Overall, this was a pretty solid second round despite a general lack of major upsets (obvious exception being St. Peter’s). 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) | Pregame Rank | Difference | |
| 1 | (1) Baylor vs. (8) North Carolina (Sat 12:10)- CBS (5) | 7 | 6 |
| 2 | (1) Arizona vs. (9) TCU (Sat 9:40)- TBS (247) | 12 | 10 |
| 3 | (7) Murray State vs. (15) St. Peter’s (Sat 7:45)- CBS (5) | 2 | -1 |
| 4 | (3) Texas Tech vs. (11) Notre Dame (Sat 7:10)- TBS (247) | 9 | 5 |
| 5 | (1) Gonzaga vs. (9) Memphis (Sat 9:40)- TBS (247) | 5 | 0 |
| 6 | (3) Wisconsin vs. (11) Iowa State (Sun 6:10)- TNT (245) | 11 | 5 |
| 7 | (4) Arkansas vs. (12) New Mexico State (Sat 8:40)- TNT | 3 | -4 |
| 8 | (2) Duke vs. (7) Michigan State (Sun 5:15)- CBS (5) | 4 | -4 |
| 9 | (3) Tennessee vs. (11) Michigan (Sat 5:15)- CBS (5) | 14 | 5 |
| 10 | (3) Texas vs. (6) Purdue (Sun 8:40)- TNT (245) | 10 | 0 |
| 11 | (2) Villanova vs. (7) Ohio State (Sun 2:40)- CBS (5) | 6 | -5 |
| 12 | (1) Kansas vs. (9) Creighton (Sat 2:40)- CBS (5) | 16 | 4 |
| 13 | (2) Auburn vs. (10) Miami-FL (Sun 7:45)- TruTV (246) | 13 | 0 |
| 14 | (4) Illinois vs. (5) Houston (Sun 12:10)- CBS (5) | 15 | 1 |
| 15 | (4) UCLA vs. Saint Mary’s (Sat 7:10)- TBS (247) | 7 | -8 |
| 16 | (4) Providence vs. (12) Richmond (Sat 6:10)- TNT (245) | 1 | -15 |
Most surprisingly good game: (1) Arizona over (9) TCU
Most disappointingly terrible game: (4) Providence over (12) Richmond
Ramblings of the Ultimate Sports Sentimentalist 