The first day of the second round was epic and the second day was pretty dull. Sometimes the NCAA tourney turns out that way. All in all thought, it a great first weekend of the Big Dance. In fact, it was one of the best we’ve ever seen. Let’s now rank the games from best to worst and compare how my pre-round intrigue rankings compare to how the games actually played out.
| Ranking the NCAA Second Round Games (Postgame) | Pre-Tourney Rank | Difference | |
| 1 | (7) Florida vs. (15) Oral Roberts- Sun 7:45 (TruTV)- Indiana Farmers Coliseum: A Golden Eagle upset takes the top spot for the second consecutive round! How long can the magic continue? | 2 | 1 |
| 2 | (1) Illinois vs. (8) Loyola Chicago- Sun 12:10 (CBS): Bankers LIfe Fieldhouse: An unbelievable domination of the nation’s hottest team. The only thing that could trump this monumental victory was the second-ever 15 seed going to the Sweet 16. | 1 | -1 |
| 3 | (4) Oklahoma State vs. (12) Oregon State- Sun 9:40 (TBS): Hinkle Fieldhouse: The third of the the unfathomable second round upsets. Beavers got the lead early and hung on for dear life! | 6 | 3 |
| 4 | (2) Houston vs. (10) Rutgers- Sun. 7:10 (TBS)- Lucas Oil Stadium: This tragic choke by the Scarlet Knights was heartbreaking but still a great game | 7 | 3 |
| 5 | (3) Arkansas vs. (6) Texas Tech- Sun. 6:10 (TNT): Hinkle Fieldhouse: A classic second round clash that came down the final minute of play. Mac McClung’s miss on the front end of the one and one will haunt Red Raiders fans for years to come. | 13 | 8 |
| 6 | (3) West Virginia vs. (11) Syracuse- Sun 5:15 (CBS): Bankers Life Fieldhouse: The Orange held on for dear life for this upset victory. | 11 | 5 |
| 7 | (2) Iowa vs. (7) Oregon- Mon 12:10 (CBS)- Bankers Life Fieldhouse: The Ducks pulled off this upset with big runs to close the first half and start the second half. | 8 | 1 |
| 8 | (1) Michigan vs. (8) LSU- Mon 7:10 (CBS)- Lucas Oil Stadium: An exciting up and down game that got away from the Tigers in the final minutes due to their dreadful defense | 10 | 2 |
| 9 | (3) Kansas vs. (6) Southern Cal- Mon 9:40 (CBS): Hinkle Fieldhouse: The outcome of this game was never really in doubt in the second half but this is still a sizable upset given the public perception of these two programs. | 12 | 3 |
| 10 | (4) Florida State vs. (5) Colorado- Mon 7:45 (TBS): Indiana Farmers Coliseum: The Noles finally ended the Pac-12’s reign of terror by handing the conference its first NCAA tourney loss with this hard fought victory. | 14 | 4 |
| 11 | (1) Gonzaga vs. (8) Oklahoma- Mon 2:40 (CBS)- Hinkle Fieldhouse: The Sooners kept this one close longer than a lot of people thought they would but the Zags never really seemed in danger of losing it. | 9 | -2 |
| 12 | (2) Alabama vs. (10) Maryland- Mon 8:45 (TNT)- Bankers Life Fieldhouse: The Tide put away the Terps early with red-hot three point shooting | 15 | 3 |
| 13 | (1) Baylor vs. (9) Wisconsin- Sun 2:40 (CBS): Hinkle Fieldhouse: your classic 1 vs. 8 or 9 snoozer where the one seed puts away the underdog early | 16 | 3 |
| 14 | (5) Creighton vs. (13) Ohio- Mon 6:10 (TNT)- Hinkle Fieldhouse: midnight struck early for Cinderella in this one. The favorite had this game put away by halftime. | 4 | -10 |
| 15 | (11) UCLA vs. (14) Abilene Chrstian- Mon 5:15 (TBS)- Bankers Life Fieldhouse: see comment above for Creighton/Ohio game | 3 | -12 |
| 16 | (5) Villanova vs. (13) North Texas- Sun 8:45 (TNT): Bakers Life Fieldhouse: see comment above for both Creighton/Ohio and UCLA/Abilene games | 5 | -11 |
Ramblings of the Ultimate Sports Sentimentalist 