The Athletic has live coverage of the NCAA Tournament.

(Editor’s note: This is part of the Bracket Central Series, an inside look at the run-up to the men’s and women’s NCAA Tournaments, along with analysis and picks during the tournaments.)

The Sweet 16 matchups in the NCAA Tournament didn’t disappoint. Six of the eight games were decided by single digits, and a pair of No. 1 seeds were knocked out. Oh, and a No. 11 seed that once stood 17-14 overall entering the ACC tournament is still standing.

All four Elite Eight matchups offer plenty of intrigue: UConn vs. Illinois, Alabama vs. Clemson, Duke vs. NC State and Purdue vs. Tennessee. The Duke-NC State, Alabama-Clemson and Purdue-Tennessee games are rematches of games from earlier this season.

With the regional finals upon us, here are our latest NCAA Tournament power rankings for all eight remaining national title contenders. We will update this ranking after every round and until the Final Four begins. If the Sweet 16 was any indication, the eight teams left should put on quite a show. Which teams are in the best position to make a run at the championship? Here’s a look at where things stand.

The second day of the women’s NCAA Tournament kicked off with another No.1-seed win as Indiana topped Tennessee Tech 77-47 on Saturday.

Top-seeded teams defended their rankings on the opening day of play, but will the trend continue or will underdogs prevail?

The Athletic has you covered with takeaways from the biggest games of the day:

Indiana cruises past Tennessee Tech, but Holmes’ absence gives pause

With first-team All-American center Mackenzie Holmes watching from the bench, No. 1 Indiana and No. 16 Tennessee Tech were level at 18 apiece following the first quarter of Saturday’s round of 64 matchup. But over the ensuing 30 minutes, the Hoosiers clamped down defensively — allowing just 29 more points — and saw their offense flourish. Junior guard Sydney Parrish and senior guard Grace Berger combined for 36 points in IU’s victory. As they await the winner of Oklahoma State-Miami, the biggest question about IU pertains to their star center, who did not play Saturday due to knee soreness.

Indiana coach Teri Moren confirmed after her team’s Big Ten semifinals loss to Ohio State that Holmes was not 100 percent. After exactly two weeks between games, the team said Holmes was available to play Saturday. Holmes said afterward she has been practicing, but the team has…

Filling out the women’s NCAA Tournament bracket is fun, sure. But with betting lines included, the stakes are raised and it’s a whole other ballgame — even if you’re sure of the winner, you can still pick against the spread. Last year, I had a hard time finding lines for the women’s tournament. This year, the information was much more available. I took all info into account — stats, schedules, personnel matchups, strengths and weaknesses — as I began the arduous task of analyzing each pick and selecting game winners. (And I reminded myself, more than once, not to overthink it.)

If you’re unfamiliar with betting numbers, the general idea is you subtract whatever the number is from the score, and that should make it even. So “South Florida -1.5” means the Hurricanes should win by two against Marquette. The .5 allows you to pick a side, so there are no ties. In short, the team with the “-” number next to it is giving the other team that much of a lead in this figurative world. If “PK” is listed, it means the teams are rated even strength and it’s a straight win or loss pick.

My picks for the first round are based against the spread, not straight-up winners. Check back, as I’ll have subsequent picks for every round of the tournament.

Friday

No. 9…