Some of the chalk from the first two days of the NCAA tournament has been erased. But not much.
Two No. 5 seeds and a No. 7 broke through to the Sweet 16. And the top four seeds advanced to the regional semifinals in two regions — Albany 1 and Portland 4.
The real story of the women’s NCAA tournament are the comebacks and close calls. LSU and Duke each had to overcome double-digit deficits in the second round. Iowa, UCLA, Indiana, Stanford, Colorado and Baylor all trailed in the second half before clinching a spot in the Sweet 16. UConn got a late scare from Syracuse.
Sure, the results have mostly followed the seeds. That doesn’t mean all of it was easy.
The only truly big upset of the second round — No. 7 Duke bouncing No. 2 Ohio State in Columbus — shook up the seeds a bit as we reseed the field ahead of the regional semifinals. The No. 1s are the same, but Iowa was close to falling off the top line with its squeaker at home against West Virginia.
The good news about few upsets in the first four days is that the next four game days could be historic. LSU vs. UCLA and Oregon State vs. Notre Dame, with Texas vs. Stanford and Iowa…
