The opening weekend of the NCAA Tournament was filled with twists, dramatic endings and underlying stories of well-being, leaving us with a historically uneven Sweet 16.. While Sunday’s slate saw the only # 1 seeds survive and advance, we are advancing to Sweet 16 with lots of Cinderella and a number of highly regarded teams have returned home.
Between 15th place, Oral Roberts, 12th place in Oregon State and 11th place in UCLA and Syracuse, the four double digit teams in Sweet 16 were two shy from the NCAA Tournament record six. But this year’s camp set its own record in a different way, eclipsing the highest seed total to reach this point in the tournament – with a sum of 94 surpassing a long-standing record of 89 that was set in 1986. Victims who they did it The possible Monday included surprising eliminations for the No. 2 Iowa and No. 3 Kansas seeds, which had unbalanced losses for the No. 7 Oregon and No. 6 USC seeds, respectively.
Although there were many setbacks, it was not all crazy. Three of the four No. 1 seeds advanced to the second weekend, with only No. 1 seed from the Midwest, Illinois, dodging after a second round prank at the hands of Loyola Chicago. Michigan and Gonzaga, the best seeds in the eastern and western regions, respectively, overcame deficits on Monday to secure seats in Sweet 16. Baylor, the No. 1 seed in the Southern Region, passed through Wisconsin on Sunday to become the first # 1 seed winning a spot on Sweet 16. # 2 seed Alabama and Houston also survived the opening weekend.
Here are some quick tips on the action on Monday, as we look at Sweet 16 next weekend.
No. 1 seeds survive scares
Both first-placed Gonzaga and first-place Michigan lost eight points on Monday. Both ended up winning comfortably with the Zags with a 16 point win and the Wolverines with an eight point win.
For the best Bulldogs, it was an early startled scare. Oklahoma led by eight points in the first minutes, but Gonzaga recovered quickly. He led by a dozen at the break and never really lost the reins, despite OU star Austin Reaves keeping things moderately interesting.
For Michigan, he resisted an incredible – almost perfect – first half of LSU to win a 86-78 victory. The Tigers made no comeback in the first 20 minutes and won 19 points in Cameron Thomas’ first half. But Michigan’s Chaundee Brown was the difference at the end, as he had 14 of his 21 in the second half to take the Wolverines to Sweet 16 for the fourth consecutive tournament.
Alabama paves the way for an easy victory
When Alabama is blocked from a distance, it has the most powerful attack on college basketball. Look no further than what happened to Maryland’s seed number 10 on Monday. The tide was 16 out of 33 in the 3-point range and obliterated the turtles. Maryland actually had a good day in the attack, but when Alabama makes almost half of the 3s and takes more than 30 of them, it is almost always a missed proposition for the other team. Next, Nate Oats and his team from Alabama face the exciting UCLA, 11th seed that had to play a game to advance to the first round. It looks like they are on a collision course to face Gonzaga, seed number one, as long as they can shoot like they did on Monday.
Luka Garza’s university career comes to an end
Iowa star Luka Garza played his last game at the college level on Monday, when runner-up Hawkeyes was eliminated from the tournament with a 95-80 loss to runner-up Oregon. But, man, it came out with a bang. Garza attempted 36 points and nine hits in 14 of 20 shots in the losing effort, putting an arc on a brilliant university career.
“It’s heartbreaking,” said Garza through tears after the game. “It is so surreal that it only hit me once, which is the last time I am going to wear this jersey. It hurts a lot. I feel bad for not being able to lead this team where I should have been. We did a lot of really good things this year, but it hurts not being able to do it when it was most important. This is something that will haunt me forever. “
NCAA tournament results on Monday
CBS Sports followed you around the clock, updating this story with the latest news from every second round of games on Sunday. Keep it locked here for scores, analysis and highlights throughout the night.