Part of March Madness’ beauty is that each iteration unfolds at its own pace. This year’s narrative has been more of a slow burn than a quick blaze. Whereas in 2018 we saw half of the 1-3 seeds lose before the end of the first weekend, in 2019 we saw 14 of the top 16 kenpom teams advance to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time in a decade.

Through the first three days (all of the round of 64 and half of the round of 32), we witnessed a mere 4  upsets from 4+ seed underdogs. If you picked all chalk this year, congratulations, your bracket is annoyingly unblemished.

To make matters more frustrating for viewers like me who’ve grown addicted to close back-and-forth games, 11 of the 16 second-round games were decided by double-digit outcomes.  We still haven’t seen a true buzzer beater win, and have only seen 3 games go to overtime (in 56  games played).

Last weekend was more Maddening than Madness. The player who made the most 3s in college basketball history (Fletcher Magee of Wofford) went 0-12 in a winnable game vs. Kentucky.  Coulda-been Cinderellas Belmont, UCF, and New Mexico State all met their fate in painful 1-point losses. Offensive juggernauts Buffalo, Nevada, and Marquette went on brutal stretches where they couldn’t hit a shot to save their life (one drought lasted more than an hour in real time). Iowa and Maryland mounted two of the most improbable comebacks in tournament history only to fall just short.

I spent more time last weekend yelling at my TV than I’d care to admit, but now that the dust has settled after 2.5 rounds there are a few things I’m willing to appreciate:

The slipper fit (momentarily) for Liberty and UC Irvine – Although short-lived, for at least one night we were able to celebrate a coupla little guys making their mark. The 12-seeded Flames upset Mississippi State and held a lead against Virginia Tech well into the 2nd half, and the 13-seeded Anteaters outmatched Kansas State before coming back down to earth against Oregon.

The 15s and 16s were competitive into the 2nd half – Shout out to North Dakota State, Gardner-Webb, Bradley, and Colgate for giving it the ole’ college try.  Duke, Virginia, Michigan State, and Tennessee all entered the latter parts of their round one games in tight battles against these scrappy squads.

Elite defense from the ‘Techs has stolen the show – Virginia Tech and Texas Tech have exorcised grueling defensive prowess to shut down potent offenses. Will defense continue to win now that the competition gets even fiercer against Duke and Gonzaga?

Tennessee gave us plenty of thrills – From a nail-biting opener against Colgate, to a  bizarre 25-point-blown-lead-overtime-win against Iowa, back to an unlikely comeback and overtime  loss vs. Purdue, the Volunteers found themselves smack dab in the middle of some of the tournament’s most heart-pounding moments.

Carsen Edwards steals the show – Up to this point, # 3 for Purdue has been the most impactful player in the tournament. He scored 42 points, the highest total by any player since 2004, in a blow-out win over reigning champs Villanova and then followed that up with an equally impressive performance against Tennessee.

The put-back that never was – Duke should have lost against UCF. I’m still not quite sure how neither of these last-second efforts found their way through the hoop. Crazy to think how different this tournament would look had the basketball gods been a tad kinder to the Knights.

All eyes return to the Duke Blue Devils tonight as they look to avenge a regular season loss against ACC-rival Virginia Tech.  Will the Hokies be able to attack the same weaknesses that UCF exposed last weekend, or did we just witness the last time Duke plays a team close in this tournament?

Equally compelling will be the midwest match-ups of UNC vs. Auburn and Houston vs. Kentucky. North Carolina and Auburn are arguably the fastest, most explosive offenses in the country so don’t be surprised if the total score eclipses 200. Meanwhile, Houston and Kentucky, two darkhorses in this year’s title discussion, look to show the world why they’re just as good as anyone else when things are clicking.

Things are finally heating up heading into a compelling second weekend of games. From here on out, every team faces its toughest test.