Arizona and Oregon faced off in a thrilling matchup, with Arizona edging out an 87-83 victory behind a stellar performance from Caleb Love, who posted 29 points, 9 rebounds, and 4 assists while shooting 5-7 from three.

BYU pulled off an upset against Wisconsin in a tightly contested 91-89 win, though the game was marred by controversial officiating. Wisconsin’s John Tonje had an incredible 37-point performance but missed a potential game-winner at the buzzer.

Alabama secured a dominant 80-66 victory over Saint Mary’s despite another off night from Mark Sears, who went 0-4 from three and finished with just 12 points. Duke continued their dominance in the tournament with another strong performance in the second round over Baylor.

The second round of this region featured some more lackluster games, with the more favored team winning each time. No. 1 seeded Auburn defeated Creighton by 12, winning 82-70. Both of these teams play very similarly with a more team ball style on offense and defense, so it was a fun game to watch.

Michigan beat Texas A&M 91-79. No. 6 seeded Ole Miss beat 3 seeded Iowa State for a minor upset in the second round. They won 91-78. Then, 2 seeded Michigan State beat 10 seeded New Mexico 71-63. In the sweet 16, Michigan State is set to play Ole Miss and Auburn is set to play Michigan in the Sweet 16.

No. 10 Arkansas vs No. 2 St. John’s opened up the 2nd round in the west region. This was a lackluster shooting performance from St John’s all game as Arkansas took advantage, winning 75-66.

The Razorbacks were led by two Freshman forwards, Karter Knox with 15 points and Billy Richmond III with 16 points off the bench. St John’s guards RJ Luis Jr., Aaron Scott, and Kadary Richmond combined for an abysmal 6/34 shooting. The Razorbacks are the only double-digit seed to advance to the Sweet 16 round this year.

The red-hot Texas Tech Red Raiders were set to face off against No. 11 seed Drake in the second round. Early, Drake had a competitive game going, but Texas Tech stepped on the gas and took off, winning 77-64. Sophomore Power Forward JT Toppin had 25 points and 12 rebounds while Darrion Williams had 28 points for Tech. Bennett Stirtz and his 21 points and 8 assists wasn’t enough to keep Drake’s Cinderella hopes alive.

No. 1 seeded Florida was set to face off against the back-to-back National Champions, the No. 8 seeded UConn Huskies. Florida won, but UConn made them play super hard and earn it. It looked like UConn had it in hand until Walter Clayton Jr. nailed two straight threes to put Florida up. Clayton, The All-American guard, finished with 23 points and 5 three pointers. Liam McNeeley had 22 points for the Huskies and the final score was 77-75 as the Gators survived the upset.

Colorado State looked to solidify themselves as one of the deadliest No. 12 seeds in the history of the NCAA Tournament as they were matched up against the No. 4 seeded Maryland Terrapins. Back and forth the game went until it got down under 30 seconds. The Rams dribbled down and kicked it out to guard Jalen Lake for a three pointer that gave the Rams the lead with 6 seconds to go. The Terrapins rushed the ball into the front-court and called timeout on the sideline with 3.5 seconds left. It was 71-70, Colorado State. The Terrapins came out of the timeout and decided to give the ball to their Freshman phenom Derik Queen to try and steal the win. Guarded by Ethan Morton, Queen power dribbled his way into the mid-range, bumped Morton, and shot an awkward fadeaway. The shot banked perfectly off the glass and dropped in as the clock hit 0’s. The Terrapins had won on a miraculous, signature March Madness buzzer beater. The final score was 72-71, Maryland. All five Maryland starters cracked double digit scoring and the hero, Derik Queen, had 17 of them. As for Colorado State, their star player, Nique Clifford, had 21 points, but they would not continue their Cinderella run.

This set up Sweet 16 matchups of: No. 1 Florida vs No. 4 Maryland and No. 3 Texas Tech vs No. 10 Arkansas.

The second round of March Madness definitely featured some good entertainment to fans tuning in.

Heavy-favorite No. 1 Houston beat No. 8 Gonzaga by 5 points in a tight game 81-76. Crafty guard L.J. Cryer had a great game, scoring 30 points to help the Houston Cougars roll past the Gonzaga Bulldogs. Gonzaga forward Graham Ike also had an impressive performance with 27 points.

The second game was between fan-favorite underdog the No. 12 McNeese Cowboys and the No. 4 Purdue Boilermakers, where the Boilermakers defeated the Cowboys 76-62. Purdue forward Trey Kaufman-Renn filled up the stat sheet with 22 points and 15 rebounds.

The third game was the No. 3 Kentucky Wildcats and the No. 6 Illinois Fighting Illini. The Wildcats beat Illinois 84-75 behind Koby Brea’s efficient 23 points. This game was also a very notable one too because this game resulted in the last perfect bracket being broken. This is significant because it’s been a popular trend forever to fill out brackets, and to this day, there has still never been a perfect March Madness bracket.

The last game was the No. 2 Tennessee Volunteers and the No. 7 UCLA Bruins. The Volunteers knocked off the Bruins 67-58 behind Tennessee guard Chaz Lanier pouring in 20 points. The Bruins really struggled shooting during this game, only making 35.8% of their shots.

Fans should be looking forward to the potential great games upcoming the next round, the Sweet 16.