Entering Saturday night's game between No. 3 seed Texas and No. 14 seed Abilene Christian, the Big 12 was 6-0 in the NCAA Tournament and poised for a perfect first round. But when the Longhorns collapsed against their in-state foe from the Southland Conference, it started a tough stretch for the vaunted conference.
Though No. 1 seed Baylor survived against No. 9 seed Wisconsin on Sunday, No. 6 seed Texas Tech and No. 3 seed West Virginia each lost, meaning the Big 12 is now just 1-3 over its last four games and is 7-3 in the Big Dance. With No. 8 seed Oklahoma facing the challenge of a lifetime on Monday against No. 1 overall seed Gonzaga, it may soon be on the league's traditional powers to carry the league's banner.
Baylor is onto the Sweet 16, and No. 3 seed Kansas has a chance to get there Monday. No. 4 seed Oklahoma State also has a chance to make some noise Sunday night as it takes on No. 12 seed Oregon State. But with the Red Raiders, Mountaineers and Longhorns all bowing out in a span of less than 24 hours, the Big 12 still has some work to do if it's going to emerge from the NCAA Tournament as the nation's top conference.
It's been another wild day of NCAA Tournament, so let's get into the winners and losers.
Winner: Arkansas is back
The Razorbacks made six Sweet 16 appearances in a seven-year span in the 1990s under coach Nolan Richardson. But they had not been back since 1996, at least not until Sunday. Arkansas finally made it past the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament with a thrilling 68-66 win over No. 6 seed Texas Tech. It constitutes a remarkable turnaround for the program in coach Eric Musselman's second season, and the Razorbacks may not be done yet. They will play the winner of Sunday's game between No. 7 seed Florida and No. 15 seed Oral Roberts in the Sweet 16 and enter with the advantage of having defeated both teams already this season.
Winner: Loyola Chicago does it again
CBS analyst Bill Raftery said it best late in the second half of No. 8 seed Loyola Chicago's 71-58 upset of No. 1 seed Illinois on Sunday. "This is not only divine intervention," Raftery said. "This is great basketball."
It was a perfect summation of Sunday's action. Though the nation loves the Ramblers for their heartwarming persona as a mid-major darling that is championed by a spiritual force in the form of 101-year-old Sister Jean, there is nothing flukish about the way this team plays. In fact, this team is held in higher regard by metrics maven Ken Pomeroy than the 2018 squad was. Still, though, the Ramblers' ruthless efficiency was somewhat surprising. Their only other game against a Big Ten team this season was a 14-point loss against Wisconsin. But the combination of divine intervention and great basketball was lethal Sunday, and the Ramblers are rambling on to the Sweet 16.
Loser: Illinois falls short of its potential
The Illini had won 15 of 16 games entering Sunday's contest, and their impressive run through the Big Ten Tournament suggested a run in the NCAA Tournament was something of a foregone conclusion. Perhaps the gripe about Loyola Chicago deserving a better seed is legitimate, and maybe the Illini got a raw deal by having to play the Ramblers so early, but are we really supposed to feel sympathy for Illinois because of that? Illinois did not play like a No. 1 seed on Sunday. In fact, it never led. A few more days an unfamiliar Missouri Valley Conference foe would have been beneficial, but the beauty of this tournament is the unpredictability produced by single-elimination format. You can't turn in a dud performance and expect to advance, and the Illini learned that the hard way Sunday as their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2013 ended in bitter fashion.
Winner: Baylor puts on sharpshooting show
The No. 1 3-point shooting team (41.4% beyond the arc) in the country, Baylor rolled out an efficient offensive outing -- as it is wont to do -- to escape without a scratch vs. Wisconsin. The Bears won 76-63 behind an 8-of-17 outing from distance buttressed by just four turnovers. Five different players knocked down shots from beyond the arc as they advanced to the Sweet 16 for just the fifth time in program history.
Loser: Big Ten's strong season continues to fizzle
No conference's reputation took a bigger hit than the Big Ten during the first round of the NCAA Tournament as No. 2 seed Ohio State, No. 4 seed Purdue, No. 11 seed Michigan State all bowed out. Ditto for the early going in Round 2.
The league was widely known best for its top-tier contenders, but No. 1 seed Illinois joined No. 2 seed Ohio State on Sunday in falling before the Sweet 16 with a 53-52 loss to No. 8 seed Loyola Chicago. Meanwhile, No. 9 seed Wisconsin also exited stage left, falling 76-63 to No. 1 seed Baylor.
There is still hope yet for the conference to redeem itself, but it'll be tough. No. 1 seed Michigan is without star Isaiah Livers indefinitely because of a foot injury, and No. 2 seed Iowa is in the same region as No. 1 overall seed Gonzaga. If it can't capitalize on this year, it'll be difficult to digest as the Big Ten now hits the two-decade mark between national champions from the conference.
Winner: Syracuse's zone defense has Orange advancing
The Orange flummoxed West Virginia in the first half as the Mountaineers dug a 14-point hole with 11 turnovers and just 29 points in the opening frame. Eventually, West Virginia found its stroke and took a brief lead. But Syracuse muscled up and closed out a 75-72 victory to reach its seventh Sweet 16 over the past 12 NCAA Tournaments. There is just something about this program's patented zone that is tough for opponents to deal with on short notice. With Buddy Boeheim chucking up 3-pointers and his father, Jim, doling out the sage wisdom gained through a life in the sport, this squad is exceeding expectations after just barely sneaking into the Big Dance.
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