Winners and losers from the opening rounds of the NCAA Tournament

The ACC, SEC and Big Ten make up 12 of the Sweet 16. The ACC leads the way with five schools still alive, the SEC has four teams left while the Big Ten has three. It stands to reason, as those three conferences not only had the most bids to this tournament, but also were considered the best leagues all year long. Those three conferences also hold seven of the eight "favored" seeds in the next round. (Only Gonzaga is not in one of those leagues.) 

It isn't a secret that the Big East took a major step back this season. Last year the league had two No. 1 seeds (including champion Villanova) and placed six of its 10 members in the field. This year four teams made it in, with Marquette's No. 5 seed leading the pack. Three of those teams, Marquette, St. John's and Seton Hall, lost in their first games. Villanova beat Saint Mary's, 61-57, but then got pummeled by Purdue by 26 in the next round. In fact, the four Big East teams were eliminated by an average of 17.5 points per game. 

We all came into this tournament pretty much knowing there was no way that Virginia was going to lose as a No. 1 seed again, right? Next thing you know, they were down double digits late in the first half to Gardner-Webb, and we all started seriously thinking it could happen again. The Cavaliers caught themselves, made a run and then cruised to a 71-56 victory. Winning that game was a big one to lift a monkey off their backs. Losing to UMBC last year will never go away — it will always be a part of them and of tournament history — but this is an opportunity to make a new legacy. Winning that game kept it alive. The Cavs handled Oklahoma pretty handily, are back in the Sweet 16 and face the lowest-seeded team by far (No. 12 Oregon) in the next round. Things are looking good for Tony Bennett's bunch. 

The Jayhawks' nightmarish season finally came to an end with a blowout loss to Auburn, 89-75. (It wasn't that close.) Kansas entered the season among the favorites to win this tournament, but a whole lot of bad luck hit the team along the way. There was the hand injury to Udoka Azubuike early in the season that knocked him out for the year, Silvio De Sousa was ruled ineligible and Lagerald Vick took a leave of absence from the program. For the first time in 15 years, the Jayhawks didn't win the Big 12 regular-season title, and they suffered some large defeats. There have also been whispers of NCAA and federal investigations involving the school. All of that looked like it funneled into Saturday's loss to the Tigers. 

When the brackets were unveiled on St. Patrick's Day, there wasn't the same amount of complaining as we typically get from analysts and fans about the tournament. There were gripes about Michigan State being placed in Duke's bracket, but not much else was at issue. That's because the tournament turned out to be pretty chalk. All of the Nos. 1, 2 and 3 seeds are in the Sweet 16 for just the second time since the field expanded in 1985 (with 2009 being the other year). According to the seeding, only Auburn (five seed) and Oregon (12 seed) weren't supposed to be here. While people who love upsets may be bummed, it makes for some outstanding games over the next two weeks.

The First Four itself was fine, but this season ended one of the more interesting quirks of the tournament. Since the First Four was introduced in 2011, at least one team that played in it advanced to the Round of 32 in each season — until this year. Winners Arizona State, Belmont, North Dakota State and Fairleigh Dickinson failed to win another game in the tournament. 

You can add ESPN to the mix as well. With Duke squeaking by UCF to stay alive, it certainly helps the NCAA Tournament's broadcast partners. Duke and Zion Williamson are the main attractions of this March's madness, and CBS and Turner Sports will hold on to it for as long as possible. CBS's top broadcasting crew of Jim Nantz, Bill Raftery and Grant Hill will continue to follow the Blue Devils next weekend (despite both North Carolina and Kentucky residing in Friday night's other region).

That's the other win by the networks. Friday night will feature Duke, North Carolina, Kentucky and Michigan State in games against other teams. That night will also have studio analysts Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley repping their respective schools, North Carolina and Auburn, as they face off. If they cross their fingers, they could have an epic Sunday featuring Kentucky vs. North Carolina and Michigan State vs. Duke. 

Even die-hard Duke fans knows that there's a sizable section of the sports world that has suffered from Duke fatigue this season. So it shouldn't shock anyone that Duke haters all over the globe were glued to the television as Duke trailed late to UCF in the second round. Duke would not only pull off the win to stick around and bug the haters more, but it also did so in controversial fashion. Much of the internet instantly complained that the referees didn't call a charge on Zion Williamson at the end of the game and that R.J. Barrett wasn't called for a push-off on the rebound and put-back that gave the Blue Devils the lead. In a matter of moments, Duke haters were ready to rush to their computers and phones to mock the legendary Blue Devils' shocking loss but instead face another week of sports media fawning over them. 

