2009 NCAA Tournament: Second Round Recap

Meet the Sweet Sixteen

We're done with the preliminaries... it's time to get down to business. Meet your Sweet Sixteen, and take a look at how they got this far.

Toughest Conference? Discussion Over

I believe we can officially put the "which conference is toughest" discussion to bed. Here's a look at the number of teams each conference sent to the 2009 Sweet Sixteen:

• ACC - 2 (North Carolina, Duke)
• Big 10 - 2 (Michigan State, Purdue)
• Pac 10 - 1 (Arizona)
• Big 12 - 3 (Oklahoma, Missouri, Kansas)
• Conference USA - 1 (Memphis)
• West Coast Conference - 1 (Gonzaga)
• Atlantic 10 - 1 (Xavier)
• Big East - 5 (Connecticut, Pittsburgh, Louisville, Syracuse, Villanova

The only conferences that sport a better tournament winning percentage than the Big East are Conference USA and the West Coast Conference -- represented by Memphis and Gonzaga, those two are batting 1.000, while the Big East's percentage is a gaudy .846.

Biggest Upset

The biggest upset is that we really haven't had any upsets. The closest thing to a Cinderella in this group is 12 seed Arizona... but how can you call a team that's been to 25-straight NCAA Tournaments a dark horse?

After the Wildcats, the lowest-seeded team still standing is a five, the Purdue Boilermakers.

This may be the chalkiest Sweet Sixteen ever.

Play of the Day

Purdue's JaJuan Johnson blocked two shots in the last two minutes to seal the game for the Boilermakers.

Player of the Day

Kansas center Cole Aldrich recorded the sixth "official" triple-double in NCAA Tournament history, leading the Jayhawks with ten points, 20 boards and 10 blocks. Only Shaquille O'Neal has blocked more shots in an NCAA Tournament game.

(The triple-double stat only goes back to 1986, when steals and blocks became official statistics... odds are Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, Oscar Robertson and Magic Johnson -- to name a few -- turned the trick a couple of times.)

Mis-play of the Day

Five seconds left in the Missouri/Marquette game and Mizzou up two -- Marquette looking to inbound the ball after a made Tiger free throw... and the inbounder, Lazar Hayward, stepped over the baseline. That gave the ball back to Missouri and eliminated the Eagles' chance at a last-second basket.

Happy Returns

Ty Lawson returned from his toe injury to lead the Tar Heels into the Sweet Sixteen. And Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun rebounded from a brief hospitalization and was back on the bench as the Huskies dismantled Texas A&M.

But the biggest surprise was Marquette guard Dominic James. James was thought to be lost for the season after breaking his foot in a February 25 game against UConn... but the Eagles' senior leader was back in uniform on Sunday and played 17 minutes against the Tigers.

Second Round Recaps

• (1) Pittsburgh 84, (8) Oklahoma State 76 - (East Region/Dayton)
• (2) Duke 74, (6) Texas 69 - (East Region/Greensboro)
• (3) Villanova 89, (6) UCLA 69 - (East Region/Philadelphia)
• (4) Xavier 60, (12) Wisconsin 49 - (East Region/Boise)
• (1) Louisville 79, (9) Siena 72 - (Midwest Region/Dayton)
• (12) Arizona 71, (13) Cleveland State 57 - (Midwest Region/Miami)
• (2) Michigan State 74, (10) USC 69 - (Midwest Region/Minneapolis)
• (3) Kansas 60, (6) Dayton 43 - (Midwest Region/Minneapolis)
• (1) North Carolina 84, (8) LSU 70 - (South Region/Greensboro)
• (3) Syracuse 78, (6) Arizona State 67 - (South Region/Miami)
• (4) Gonzaga 83, (12) Western Kentucky 81 - (South Region/Portland)
• (2) Oklahoma 73, (10) Michigan 63 - (South Region/Kansas City)
• (1) Connecticut 92, (9) Texas A&M 66 - (West Region/Philadelphia)
• (2) Memphis 89, (10) Maryland 70 - (West Region/Kansas City)
• (3) Missouri 83, (6) Marquette 79 - (West Region/Boise)
• (5) Purdue 76, (4) Washington 74 - (West Region/Portland)