The whirlwind is over, and the intense run of 47 games in four days reached its conclusion on Sunday night. The NCAA Tournament field is pared to 16. TheSportsNotebook looks back on the eight second-round games from Sunday…
The power conferences were letting their muscle be felt on Saturday, as half of the tickets for the Sweet 16 were punched. Of the eight spots filled, three went to the Big Ten, three more to the Big East, another to the Big 12 and one to the SEC. In the meantime, some live darkhorses went by the board. TheSportsNotebook runs through all eight games from yesterday…
During the first half of the Xavier-Notre Dame game in the final time slot of last night, CBS’ Jim Nantz noted the game would spill over into St. Patrick’s Day in the East, and that perhaps Xavier would be well-advised to put the game away early, lest some funny things start happening in Greensboro on behalf of the Fighting Irish. As we’ll see in the recaps, not only did that not work for Notre Dame, but any St. Paddy’s day doings in the wee hours came up and bit them in the posterior. But that doesn’t mean there weren’t green-laden ironies. Amidst a day noted for its stunning upsets, the single best performance of the day was turned in by Florida, coached by Billy Donovan. And the top individual player was Norfolk State’s Kyle O’Quinn. TheSportsNotebook gets some closure on the first round with a quick-hitting recap of all 16 games on Friday…