(CNN) After Friday night’s historic upset that saw No. 16 seed Fairleigh Dickinson upset No. 1 Purdue, the madness continued on the first day of the second round.
Another No. 1 seed was dispatched Saturday after No. 8 Arkansas upset No. 8 seed and defending national champion Kansas 72-71 in Des Moines, Iowa.
It’s only the third time multiple No. 1 seeds have failed to reach the Sweet 16 since the NCAA expanded the tournament field in 1985, according to ESPN.
Trailing 35-27 at halftime, the Razorbacks came back strong and took the lead thanks to a Kamani Johnson layup with just under a minute to play. Kansas equalized just 12 seconds later thanks to two Jalen Wilson free throws to set up a grandstand final.
But five Ricky Council IV free throws put the game just beyond Kansas’ reach and Arkansas held on to advance to the school’s third straight Sweet 16 appearance.
Davonte Davis scored a game-high 25 points for the Razorbacks, leading their comeback in the second half, while the Board added 21 more.
The Razorbacks held on to defeat the Jayhawks.
“It’s amazing to see all the fans come out,” Davis said afterwards. “My mum wasn’t even going to come and I said to her, I said to her, come on. She came downstairs. It was like seven o’clock. She came downstairs, happy to have experienced that.”
In the chaotic post-buzzer celebrations, Arkansas head coach Eric Musselman removed his jersey and pumped up Razorback fans in attendance at Wells Fargo Arena.
“This is an incredible win for our program,” Musselman told the CBS show. “I keep telling people that we are improving. Few teams can improve at this time of year. I have never been so proud of a team like tonight.”
The Jayhawks were without head coach Bill Self who missed his team’s two games at March Madness as he recovers from what the school calls a “recent health issue.”
The Razorbacks will face the winner of Connecticut and St. Marys on March 23 in Las Vegas.