Morning Wrap-up: Sweet Sixteen field set with pair of 7-seeds

Every day during the NCAA Tournament, theScore brings you the biggest, most interesting and most important stories as they happen. Check back each morning for a recap of what you may have missed the day before. It's OK, it's March Madness. There's a lot going on.

Just in case Friday's favorite-heavy slate, a busted bracket or just some fatigue after four crazy days of March Madness had you doubting your enthusiasm for a second week of the NCAA tournament, Sunday came correct.

A pair of major upsets, some great individual performances and a Sweet Sixteen field with several intriguing matchups all materialized. Taking a few days off to recuperate is totally understandable, but be sure to tune back in Thursday for four more days of this. 

Don't front ... you'll be excited by then, you're just tired.

Two twos absent from Sweet Sixteen

A pair of 2-seeds fell on Sunday, with Michigan State taking out Virginia in the East and Kansas falling to Wichita State in the Midwest. The former was one heck of a nail-biter in which Virginia had plenty of chances to come back, while the latter saw Wichita State keep its foot on the gas from bell-to-bell, getting up for a game 22 years in the making.

Given how Friday's games went, it was a little surprising to see chalk struggle Sunday, serving a reminder that none of us ever know anything and no trend is sustainable.

The Sweet Sixteen will feature three 1-seeds, two 2-seeds, two 3-seeds, two 4-seeds, two 5-seeds, a 6-seed, two 7-seeds, an 8-seed and the lone double-digit seed, No. 11 UCLA, which wasn't even supposed to be here.

You can see the entire Sweet Sixteen field and daily matchups at the bottom of this post.

Izzo owns the Round of 32; East is wide open

Michigan State upset Virginia 60-54, throwing the East Region even further into tumult. The 1-seed is gone, the 2-seed is gone, and without a really strong favorite, this part of the bracket could belong to anyone.

And all that pre-tournament talk about how the Spartans always peak come tournament time? As much as that may seem an act of confirmation bias or just an unsustainable run, Tom Izzo's resume is quite incredible. In 20 years at the helm for Michigan State, he's made the Sweet Sixteen 13 times. 

He's also 13-1 in the Round of 32, which is remarkable, no matter how strong the program. That's not only the best Round of 32 winning percentage among coaches by a wide margin, it also has him in elite company through 60 career tournament games.

The Spartans still don't quite have the resume of a favorite from here, with No. 3 Oklahoma grading out as at least a little better, but they've moved to 17th overall in the KenPom ratings and, for as much as you believe it exists and matters, have a ton of momentum.

ACC and Pac-12 finish off strong opening weekend

The Pac-12 and ACC both entered Sunday perfect in the tournament and left flawed, but that shouldn't serve to discredit an incredibly satisfying weekend for both groups.

Oregon lost to Wisconsin to end the Pac-12's perfect run, but what was thought to be a conference in a down year finished the opening week with a 7-1 mark, sending three teams to the Sweet Sixteen. No. 11 UCLA and No. 5 Utah all face top-two seeds, so it may be on No. 2 Arizona to represent the conference in the Elite Eight and beyond.

Looking to hold serve, the ACC finished out a phenomenal week as well. After a 6-0 Round of 64, the ACC will send No. 4 North Carolina, No. 3 Notre Dame, No. 8 NC State, No. 1 Duke and No. 4 Louisville to the Sweet Sixteen, with only Virginia failing to move on. 

That's an 11-1 record, well up on the Big 12 - the perceived best conference, with seven of 10 teams earning berths - which went 5-5 and is sending only two teams through to the second week.

Prospect watch

Justise Winslow has won my heart. He may lack offensive polish and a mid-range game, but he's a terrific wing defender and contributes in so many different ways for Duke. After Sunday's 13-12-5-4-3 line, I really can't wait to see the potential top-10 pick matchup with Utah's Delon Wright on Friday.

