The second round of the NCAA Tournament started with nine double-digit seeds still kicking, which was tied for the second highest total of all time. Five of them were in action on Sunday, and three of them advanced to Sweet 16, topped by Oregon State number 12 with an 80-70 victory over Oklahoma State’s 4th place finish in the final game of the night.
15th place Oral Roberts and 11th Syracuse were the others who will live to see another day after they both eliminated opponents with more seed in another exciting action day, with eight teams securing their place on Sweet 16.
Monday will push the total of double-digit seed heads on Sweet 16 even higher, as four teams ranked 10th or worse will be in action. At least one advance is guaranteed while UCLA seed No. 11 takes over seed No. 14, Abilene Christian. No. 13 seed Ohio will also have a great opportunity to continue dancing while facing Creighton after the No. 5 seed Bluejays looked unstable in a first round victory over UC Santa Barbara.
However, eleventh place in Maryland will have the most difficult task for double-digit teams on Monday, as turtles will take second place in Alabama. But Sunday served as another reminder that no result is impossible at this NCAA Tournament. Here are some quick action tips.
Villanova survives silently
It may have been lost in the confusion of the day, but Villanova is advancing to Sweet 16 after being largely canceled due to the absence of Collin Gillespie. The Wildcats strangled No. 13 in northern Texas by 84-61 after a balanced scoring attack from their remaining stars. Jeremiah Robinson-Earl led with 18 points. Double-digit seeds may be having a good tournament, but the Wildcats are not here for that. In 12th position, Winthrop was a fashion choice to upset Villanova in the first round, but the Eagles faltered. The Mean Green also emerged as a darling by eliminating Purdue’s seed number 4 in the first round.
But Villanova was hot on Sunday and hit 15 out of 30 attempts in the 3-point range to show his resilience and progress.
Rutgers falters late
Rutgers had the perfect opportunity to make the day even better for the double-digit team before Scarlet Knights’ number 10 was eliminated with a 63-60 loss to Houston’s runner-up. The Cougars were losing by 10 with 8:45 remaining, but they staged a furious rally and advanced to play 11th place, Syracuse, on Sweet 16.
Speaking of Syracuse
While Oral Roberts and Oregon State are more notable stories because of their relative lack of basketball history, the double-digit seed in action on Sunday that has the best chance of continuing to dance is probably Syracuse. Orange showed on the first weekend that its defense by patented zone can be difficult to discover in a short time, and with veteran coach Jim Boeheim giving the cards, this team looks dangerous.
If Orange somehow managed to bring Houston down, he would play the winner of a game between 8th placed Loyola Chicago and 12th Oregon State in Elite Eight. Don’t let Boeheim produce any more magic. With the help of his 3-point sniper son Buddy, his team got hot just in time.
All Eastern Time
2021 NCAA Tournament TV schedule
- (8) Loyola Chicago 71, (1) Illinois 58 – History
- (1) Baylor 76, (9) Wisconsin 63 – Review
- (11) Syracuse 75, (3) West Virginia 72 – Review
- (3) Arkansas 68, (6) Texas Tech 66 – Review
- 2) Houston 63, (10) Rutgers 60 – Recap
- (15) Oral Roberts 81, (7) Florida 78 – Review
- (5) Villanova 84, (13) North Texas 61 – Summary
- (12) Oregon State 80, (4) Oklahoma State 70 – Recap
- NCAA tournament schedule | Live bracket