While Duke, Virginia and North Carolina have already had scares, the other No. 1 seed, Gonzaga, blew through the first weekend of the tournament. In fact, the top four seeds in the West Region had little trouble dispatching their opponents. Gonzaga, Michigan, Texas Tech and Florida State won their games by an average of 19.3 points per game. Only Florida State's 76-69 win over Vermont was under double digits. 

I understand that trying to fit eight Big Ten teams into a 68-team bracket while attempting to stay true to seed lines is difficult. Sometimes scheduling anomalies occur, but having Big Ten schools Michigan State and Minnesota face off in the second round was a bit rough. I know it isn't the first time conference foes have faced off prior to the Sweet 16, but I hope it is the last. (It won't be.) 

Most people — even die-hard college hoops fans — have seen Morant perform only during highlight packages and internet videos. When placed on the national stage of the NCAA Tournament, Morant soared. Against Marquette, he recorded a triple-double (the first in the tournament since Draymond Green in 2012) with 17 points, 16 assists and 11 boards. He had exciting dunks and passes to help the Racers crush Marquette and advance. Morant's time in the tournament ended with a blowout loss to Florida State, despite his 28 points. Now we all have the game to add to the name, as he likely heads off to an NBA career. 

OK, he's not a loser. Not at all. But how his college basketball career ended has to sting. In Wofford's first-round win over Seton Hall, Magee set the record for most career three-pointers made. In the Terriers' second-round battle against blue blood Kentucky, Magee went 0-of-12 from behind the arc, setting another NCAA record for most three-point attempts without a make. He had an outstanding season and career, and it is a shame that he had such a bad performance in the biggest game of his career. Even more painful, it was a game that Wofford was in until the final moments. 

It wasn't just Ja Morant who had an outstanding game (or games) in this tournament. Gonzaga's Brandon Clarke put up 36 points (on 15-of-18 shooting) and five blocks against Baylor on Saturday. Purdue's Carsen Edwards dumped 42 points on defending champion Villanova. Colgate's Jordan Burns scored 32 points on Tennessee. Tacko Fall had 18 boards and five blocks against VCU. There's been a lot of great individual performances throughout the tournament, and we still have 15 games to go. 

New Mexico State was down two when guard AJ Harris had a wide-open layup...yet threw it out to his teammate Terrell Brown for a three-point shot. Brown missed but was fouled. He went to the line where, if he makes two of the three free throws, the Aggies likely head to overtime with Auburn. He missed two, but the rebound went out of bounds off Auburn. So with less than two seconds left, the Aggies got a great look at a three and...it was an airball.

Belmont had a shot to upend Maryland when a pass was deflected and stolen, and the Bruins didn't get a shot up. Bradley, down one with about four minutes left, couldn't hit a shot late against Michigan State. Saint Mary's had the same problem against Villanova. 

For fans of a certain age, it is unbelievable that this is the first time since 1984 that the Houston Cougars have been in the Sweet 16. From 1982 to 1984, the Cougars went to three consecutive Final Fours and two national championship games — losses to NC State in 1983 and Georgetown in 1984. This is just their sixth tournament appearance in the 35 years since that Hakeem Olajuwon era. Kelvin Sampson's bunch is a legit title contender, as the Cougars pushed aside Georgia State, ran past Ohio State and will move on to Kansas City to play Kentucky. With the Sweet 16 loaded with teams from power conferences (and Gonzaga), Houston brings some of that outsider edge. 

I'm all for getting things right, and where the clock is should be a point of emphasis — but it should not take forever and stall the game. Every game seemingly has the refs constantly checking the monitor to see how many 10ths of a second may have rolled off between a whistle and the clock stopping. Again, I understand how important those 10ths of a second can be, but if we have to check after every stoppage, maybe there should be some sort of technology that mitigates this. If I can sit at home (as well as the broadcasters) and figure it out in mere moments, why can't the refs? Do we really need to check the time when the difference is 58.2 seconds and 58.5 seconds? Should there be an office in Indianapolis set up for the NCAA Tournament for someone to quickly figure out what the time should be?