Whew. It’s nice to have a bit of time to regroup after that wild opening weekend of the NCAA Tournament!

Nine double-digit seeds won in Round 1. Four have made it to the Sweet 16. How many will advance to the Elite Eight? We’ll find out when the tournament resumes play on Saturday and Sunday.

For now, let’s take a look back at the first 2 rounds. Here are the 10 things that surprised me the most about Rounds 1 and 2 of the 2021 NCAA Tournament.

1. In-state little brothers rise up

2-seed Ohio State lost in the first round. 13-seed Ohio made it to the second round.

14-seed Abilene Christian pulled off a massive upset of 3-seed Texas in Round 1.

8-seed Loyola-Chicago absolutely embarrassed 1-seed Illinois on Sunday in Round 2.

Oh, and 15-seed Oral Roberts is still dancing, while 8-seed Oklahoma and 4-seed Oklahoma State are back at home.

Yes, the big story of this year’s tournament has been the afterthought programs in certain states managing to survive and advance while the big boys have disappointed. Ohio and Abilene Christian may have lost in Round 2, but they’ll have bragging rights over the Buckeyes and Longhorns for years to come.

It’s nice to see the little guys win every now and then.

2. Conference of champions

Speaking of the little guys, the Pac-12 has been mocked relentlessly over the past few years as it continues to fall behind the other major conferences in men’s basketball and football.

Well, the “Conference of Champions” has shown up and shown out thus far in March Madness, placing 4 teams in the Sweet 16. Through the end of Round 2, the Pac-12 was an impressive 10-1 in the tournament, with the only loss coming from Colorado (against Florida State) in the second round.

Colorado, a 5-seed, was the highest-seeded team from the Pac-12. 6-seed USC, 7-seed Oregon, 11-seed UCLA and 12-seed Oregon State are still dancing.

Oh, and now it sounds like Bill Walton might be making an appearance during some NCAA Tournament games moving forward:

I want that to happen more than anything in the world now.

While the Pac-12’s stock is on the rise, another major conference has seen its standing plummet …

3. B1G problems

While the Pac-12 has only lost 1 of its 5 teams that qualified for the tournament, the Big Ten is in the exact opposite situation. I’ve already mentioned Illinois and Ohio State losing. That was particularly devastating for me since I picked the Illini to win the entire tournament.

Meanwhile, Purdue, Maryland, Rutgers, Wisconsin, Iowa and Michigan State also failed to advance to the Sweet 16. The lone Big Ten representative left is Michigan — the 1-seed many considered to be the weakest heading into March Madness.

The Wolverines have a Sweet 16 matchup against a dangerous Florida State team. Could the B1G really have all 9 of its teams fail to advance to the Final Four in a tournament held entirely in Indiana, the heart of Big Ten country? That would be something it might take the league a long time to recover from.

Fans of other conferences love to make fun of the SEC for doing its “S-E-C” chant when a team from the league is dominating a school from another Power 5 conference. Well, the entire B1G better rally behind the Wolverines moving forward.

4. Alabama out of its slump?

Alabama ran Maryland out of the building on Monday night, rolling to an easy 96-77 win to advance to the Sweet 16. It was utter domination from the opening tipoff, with the Tide making 16 of their 33 attempts from 3-point range.

Jaden Shackelford had 21 points and John Petty Jr. had 20 points, which is a great sign for Alabama moving forward. They combined for 9 of the Tide’s 16 3-pointers.

And, we need to give Alex Reese some credit. He has been a big key for Alabama off the bench this tourney. He scored 13 points and grabbed 5 rebounds, knocking down 3 of his 5 long-range shots:

But, the real star this March has been Jahvon Quinerly. He was brilliant once again on Monday night, scoring 14 points, dishing out 11 assists and grabbing 5 boards while coming off the bench.

Quinerly was relegated to the bench earlier this year, due to some bad decision-making and defensive struggles. That move from coach Nate Oats absolutely worked, as Quinerly is now a star.

He is making the right decisions nearly every time down the floor. A lot of guys would try to force up a shot in this situation. Instead, Quinerly shows patience and finds Herb Jones for an easy layup:

The Tide get 11-seed UCLA in the Sweet 16. The Bruins might be a double-digit seed, but they’re no joke. We’ll see if Alabama can help slow down the Pac-12’s momentum.

If Quinerly, Petty, Shackelford and Reese play like this, and Jones continues to be his usual star self, Alabama should continue to roll.

5. All aboard the Muss Bus!

Eric Musselman’s energy is contagious, and it has the Razorbacks in the Sweet 16. Devo Davis is a spark plug. Justin Smith is one of the most impactful transfer players of the season. And Moses Moody is playing like an NBA Draft lottery pick.

