Key takeaways from a wild first four days of March Madness

There were wild upsets, memorable performances and a Cinderella darling that advanced.

In his final NCAA Tournament, Mike Krzyzewski and Duke survived Michigan State on Sunday. Saint Peter’s out of Jersey City became the third 15th seed to reach the Sweet 16 on Saturday night. The maligned ACC quieted its many doubters with a sterling showing.

All that was missing from the first four days of this magical event was a buzzer-beater.

Here are some takeaways from the first weekend:

Mission ACComplished

Nobody had a better weekend than the ACC. The league was considered fortunate to send five teams to the Dance after a mediocre-at-best regular season. Only Duke was seen as a likely second weekend team. The conference lapped expectations, with not only the Blue Devils advancing, but North Carolina and Miami also pulling off major upsets to join them. The ACC ended up with more teams advancing than the Big East (two) and Big Ten (two), despite being considered inferior entering the Dance.

Led by New Jersey guard Isaiah Wong, 10th-seeded Miami rebounded from a shaky close to the regular season by upending No. 7 USC and No. 2 Auburn for its first Sweet 16 berth in six years. No. 8 North Carolina sent No. 1 Baylor home on Saturday, and is one of the hotter teams in the country, with 14 wins in its last 17 games.

Then there is No. 2 Duke, which was on the ropes against seventh-seeded Michigan State, only to close the game on a 16-4 run. It was great theater, this young team making sure Coach K’s career didn’t end there, in Greenville, S.C, and keeping alive the possibility of an epic Elite Eight showdown with No. 1 Gonzaga in the West.

Big East no beast

It was a passable performance by the Big East. It could’ve been better, but it could’ve been worse, too. The league advanced two teams — No. 2 Villanova in the South and No. 4 Providence in the Midwest — into the second weekend after receiving six total bids. It was better than the Big Ten, which again disappointed, turning nine tournament bids into two Sweet 16 qualifiers: No. 3 Purdue in the East and surprising 11th-seeded Michigan in the South. High seeds Wisconsin (three), Illinois (four) and Iowa (five) fell short of expectations.

For the Big East, Seton Hall and Marquette didn’t show up, losing by a combined 59 points to TCU and North Carolina in a pair of 8-9 games, respectively. Creighton, seeded ninth in the Midwest, was very impressive, rallying from a 14 down to knock off No. 8 San Diego State and nearly upsetting No. 1 seed Kansas despite the absence of star center Ryan Kalkbrenner. This is a top-15 team next year on paper. The biggest letdown was Connecticut, the fifth seed in the West. The Huskies fell to No. 12 New Mexico State, making it consecutive first-round losses as the favorite. Dan Hurley is going to have nightmares of Teddy Allen, the Aggies’ star guard who torched his team for 37 points.

Thanks, Peacocks

It’s about time. Twenty-two years later, there is a local team in the Sweet 16. Not since Seton Hall in 2000 has this area been represented this deep into the tournament. Not only did Saint Peter’s do the unthinkable, but its next game will be in Philadelphia, a short drive from the Jersey City campus. It’s great to see so much excitement for a team after such a long drought. Let’s not wait another 22 years.

Super Cyclones

Aside from Saint Peter’s, there isn’t a bigger surprise team in the tournament than Iowa State, seeded 11th in the Midwest. The Cyclones won two games last year — yes, two — and were picked to finish last in the rugged Big 12. New coach T.J. Otzelberger improved the roster by landing key transfers Izaiah Brockington (Penn State) and Gabe Kalscheur (Minnesota), and impressive wins over No. 6 LSU and third-seeded Wisconsin on Sunday has Iowa State in Chicago for the Sweet 16. It is the latest proof that a new coach doesn’t need multiple years to turn around a program. The transfer portal can lead to immediate turnarounds, if navigated properly.