After a hectic Saturday Half of the Sweet 16 has been decided., and by the time the 2024 NCAA Tournament schedule is completed on Sunday, we'll know all the matchups to start the second weekend of March Madness. So far, this year's tournament has had its fair share of upsets, thrilling endings, and superstars emerging from nowhere to the forefront of the national sports conversation, but remember March… Only one day left to make more and decide which team will stay. While competing for the national championship.
Sunday's eight fights have a good mix of heavyweights and Cinderellas. There are four games for double-digit seeds looking to advance to the Sweet 16, but there are also three games for top seeds to advance to the second weekend. It would be a huge disappointment if any of these top-seeded teams were eliminated, and an absolute elation if a double-digit seeded team won. As the first weekend of the tournament concludes with the remaining second-round games, that's about as much margin of error as we can afford.
Let's take a look at some of the big storylines you need to know about Sunday's second round action
Will the No. 1 seed break a sweat?
For most of the 2024 calendar year, we have assumed that the top tier of college basketball will be occupied by just three teams: UConn, Houston, and Purdue. How these three teams will be ranked has been the subject of intense debate over the past two months. Sunday's selection will bring further debate as to who will be his fourth No. 1 seed, but it is accepted that these three teams are the best. This sport has to be at its best by this point in the season. So No. 1 Purdue defeated No. 16 Grambling State by 28 points, No. 1 University won its first-round game against No. 16 Stetson by 39 points, and No. 1 Houston defeated No. 16 Grambling State by 39 points. It's no surprise that they defeated Bulling State. Longwood leads by 40 points.
There’s no way the three No. 1 seeds would be so dominant in the second round… right?
Purdue will be the first No. 1 seed on the floor, traveling from Indianapolis to face No. 8 Utah State in the Midwest Region (2:40 p.m. ET, CBS, March Madness Live). The Boilermakers may have forgotten his FDU echoes in a stunning first-round win, but they won the Mountain West regular-season championship and crushed his TCU defense in the first round. The newest Utah State University team is just around the corner. The final two No. 1 seeds won't be available until primetime, starting with UConn's game against No. 9 Northwestern in the East from Brooklyn (7:45 p.m. ET, TruTV and March Madness Live). The Wildcats advanced by defeating No. 8 FAU in overtime in one of the best games of the first round. And now they're playing for the tournament's No. 1 overall seed and house money.
Then, No. 1 Houston faces off against No. 9 Texas A&M in the South Division game from Memphis (8:40 p.m. ET, TNT, March Madness Live), which will be the All-Lone Star State game. It will be. The Aggies dropped 98 points to No. 8 Nebraska in the first round, showing their best offensive performance of the season. Can they repeat that success against Houston's top-tier defense? Although it seems unlikely, this matchup will definitely be an important point in the development of the game.
Duke vs. Dukes
One of the four double-digit seeds entering Sunday was No. 12 James Madison, who posted the most impressive upset of the first round with an 11-point win over No. 5 Wisconsin. I showed you one. The Dukes bounced back with confidence in their play against the Badgers, never trailing in the game and by the end of the night looking like they were closer to a gaudy record (32-3) than an NCAA Tournament seed. Looked. Teams like JMU are sometimes demoted in the seeding process due to their strength of schedule, but once a team that won 32 of his 35 games in a college basketball season begins to feel success, it's easy to see them step into the role. It's no surprise that we are very satisfied. .
But can JMU bring the same confidence to No. 4 Duke when they square off in a South Region game from Brooklyn (5:15 p.m. ET, March Madness Live on CBS)? ? The Blue Devils faced No. 13 University of Vermont in the first round, and although they gave up 29 points before halftime, they won by only 18 points in the second half, and appeared to have broken out of the rut with their excellent defense. Duke lost consecutive games entering the tournament, including the final regular season game against North Carolina and the ACC Tournament game against North Carolina State. John Shier challenged the group to raise the level of competitiveness at this critical time of the year. So while it was good that Duke wasn't caught napping on the Catamounts, their competition will certainly be tested against a confident JMU Dukes.
Colorado aims to advance from First 4 to Sweet 16
Since the First Four was officially established in 2011, there have only been five instances in which a team has advanced from a play-in game to the Sweet 16 or higher. No. 10 Colorado will look to join that group on Sunday when the Buffs take on the No. 2 market in the South Division at Indianapolis (12:10 p.m. ET, CBS, March Madness Live). It will take a strong effort from Colorado State to join teams like VCU (2011), La Salle (2013), Tennessee (2014), Syracuse (2018) and UCLA (2021). . Not only because this is their third game in five days, but also because their opponent is a Marquette team that has recently returned to its best form. Star point guard Tyler Kolek missed six games with an oblique injury, but finally returned in the Golden Eagles' first-round win on Friday. The game started off a little shaky, but once everyone got back into a comfortable rhythm, Marquette pulled away and won by 18 points. Colorado, on the other hand, came into the game coming off a 102-100 (in regulation) win over Florida in one of the most entertaining games of the tournament so far.
Saturday's NCAA Tournament game
Barclays Center — Brooklyn | Gainbridge Fieldhouse — Indianapolis | FedEx Forum — Memphis | Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena — Spokane
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