By JONAS MILLER
Co-Executive Editor
The second round did what everyone hoped the first round would. By Sunday evening, many a bracket had been busted. Fans across the country glued themselves to the couch to nervously watch their team prevail, or fail.
In the east, Baylor and Florida did as they were supposed to, with the Bears knocking off underdog USC, and the Gators dominating five-seeded Virginia.
Unfortunately, it didn’t work out too well for every team in the eastern corner of the bracket. Two-seed Duke, a heavy favorite to win it all this year, fell to seven-seed South Carolina, but this wasn’t the first bracket buster of the second round.
On Thursday, top-seeded Villanova lost in shocking fashion to eighth-seeded Wisconsin on a last-second bucket from the Badgers’ top player, Nigel Hayes.
In the west, one-seed Gonzaga won a hard-fought battle with first-time dancers Northwestern, and Xavier took down the large-and-in-charge Seminoles from Florida State.
Saint Mary’s and Notre Dame drew the short sticks in the west, losing to powerhouse teams from Arizona and West Virignia respectively.
In the south and midwest, everything played out as most people expected.
North Carolina stole one from Arkansas, holding the Razorbacks scoreless in the last three minutes of the game. Oregon escaped a rowdy Rhode Island team with a three-point victory, while Purdue took advantage of a poor shooting performance from Iowa State.
The biggest shocker in the south came at the expense of two-seed Louisville, as they lost to a sleeper team from Michigan who might have what it takes to go all the way as a seven-seed, something rarely done.
The second round was eventful to say the least. The Sweet Sixteen games begin Thursday, and we can only hope for more of the same.
