After a first round that featured 13 lesser-seeded teams winning including a record eight with seeds of 11 or worse, the first day of second-round play was a bit more predictable. Will Sunday be similar? Here's a look at some of the biggest storylines heading into Sunday's action:
Can Villanova avoid a third straight second-round knockout?
Jay Wright knows what's at stake Sunday when Villanova meets Iowa.
Whether a 30-win season is perceived as a success will ultimately come down to if the Wildcats avoid a third straight second-round NCAA tournament loss. Villanova suffered upsets at the hands of NC State as a No. 1 seed last season and UConn as a No. 2 seed the year before.
"If you get into Sweet 16s, final eights consistently, and we had that going for a little bit, I think you are considered one of the elite programs," Wright told reporters in Brooklyn. "If you don't, nationally, you might not be considered.
"If you see our team play all the time, I think our program has great respect. But your national reputation in this sport is definitely based on how you perform. Do you get the Sweet 16s? Do you get the final eights? Do you get the Final Fours? Do you win national championships? That puts you with the elite. We'd certainly like to be there, but we've got to earn it."
The mental hurdle may be as difficult to overcome as an Iowa team that faded late in the season and needed an overtime put-back at the buzzer from Adam Woodbury just to survive 10th-seeded Temple on Friday. Forward Jarrod Uthoff and sharpshooting wing Peter Jok are two of the Big Ten's elite players, but the Hawkeyes don't have athletic guards who can attack Villanova off the dribble, nor are they a big, physical rebounding team.
Will the ACC get six into the Sweet 16?
The ACC already has amassed a 10-1 NCAA tournament record and sent four teams to the Sweet 16. Tenth-seeded Syracuse and sixth-seeded Notre Dame have a chance to join the party if they can dispatch of a pair of double-digit seeds.
Instead of being a massive underdog against Michigan State in the second round on Sunday, the 10th-seeded Orange are suddenly the favorites over the 15th seeded Middle Tennessee team that dispatched of the Spartans. The tricky aspect of the matchup for Syracuse is that the Blue Raiders are 14th in the nation in 3-point shooting, shot 11-for-19 from deep against the Spartans on Friday and are capable of torching the Orange's zone from behind the arc.
Even so, oddsmakers have Syracuse a 6.5-point favorite for a reason. This is a Middle Tennessee team that finished three games out of first place in mediocre Conference USA in the regular season, that lost to teams like Georgia State and Western Kentucky and that prior to Friday had not beaten a single team in the top 100 of Ken Pomeroy's ratings.
The 14th-seeded Stephen F. Austin team that Notre Dame faces Sunday was more of a known commodity even before upsetting third-seeded West Virginia on Friday. The Lumberjacks have only lost one league game the past three seasons, defeated VCU in the first round of the 2014 NCAA tournament and pushed Utah last March.
Limiting turnovers against Stephen F. Austin's pressure defense will be especially important for Notre Dame. So is forcing someone besides statsheet-stuffing swingman Thomas Walkup to do damage on offense.
Which favorite is in most jeopardy of a loss on Sunday?
Maryland caught a slight break drawing 13th-seeded Hawaii instead of a talented Cal team on Sunday, but the Terps aren't playing well enough to coast to the Sweet 16. They needed a South Dakota State turnover in the closing seconds on Friday just to avoid a potential first-round loss to the Jackrabbits.
What makes Hawaii more dangerous than South Dakota State is its ability to attack off the dribble or in the post, to force turnovers and to score in transition. The Rainbow Warriors aren't a good outside shooting team, but 6-foot-11 Stefan Jankovic is a skilled inside-outside threat who can drag Maryland center Diamond Stone away from the basket and first-round heroes Roderick Bobbitt and Quincy Smith can both take advantage of an empty lane and get to the rim.
"Tough matchup for us because of their guard play, and they're able to stretch the floor with their big guys," Maryland coach Mark Turgeon told reporters in Spokane. "As the year's gone on we have gotten better at guarding these teams. But with great guard play and the ability to stretch the ball the way Hawaii does, it's going to be a tough challenge for us defensively."
Another huge game from forward Jake Layman would be huge for a Maryland team with weapons throughout its starting five. The sometimes erratic Layman scored 27 points and banged in five 3-pointers against South Dakota State on Sunday.
Can Oregon salvage this NCAA tournament for the Pac-12?
The last survivor of the Pac-12's seven NCAA tournament entrants is an Oregon team that swept the league's regular season and tournament titles this season. The top-seeded Ducks can earn a date with Duke in the Sweet 16 in Anaheim if they can survive a tricky second-round game against a dangerous St. Joseph's squad.

What makes this a scary matchup for Oregon is that its defense thrives on forcing turnovers but St. Joseph's is one of the nation's best at taking care of the basketball. The Hawks are also quick and athletic enough to limit the Ducks' matchup advantages off the dribble on offense, though Phil Martelli's team has not defended especially well this season as a whole.
Martelli provided Oregon with some unexpected motivation on Saturday when he responded to a question about people on the East Coast knew about the Ducks.
"Zero," Martelli said. "Until I heard on the broadcast that they had finished the season No. 5, I had no idea.
"If you said to our players, did Oregon win the PAC-12 or did Arizona? They would lean to Arizona. As would basketball people in Philadelphia. It's not disrespectful, it's just, at a certain point in time ... you turn the TV off. You can't watch any more games.
"So, they're fabulous. They're as good -- up close and personal, I know what Villanova looks like and I know Villanova could end up in Houston and I know Oregon could end up in Houston. But fans in Philadelphia, or the East Coast, they have no idea."
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Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
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Can Oregon salvage this NCAA tournament for the Pac-12? The last survivor of the Pac-12's seven NCAA tournament entrants is an Oregon team that swept the league's regular season and tournament titles this season. The top-seeded Ducks can earn a date with Duke in the Sweet 16 in Anaheim if they can survive a tricky second-round game against a dangerous St. Joseph's squad. St. Joseph's is better equipped to defend Oregon's attack than