Now that the second-round schedule and tipoff times are set for the 2022 NCAA Tournament, we can look ahead to Saturday and Sunday's encore performances from some of the early stars of March Madness over the last few days. Thursday's first-round action featured one of the most stunning upsets in tournament history with Saint Peter's becoming just the 10th No. 15 seed to beat a No. 2 seed as the Peacocks bounced Kentucky, but it also included two No. 12 seeds advancing (New Mexico State and Richmond), a No. 11 seed over a No. 6 seed -- admittedly, not a huge upset with Michigan as a betting favorite against Colorado State -- and three games decided in overtime.
It was a thrilling day with wall-to-wall action, and now Thursday's winners will square off in another elimination day for the Big Dance, this time punching tickets to next weekend and a spot in the Sweet 16.
The action starts with two spotlight games featuring No. 1 seeds from the Big 12 with Baylor and No. 8 seed North Carolina getting the day started at 12:10 p.m. ET and No. 1 seed Kansas going up against No. 9 seed Creighton in the second game of that Fort Worth doubleheader around 2:40 p.m. Then the action opens up across the country with staggered tip times among whose highlights include No. 3 seed Tennessee and No. 11 seed Michigan at 5:15 p.m., No. 4 seed UCLA and No. 5 seed Saint Mary's at 7:10 p.m. and No. 1 overall seed Gonzaga in the nightcap against No. 9 seed Memphis at 9:40 p.m.
LIVE updates: Follow all the scores, highlights and analysis in the Second Round on Saturday.
But enough about the times and teams involved. Let's dive a little bit into the storylines for Saturday in the 2022 NCAA Tournament as the second round begins.
What's next for Saint Peter's, Saint Mary's?
It was almost too much of a great storyline to have both Saint Peter's and Saint Mary's win on St. Patricks Day, but of the two outcomes, no team is going to draw more intrigue than the No. 15 seed Peacocks after their overtime win against No. 2 seed Kentucky. Shaheen Holloway's team had one day to turn the page to No. 7 seed Murray State ahead of its tip-off on Saturday after the Racers' own overtime thriller against San Francisco made the evening games in Indianapolis the place to be on Thursday night.
Murray State's deep rotation was clicking on offense against the Dons with five players finishing in double figures and the team scoring 1.15 points per possession. Saint Peter's got heroic efforts from Daryl Banks (27 points) and Doug Edert (20 points) but didn't have any other players in double figures in their win against Kentucky. If the Peacocks can make this a slower, low-possession game, however, those advantages in depth and versatility of scoring options may not be as significant. This battle for a spot in the Sweet 16 might also be one that tests the endurance of both teams after emotionally exhausting overtime games on Thursday night -- making victory a matter of survival through a Saturday evening in Indianapolis.
Saint Mary's, on the other hand, is not dealing with the same effects from its first-round win after throttling No. 12 seed Indiana 82-53. The Gaels do have arguably the tougher foe in No. 4 seed UCLA, but after the Bruins were nearly knocked off by No. 13 seed Akron, there has to be some confidence on the Saint Mary's side that it's tapped into a form that can pick up another win in that 7:10 p.m. tip-off. While UCLA is looking to get back to the second weekend with many of the same pieces from last year's Final Four run, a win for Saint Mary's win would get the program to the Sweet 16 for the third time ever and first time since 2010.
Gonzaga, Kansas, Baylor face tough tests
No. 1 overall seed Gonzaga got an early scare from Georgia State but flipped it late and cruised to a 21-point win. No. 1 seed Kansas jumped out to a 47-19 first-half lead and never looked back against Texas Southern. No. 1 seed Baylor similarly won in blowout fashion, only by an even more stunning 36-point margin against Norfolk State. But looking ahead to the second-round matchups for each of these No. 1 seeds, it's clear that more 20-point wins are not going to be the expectation, and at least one of these teams could end up seeing their tournament stay cut short given the threat of an upset in the second round.
No. 9 seed Memphis had to outlast a physical Boise State team to win its first NCAA Tournament game of the Penny Hardaway era. Jalen Duren and Deandre Williams are a couple of forwards who will clash with Gonzaga's dynamic duo of Drew Timme and Chet Holmgren. After playing in the early window on Thursday, Gonzaga and Memphis will meet in the last game of the day, scheduled for a 9:40 p.m. tip-off from Portland.
Another No. 9 seed, Creighton, stands in the way of Kansas and an 11th Sweet 16 appearance under Bill Self. These two teams played very different first-round games on Thursday -- Kansas winning from wire-to-wire while Creighton needed two furious comebacks (one at the end of regulation, one in overtime) to get past San Diego State.
While Gonzaga and Kansas are double-digit betting favorites in their respective second-round games, the most popular pick for a top-seed upset on Saturday is with Baylor taking on No. 8 seed North Carolina. Hubert Davis' Tar Heels won in convincing fashion against No. 9 seed Marquette on Thursday, and that 32-point win suggests the team that showed up to Fort Worth is playing close to its ceiling. If North Carolina's ceiling is good enough to beat Duke in Cameron Indoor Stadium in Mike Krzyzewski's final home game, it might be good enough to bounce No. 1 seed Baylor, even in front of a Big 12-flavored crowd. That Baylor-North Carolina game from the East Region will tip-off at 12:10 p.m. with the Kansas-Creighton scheduled to follow it at 2:40 p.m. in Fort Worth.
How many double-digit seeds will punch Sweet 16 tickets?
Last year we saw four double-digit seeds make the Sweet 16, a number that's notably higher than the average of just 2.3 (per NCAA.com). There is no game that guarantees a double-digit seed will advance to the Sweet 16 on Thursday, but with four chances, the odds suggest we could get at least one from this first day of second-round action. No. 11 seed Michigan may seem the most likely in terms of its strength coming from the Big Ten, but it's facing an absolute rock of a squad in No. 3 seed Tennessee and the Wolverines find themselves facing similar odds to advance as No. 12 seed New Mexico State in its game against No. 4 seed Arkansas. No. 12 seed Richmond actually has the best odds to win among the four, listed as a narrow underdog against No. 4 seed Providence while No. 15 seed Saint Peter's faces the longest odds of the four against No. 7 seed Murray State.
Saturday's live streaming guide
(1) Baylor vs. (8) North Carolina | (4) UCLA vs. (5) Saint Mary's |
(1) Kansas vs. (9) Creighton | (7) Murray State vs. (15) Saint Peter's |
(3) Tennessee vs. (11) Michigan | (4) Arkansas vs. (12) New Mexico State |
(4) Providence vs. (12) Richmond | (1) Gonzaga vs. (9) Memphis |