You can check out a full prospect breakdown here, but here are a few notable performances:

• Justin Anderson had a tough final showing and never really got his game back after an injury and medical issue cost him eight games late in the season. It's still tough to know what to make of him as an NBA prospect after three seasons.
• Jahlil Okafor had 26 points on 12-of-16 shooting to go with six rebounds, two dimes and three blocked shots. The competition level is about to be turned up, which it needs to be, because this is too easy for Okafor right now.
• Fred VanVleet had another impressive outing, finishing with 17-6-6 and four steals in the Shockers' big upset.
• Buddy Hield had 15 points with five dimes and an incredibly-clutch block (see below) for Oklahoma.
• Frank Kaminsky, Sam Dekker and Nigel Hayes all had solid outings in Wisconsin's win, combining for 47 points, 17 rebounds and five assists with a 16-of-34 shooting mark.
• Melo Trimble had 15 points and seven rebounds in Maryland's loss but sadly saw his night end with a head injury.
• Terry Rozier absolutely went off for Louisville, posting a 25-5-7 line and shooting 8-of-13. He really helped his stock this week.

Other top performers

• Travis Trice was that dude for the Spartans once again, scoring 23 points with a 4-of-8 mark from outside. Give him 38 points and nine dimes in the tournament so far.
• Tekele Cotton hit 7-of-12 from the floor on his way to a game-high 19 points for Wichita State.
• Kyle Wiltjer went off for Gonzaga, scoring 24 points on 10-of-12 shooting with seven rebounds. Jarrod Uthoff went down gunning for Iowa, shooting 10-of-19 for 20 points with eight rebounds in the loss.
• Joseph Young went out like a boss for Oregon, scoring 30 points on 12-of-25 shooting and adding three rebounds and four assists. He really, really didn't want his terrific four-year career to end here.
• Gary Browne and Jevon Carter somehow combined for 11 steals in West Virginia's victory, accounting for nearly half of Maryland's obscene total of 23 turnovers.

Nice play, baby

There were plenty of entertaining highlights on Saturday - check out the top five here. Here are a few that can't wait for a click and a page load.

Heavy on the blocks Sunday, Darion Atkins kicks us off with a vicious rejection - he had another big one called a foul, too - though no more vicious than his postgame criticism of his teammates.

Winslow was just as unkind.

Sticking with swats, Hield's game-saver for Oklahoma is the stuff of athletic marvel.

And finally, a block Kaminsky simply should not have attempted.

Full Results

2 Virginia 54 vs. 7 Michigan State 60
1 Duke 68 vs. 8 San Diego State 49
2 Kansas 65 vs. 7 Wichita State 78
3 Oklahoma 72 vs. 11  66
2 Gonzaga 87 vs. 7 Iowa 68
1 Wisconsin 72 vs. 8 Oregon 65
4 Maryland 59 vs. 5 West Virginia 69
4 Louisville 66 vs. 5 Northern Iowa 53

Need More?

If this recap wasn't enough, yesterday's live blog still exists.

Up Next

Most importantly, it's a day off for your boy. For you the fan, you've got three days to decompress before the Sweet Sixteen kicks off Thursday in Cleveland and Los Angeles.

Here are Thursday's matchups:

• Midwest: No. 1 Kentucky vs. No. 5 West Virginia
• Midwest: No. 3 Notre Dame vs. No. 7 Wichita State
• West: No. 1 Wisconsin vs. No. 4 North Carolina
• West: No. 6 Xavier vs. No. 2 Arizona

Friday's slate is just as enticing, with games tipping off in Syracuse and Houston:

• East: No. 4 Louisville vs. No. 8 NC State
• East: No. 3 Oklahoma vs. No. 7 Michigan State
• South: No. 1 Duke vs. No. 5 Utah
• South: No. 11 UCLA vs. No. 2 Gonzaga

That includes what should be a terrific showdown between Okafor and a pair of Utes 7-footers, plus a wide open East Region. We've got another great weekend on our hands.

You can check out the full schedule here.