I still can’t get over the stifling defense Davis played on Texas Tech star Mac McClung in Round 2, particularly on this play:

Arkansas isn’t a perfect team, by any means. The Hogs got off to a slow start against Colgate in Round 1. Then, in Round 2, they needed that late defensive stand to prevent overtime against the Red Raiders.

It’d be nice to see a more complete effort from the Hogs, but they’ll have the chance to show what they can do against Oral Roberts on Saturday. Speaking of the Golden Eagles …

6. Move over, Dunk City

There’s a new Cinderella team capturing our hearts this year, and that team is the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles. The 15-seed from the South region has already taken down 2-seed Ohio State and 7-seed Florida, becoming the first 15-seed since 2013’s Florida Gulf Coast (AKA “Dunk City”) to advance to the Sweet 16.

Kevin Obanor and Max Abmas have become household names. Obanor posted a 30-point, 11-rebound double-double against Ohio State and followed it up with a 28-point, 11-board double-double against Florida.

Abmas, the nation’s leading scorer, has also done his part, dropping 29 points on the Buckeyes and 26 on the Gators. He has in-the-gym range:

He also won’t back down in clutch situations, even when he’s been on the floor every minute of an overtime game:

Abmas and Obanor have played every minute for the Golden Eagles thus far. After resting up this week, you can bet they’ll both be ready to play every minute this weekend, too.

7. SEC coaches coaching their way to the hot seat?

It’s unlikely that any SEC men’s basketball coaches will be fired this offseason. But, heading into the 2021-22 campaign, several could be on the hot seat. South Carolina’s Frank Martin and Mississippi State’s Ben Howland will likely be on the hot seat.

And, a trio of coaches who made early exits in the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament could join them. After losing to Oklahoma to finish off an inexplicable late-season collapse, Cuonzo Martin’s seat is heating up. Florida only had to beat 15-seed Oral Roberts to advance to the Sweet 16, but a late comeback from the Golden Eagles sent the Gators home instead.

Meanwhile, it’s fair to wonder if Rick Barnes’ seat is heating up at Tennessee. As I pointed out on Twitter, the new Tennessee administration has 0 ties to him:

Barnes, who openly flirted with the UCLA job a couple of years ago, could also decide to move on if another major-conference team has an opening that intrigues him.

This offseason will probably be stable in the SEC, but in today’s college sports, stability generally doesn’t last very long. We’ll see what happens next season.

8. Sister Jean’s scouting reports

Sister Jean is the 101-year-old team chaplain for Loyola-Chicago. And, as you know, the Ramblers are making another March run after making it to the Final Four in 2018.

That’s not the surprising part. The Ramblers have been a heck of a team all year and are one of the best defensive squads in the nation.

But, what was surprising to me was that Sunday’s big win over 1-seed Illinois was such a coaching clinic. Porter Moser embarrassed Brad Underwood, outscheming him at every turn. Heck, even Sister Jean scouted Illinois better than Underwood scouted the Ramblers:

We’ll see if Sister Jean can help the Ramblers scheme their way past Oregon State in the Sweet 16 on Saturday.

9. USC’s rout of Kansas

If you knew nothing about college basketball and I made you watch the USC-Kansas game from Monday night, you’d have thought the Trojans were a 1-seed and the Jayhawks were a 16-seed. USC absolutely smothered Kansas all night long, cruising to an 85-51 win.

Evan Mobley, a likely top-3 pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, only had 10 points, but he added 13 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 blocks. Two of those blocks came on this great defensive stand:

If the Trojans can be that dominant with their top scorer only scoring 10 points, it doesn’t bode well for 7-seed Oregon on Sunday night.

10. Gonzaga vs. the field

Many analysts discussed before the tournament whether they’d bet on Gonzaga or the field. Usually, the smart bet is to take the field.

Not this year. The Bulldogs have rolled past Norfolk State (no surprise there) and Oklahoma. Jalen Suggs, Drew Timme and Corey Kispert have been a trio no other team can contain.

And, now, Gonzaga will need to beat Creighton — a vulnerable team out of the Big East — and either USC or Oregon to advance to the Final Four. That’s not the most arduous road by any means, so the Bulldogs should be able to keep winning.

Is this the year Mark Few and his squad finally break through and claim that has eluded them for so long? It sure looks that way right now. The biggest surprise of the tournament, perhaps, is that Baylor, and possibly Alabama, look like the only teams with a prayer against the Bulldogs.