The first round of the NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament this weekend was, in a word, crazy. No. 12 seed Yale won its first tournament game since 1962. No. 13 seed Hawaii, No. 14 seed Stephen F. Austin and, my favorite, No. 15 seed Middle Tennessee State all pulled off first-round upsets, making them legitimate contenders for the title of this year’s Cinderella team.

As a Laker watching all of this go down from Allendale, it was impossible not to liken the madness of the men’s tournament with a team a little closer to home.

The unranked Lakers, the Cinderella of the Division II women’s tournament, will take on No. 18 Pittsburg State in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament on March 22 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and the question is simple enough: can GVSU pull it off?

Before making any predictions, one must know how the Gorillas of Pittsburg State got this far.

The Gorillas entered the Mid-American Athletic Conference (MIAA) tournament championship game on March 6 looking to extend a 15-game winning streak to 16. The Gorillas, however, were defeated by Emporia State, 80-66, and finished as conference runner-ups. They finished the regular season (including the conference tournament) 26-5.

The Gorillas competed in the Central Region of the NCAA Tournament bracket and were selected as a No. 2 seed. They started the first round off with a commanding 79-39 victory over No. 7 seed Sioux Falls. In the second round, they again faced a lower-seeded team, and beat No. 6 seed Arkansas Tech, 91-80.

The Gorillas earned a rematch with No. 1 seed and MIAA champ Emporia State, and avenged their conference championship loss with a 78-74 victory over the top seed in the Central Region, punching their ticket to the Elite Eight.

So what are the Lakers going up against? The Gorillas are led by shooting guard Mikaela Burgess, who paces the team with 18 points per game, but that’s not what the Lakers should be most concerned about.

The Gorillas have three capable forwards with size who could give the Lakers some issues on both sides of the ball. 6-foot-2-inch center Kylie Gafford averages 13.5 PPG and 5.9 RPG, and 6-foot-1-inch power forward Cathy Brugman averages 13.6 PPG and 4.5 RPG. The pair are seniors, and give the Gorillas a tandem of two 6-footers in the paint.

That’s not all. In the NCAA Tournament, the Gorillas have only used one player off of the bench extensively, 5-foot-11-inch redshirt freshman Madison Northcutt. She averages four RPG, and gives the Gorillas a third capable forward with superior size.

With the absence of 6-foot-1-inch center Korynn Hincka (5.6 RPG), who tore her ACL in a Jan. 23 win over Northwood, the Lakers have struggled to fill the void. Not only that, but leading scorer Kayla Dawson (15.1 PPG) has been ineffective since suffering an ankle injury in the GLIAC Championship loss to Ashland on March 6.

The Lakers have relied on center Piper Tucker and reserve forward Taylor Parmley to make up the lack of size. Both players are under 6-feet tall. Freshman Lindsay Kusbel, a 6-footer, has played a few minutes as well, but only has nine points and three boards in the Lakers’ three NCAA Tournament games combined.

I’m not going to sit here on my high horse and tell you the Lakers are going to lose because they don’t have any redwoods down in the low block. Heck, this is the same lineup that held GLIAC leading scorer and 6-foot-3-inch stalwart Emily Wendling (18.1 PPG) to just 10 points on 5-of-17 shooting in the round of 32.

But, it would be naïve to think it isn’t going to be a problem. GVSU coach Mike Williams told me rebounding has been one of the team’s tenets in practice this week, and it’s something they need to do well to beat the Gorillas on March 22.

In their three tournament games, the Lakers have been outrebounded 46-25, 42-40 and 45-44. They won all three of those games, and time will tell if they’ll go four games in row with a win despite getting outrebounded. Against the Gorillas, that’s going to be a tall order. Literally.

Shooting well from behind the arc is a must if the Lakers plan on getting out of the Elite Eight alive. The 3-pointer has been the Lakers’ top source of offensive production this year. GVSU led the GLIAC in 3-point field goal percentage (43.6 percent), attempts (836) and makes (314). To put that in perspective, the next highest team, Malone, had 666 3-point attempts and 219 makes.

With the pressure the Lakers will face inside, they must have a stellar performance from 3-point range.

Prediction: The magic is going to run out in Sioux Falls, and the Lakers are going to come home after the game against the Gorillas. The rise of guard Janae Langs and the outstanding run by the piecemeal Lakers was a joy to watch, but the inside presence of Pittsburgh State, as well as the frontcourt attack led by the dangerous Burgess is going to be too much for GVSU to handle. Score: 72-55 in favor of the Gorillas.

I want to believe. I really do. Ask me if I’m a homer or a journalist, and I might plead the fifth. But, I think the No. 2 seed Gorillas have all of the ingredients to stifle the Lakers’ crazy run.

I will say this: don’t take my word for it. I’m just a college junior who doesn’t know how to write in cursive and recently learned that gas pumps shut off automatically. I’ve been wrong before, and I might be wrong to doubt the Lakers, who have overcome all odds to get to this point.

And that, ladies and gentleman, is the great thing about March Madness — anything can happen.