March Madness: Historic upsets, Big Ten chokes and 10 takeaways from the first 2 rounds of the NCAA Tournament

5. Gonzaga and Baylor stand tall

While the bracket crumbled around them the nation’s top two teams managed to avoid the upset frenzy. Gonzaga and Baylor have been a cut above the rest of the field all year long, a standard they maintained by easily getting to the Sweet 16.

The Bulldogs blew out Norfolk State and toppled Oklahoma by 16 despite allowing the Sooners to shoot 50 percent from the floor, a sign that their high-powered offense is going to be very difficult to stop. Things weren’t much harder for Baylor, which easily took care of business against Hartford and Wisconsin to set up a showdown with Villanova in the Sweet 16.

4. Syracuse proves the doubters wrong

The biggest head-scratcher on Selection Sunday was seeing Syracuse safely in the field when some pundits had them out of the NCAA Tournament altogether following a loss to Virginia in the ACC Tournament. The Orange then went out and proved their critics wrong by dispatching San Diego State and West Virginia to reach the Sweet 16 as an 11-seed.

Sweet shooting from Buddy Boeheim and Syracuse’s difficult 2-3 zone helped Jim Boeheim’s team earn a spot in the second weekend, where they are hoping to duplicate 2016’s Final Four run after barely sneaking into the field. A matchup with Houston looms ominously on Saturday but the Midwest Region is wide open for the Orange to extend their stay in Indianapolis.

3. Oral Roberts is this year’s Cinderella team

Most Americans have no idea where on a map Oral Roberts is (it’s in Oklahoma) but the Golden Eagles are the single-biggest reason brackets across the country have imploded. Taking down Ohio State in the first round was quite an accomplishment for the Golden Eagles, but Oral Roberts backed it up nicely by toppling Florida to become just the second 15-seed to ever reach the Sweet 16.

This team is extremely dangerous thanks to its dynamic duo of sophomore Max Abmas, the nation’s leading scorer, and junior Kevin Obanor, who have combined to score 114 of the Golden Eagles’ 156 points in the tournament. Oral Roberts is battle-tested from a rugged non-conference schedule that saw them play five tournament teams including Oklahoma State, who they lost to by five in Stillwater, and Arkansas, who they led by 10 at the half in Fayetteville before losing 87-76.

The Sweet 16 brings a rematch with the Razorbacks, who are without a doubt unhappy to see the Golden Eagles again. Another big effort from Abmas and Obanor will be necessary to help Oral Roberts become the first 15-seed to ever reach the Elite Eight.

2. The Pac-12 is dominating March Madness

The Conference of Champions has been on a downswing for years with few people outside of Bill Walton taking the Pac-12 seriously. That perception should change after a stellar March Madness performance from the league’s five teams, who went a combined 9-1 with four Sweet 16 trips between them.

The biggest surprise out of the Pac-12 has to be Oregon State, which backed up its bid theft from the conference tournament by knocking out Tennessee and Oklahoma State to reach the Sweet 16. UCLA also had a dramatic turnaround, rallying from a huge halftime deficit to stun Michigan State in the First Four as part of a three-win run to the Sweet 16 and earn a shot at Alabama.

Oregon was also a Pac-12 highlight after blowing out Iowa to make a statement on their way to the second weekend. Don’t be shocked if this tournament performance marks the beginning of a significant turnaround for the Conference of Champions.

1. The Big Ten was absolutely dreadful

Few conferences looked as set to dominate the March Madness stage as the Big Ten, which got a conference-record nine teams in the field, including four teams on the top two lines. Only Michigan survived into the Sweet 16 as the conference’s other tournament teams flamed out in epic fashion.

There were major collapses, such as Michigan State’s flop in the First Four after leading by 11 over UCLA at the break and Rutgers’ heartbreak after allowing Houston to go on a 14-2 run over the final 4:55 to steal a game the Scarlet Knights had in hand. Massive upsets against Ohio State and Purdue also hurt while Illinois got handed a brutal second-round draw against Loyola-Chicago, taking another national title contender out of play for the conference.

Wisconsin and Maryland did about as well as they could given their draws but Iowa got run out of the gym by Oregon, adding another disappointing result to the Big Ten’s 6-8 record so far. The Wolverines are now the Big Ten’s last hope of winning a national title and ending a league-wide championship drought that dates back to 2000 when Tom Izzo’s Spartans cut down the nets in, ironically, Indianapolis.

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