After a wild Saturday, half of the Sweet 16 is set, and by the time Sunday’s 2024 NCAA Tournament schedule is total we will understand all of the matches that will start the 2nd weekend of March Madness. Far this year’s competition has actually provided its reasonable share of upsets, thrilling surfaces and relatively out-of-nowhere super stars increasing to the leading edge of the nationwide sports discussion, and now there’s one day left to make more March memories and identify which groups will stay in contention for the nationwide champion.
Sunday’s eight-game slate has an excellent mix of heavyweights and Cinderellas. There are 4 video games including a double-digit seed aiming to crash the Sweet 16, however likewise 3 video games with No. 1 seeds putting expectations of advancing to the 2nd weekend on the line. For any of those top-seed groups to fall would be a huge frustration, and for any of those double-digit seeds to win would be outright elation. That’s the type of razor-thin margin for mistake we have up as the competition’s very first weekend reaches its conclusion with the staying 2nd round video game.
Let’s enter a few of the huge stories to understand for Sunday’s second-round action
Will the No. 1 seeds perspire?
For much of the 2024 fiscal year, we have actually presumed that the leading tier in college basketball is inhabited by simply 3 groups: UConn, Houston and Purdue. There have actually been extreme disputes throughout the last couple months in regards to how those 3 groups might be bought, and much more conversation come Selection Sunday about who may be the 4th No. 1 seed, however it has actually been accepted that those 3 represent the very best the sport needs to use to this point in the season. It should not come as a surprise that No. 1 Purdue beat No. 16 Grambling State by 28 points, No. 1 UConn won its very first round video game versus No. 16 Stetson by 39 points and No. 1 Houston beat No. 16 Longwood by 40 points.
There’s no other way that those 3 No. 1 seeds will be as dominant in the 2nd round … right?
Purdue will be the very first No. 1 seed out on the flooring, handling No. 8 Utah State in Midwest Region action from Indianapolis (2:40 p.m. ET, CBS and March Madness Live). The Boilermakers might have put those FDU echoes behind them with that thunderous preliminary win, however around the corner is a Utah State group that won the Mountain West routine season champion and simply taken apart TCU’s defense in the preliminary. The last 2 No. 1 seeds will not go up until primetime, beginning with UConn versus No. 9 Northwestern in East Region action from Brooklyn (7:45 p.m. ET, TruTV and March Madness Live). The Wildcats advanced after edging No. 8 FAU in overtime in among the very best video games of the preliminary, and now they’re having fun with home cash versus the competition’s No.