NCAA Tournament Bracket Challenge - Round 2, Day 2 Update

The tournament field is down to 16 teams after the eight games that took place on Sunday.  And for just the fifth time since 1979, all the 1- and 2-seeds have cracked the Sweet 16.

Sunday's games were pretty much a 50/50 split between close, down to the wire contests and blowout affairs.  We'll talk first about the teams who flexed their muscles on their way to easy wins in the Round of 32.

(1) Purdue rode Zach Edey to a 39-point win over (8) Utah State.  (4) Duke dominated from the tip against (12) James Madison in their 38-point victory.  (1) UConn was never in doubt in their 17-point over (9) Northwestern, and (5) San Diego State stuffed (13) Yale into a metaphorical locker 28-point win to close out the evening.

​The only upset of the day happened in the West region, where (6) Clemson led for pretty much the entirety of their game to knock off (3) Baylor.  There were some brackets in our challenge that had Baylor in the Final Four, but none had them advancing further than that.

(2) Marquette survived a late surge from (10) Colorado to advance in a tight one, while (4) Alabama battled the heavy underdog (12) Grand Canyon, who just didn't have enough to pull off the massive upset over the Crimson Tide.

But the best game of the night, and perhaps the whole tournament up to this point, was (1) Houston's thrilling overtime win against (9) Texas A&M.  You might not have stayed up to catch the end, which is understandable as the last three minutes of regulation lasted 27 minutes of real time.  But the Aggies stormed back from a 12-point deficit with two minutes to play to hit a game-tying three at the buzzer to send it to OT.  And while nearly Houston's entire team fouled out from a host of questionable calls, the Cougars managed to pull through in extra time to get out to a double digit lead.  This time, they held on to win and find their way into the Sweet 16.

With the games fully recapped, here's the updated bracket challenge leaderboard with two rounds down in the NCAA Tournament:

T1. Go Vols? (500 points)

• Points Remaining: 1280
• Champion: Tennessee
• Final Four: UConn, Marquette, Tennessee, Alabama

T1. CM's picks (500 points)

• Points Remaining: 1200
• Champion: Tennessee
• Final Four: UConn, Marquette, Tennessee, Arizona

3. LOVER BOY (490 points)

• Points Remaining: 1120
• Champion: UConn
• Final Four: UConn, Houston, Creighton, Baylor

T4. McInItToWinIt (480 points)

• Points Remaining: 1240
• Champion: UConn
• Final Four: UConn, Duke, Purdue, Arizona

T4. WhoisMicah? (480 points)

• Points Remaining: 960
• Champion: Purdue
• Final Four: Auburn, Houston, Purdue, North Carolina

6. Drew's (470 points)

• Points Remaining: 1240
• Champion: Houston
• Final Four: Iowa State, Houston, Creighton, North Carolina

7. Pre-Wife Power (460 points)

• Points Remaining: 1120
• Champion: Tennessee
• Final Four: UConn, Houston, Tennessee, Baylor

8. ajk1 (450 points)

• Points Remaining: 1280
• Champion: Houston
• Final Four: UConn, Houston, Tennessee, Arizona

T9. okaymason (440 points)

• Points Remaining: 1280
• Champion: UConn
• Final Four: UConn, Marquette, Creighton, North Carolina

T9. Trizzy Tre (440 points)

• Points Remaining: 1240
• Champion: Tennessee
• Final Four: Illinois, Houston, Tennessee, North Carolina

T9. Free money (440 points)

• Points Remaining: 800
• Champion: Purdue
• Final Four: Auburn, Kentucky, Purdue, North Carolina

T9. Swatson (440 points)

• Points Remaining: 680
• Champion: Auburn
• Final Four: Auburn, Houston, Creighton, Arizona

13. Andrew's 2 Time Champ (410 points)

• Points Remaining: 1200
• Champion: North Carolina
• Final Four: Iowa State, Marquette, Purdue, North Carolina

T14. Barbie Dream Bracket (390 points)

• Points Remaining: 1200
• Champion: UConn
• Final Four: UConn, Houston, Tennessee, North Carolina

T14. The Feminist Movement (390 points)

• Points Remaining: 800
• Champion: UConn
• Final Four: UConn, Texas Tech, Gonzaga, Baylor

T16. Lincoln Bernhard (370 points)

• Points Remaining: 1160
• Champion: UConn
• Final Four: UConn, Duke, Creighton, Arizona

T16. Tip in (370 points)

• Points Remaining: 1120
• Champion: UConn
• Final Four: UConn, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina

18. Scorched Earth Theory (300 points)

• Points Remaining: 1040
• Champion: Houston
• Final Four: UConn, Houston, Creighton, Michigan State

19. Natasha (210 points)

• Points Remaining: 40
• Champion: UAB
• Final Four: UAB, Kentucky, Texas, Wagner

20. Bad Logos (170 points)

• Points Remaining: 440
• Champion: Washington State
• Final Four: Washington State, Duke, TCU, Clemson

With the Sweet 16 set to take place Thursday and Friday, here is the schedule for each day of games:

Thursday

• (6) Clemson vs. (2) Arizona (7:09pm EST on CBS)
• (5) San Diego State vs. (1) UConn (7:39pm EST on TBS/TruTV)
• (4) Alabama vs. (1) North Carolina (9:39pm EST on CBS)
• (3) Illinois vs. (2) Iowa State (10:09pm EST on TBS/TruTV)

Friday

• (11) NC State vs. (2) Marquette (7:09pm EST on CBS)
• (5) Gonzaga vs. (1) Purdue (7:39pm EST on TBS/TruTV)
• (4) Duke vs. (1) Houston (9:39pm EST on CBS)
• (3) Creighton vs. (2) Tennessee (10:09pm EST on TBS/TruTV)

I'll be back with another update on Friday after the first four games of the Sweet 16 are played.

Written by Nick Swatson