth-seeded Oklahoma State 69-60 on Friday night.

Liberty is now 1-5 in the tournament.

Loyola University Chicago: Loyola is a Jesuit school that made history on its way to winning the 1963 NCAA men’s basketball championship. That team was enshrined in the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013, in part because it regularly broke what was called “the gentleman’s agreement” to start two or fewer Black players in each game. Loyola often started three or four Black players. In fact, they were the team Mississippi State played when it defied segregationists and broke the unwritten rule banning Mississippi teams from playing schools with Black players. The game is known as the Game of Change.

A No. 8 seed, Loyola beat ninth-seeded Georgia Tech on Thursday 71-60 and will play top-seed Illinois on Sunday.

Loyola has a 14-5 record in the NCAAs.

Oral Roberts University: Founded by the Charismatic Christian televangelist Oral Roberts, the eponymous school is a private evangelical university in Tulsa, Oklahoma, founded in 1963. All students sign a pledge to live the honor code and can seek the Lord in the Prayer Tower in the center of campus. The school’s mission statement is “To develop Holy Spirit-empowered leaders through whole person education to impact the world.”

In a monumental upset, 15th seed Oral Roberts stunned No. 2 seed Ohio State in overtime on Friday 75-72 and will play seventh-seeded Florida on Sunday.

The win was the school’s third in NCAA Tournament history. Overall, Oral Roberts is now 3-5 all-time.

St. Bonaventure University: Named after Bonaventure (1221–1274), a Catholic cardinal and contemporary of Thomas Aquinas who became head of the Franciscan order, St. Bonaventure is a private Franciscan university in Allegany, New York, founded in 1858.

The university is home to the Franciscan Institute and is dedicated to Saint Bonaventure’s teaching that “there is no knowledge without love.”

No. 9 St. Bonaventure plays No. 8 LSU on Saturday.

The Bonnies are 7-9 in the NCAAs.

Villanova University: Villanova was founded in 1842 by the Order of St. Augustine and remains the only Augustinian Catholic university in the nation. Based in Villanova, Pennsylvania, it is named for Saint Thomas (1488-1555) of Villaneuva, Spain.

The majority of students are Catholic, each building is adorned with a cross and every student is required to take a freshman course called the Augustine and Culture Seminar.

Villanova is a No. 5 seed and plays 12th-seeded Winthrop on Friday night.

The Wildcats are 65-37 in NCAA Tournament games.

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