The opening weekend of March Madness is in the books, and just as we did in the aftermath of the 1st Round of the NCAA Tournament, it's time to take another look at the previous round's winners and losers.

Loser: Madness 

More like March Midness, am I right? Sorry for kicking things off with a bummer, but 11 of the 16 games played in the 2nd Round of the NCAA Tournament were decided by ten or more points, noticeably higher than the average of 7.9 games in each of the last fifteen NCAA Tournaments. That's not what we signed up for, right?

Loser: Double Digit Seeds and Mid-Majors 

Again, I apologize for harping on the negatives here, but this has been a less than stellar showing for the double-digit seeds and mid-majors that are usually responsible for the Cinderella runs we all love. We've only got one double-digit seed remaining (ACC Tournament Champion NC State), and fourteen of the sixteen teams remaining come from one of the Power Six conferences (ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, SEC). The only two that don't are Gonzaga and San Diego State, and given the recent history of each of those programs, it feels like a mischaracterization to call either of those schools “mid-majors” when they are anything but. In fact…

Winner: Gonzaga 

With their emphatic 89-68 win over the Kansas Jayhawks on Saturday afternoon (their second consecutive 21 point win in the 2024 NCAA Tournament), Gonzaga advanced to their ninth consecutive Sweet Sixteen, which ties the Zags with the Duke Blue Devils (1998-2006) for the second-longest streak of Sweet Sixteen appearances in NCAA Tournament history. Only the North Carolina Tar Heels' streak of thirteen consecutive seasons advancing to at least the Sweet Sixteen (1981-1993).

Look, say what you want about Mark Few and the Gonzaga Bulldogs. Yes, they benefit from playing in a West Coast Conference that historically has offered very little resistance, and no, they are still missing out on that elusive NCAA Championship that Duke got in 2001, and North Carolina got in both 1982 and 1993. But to put yourself in the same category as Dean Smith's Tar Heels and Mike Krzyzewski's Blue Devils, you're doing something right, and Mark Few is clearly doing a whole lot right in Spokane. What the Zags are doing right in the 2024 NCAA Tournament is knocking down three's at a 50 percent clip. Through two games, Gonzaga is 18-for-36 from three-point range, and if they keep that up, any team that crosses paths with Mark Few's squad — and they've got Purdue up next — will have their hands full.

Loser: Mountain West 

Brian Dutcher's San Diego State Aztecs may be on their way to their second straight Sweet Sixteen, with a National Championship Game rematch with the Connecticut Huskies ahead, but unfortunately for the other five Mountain West teams that received bids into the NCAA Tournament, they'll all be watching from home. Here's a super speedy rundown of how things went for the rest of the MWC:

-Boise State didn't make it out of Dayton after being held to 53 points in the First Four by a Colorado team that gave up 181 points in their next two NCAA Tournament games.

-Unlike the Broncos, Colorado State did make it out of their First Four matchup with Virginia, but the Rams were held to 44 points against Texas in their 1st Round game.

-Nevada held a 56-39 lead over Dayton with just seven and a half minutes left in the game, but choked it away in spectacular fashion, and wound up losing 63-60.

-After going on a spectacular run through the Mountain West Tournament to earn a bid into the field of 68, New Mexico had no momentum left heading into their 1st Round game against Clemson. The Lobos were routed by the Tigers, 77-56.

-Along with the Aztecs, regular season Mountain West champs Utah State were the only other team in the conference that made it out of the 1st Round, but for all intents and purposes, the Aggies didn't show up for their 2nd Round game. Am I bitter because I bet Utah State and under, and Purdue scored 106 points and won the game by 39 points. Well, since you ask, yes I am!

Winner: Texas A&M vs. Houston 

Thank goodness for a dramatic Texas A&M vs. Houston game last night, saving what was otherwise a mediocre Sunday of Midness (is it catching on, or should I let this go?) In this matchup between in-state foes we had six players foul out, five different players score at least twenty points, a game-tying buzzer-beating three-pointer that sent the game to OT courtesy of A&M's Andersson Garcia, and some clutch free throws from Houston's Ryan Elvin, who was thrust into a pressure moment because four Cougars had fouled out. Elvin played just 56 minutes all season prior to Sunday night, and had shot only four free throws throughout the year, but he made the single biggest shot of the game — a pressure free throw that pushed Houston's lead to four with just 17 seconds left in OT. Now that's the March Madness we all know and love!

Loser: Tom Izzo 

A very simple question that I'm a little surprised I'm even typing out: Is Tom Izzo's March Madness Magic gone? It feels like heresy to even suggest this, but just take a look at the last eight tournament appearances for the Spartans:

2016: 1st Round loss to 15 seed Middle Tennessee

2017: 2nd Round loss to 1 seed Kansas

2018: 2nd Round loss to 11 seed Syracuse

2019: Final Four loss to 3 seed Texas Tech

2021: First Four loss to 11 seed UCLA

2022: 2nd Round loss to 2 seed Duke

2023: Sweet Sixteen loss to 3 seed Kansas State

2024: 2nd Round loss to 1 seed North Carolina

It used to be that you could automatically pencil Izzo and the Spartans into at least the Sweet Sixteen, but those days seem to be long gone. In the last eight tournaments, Sparty has only danced into the Sweet Sixteen twice. Coach Izzo could say that he's “going to get back to a deeper run” in the NCAA Tournament “or die trying,” but nearly a decade-long sample size indicates that'll be easier said than done.

Winner: Zach Edey 

Gotta give credit where it's due — I picked Purdue to lose to Utah State before the tournament began. I bet on Utah State on Sunday morning. And then Purdue kicked me in my ass, took me money, and symbolically said “You're such a dummy.” Yeah, I deserve it, and Zach Edey deserves to be given his flowers because the soon-to-be back-to-back Player of the Year has been nothing short of dominant in the first two rounds of the tourney after his team was knocked out by a 16-seed last year. Through two games, Edey is averaging 26.5 points, 17.5 rebounds, and 3 blocks per game, but those numbers don't do Edey's dominance justice. You had to watch Great Osobor and the Utah State Aggies look so helpless trying to keep Edey off the glass and away from the basket to understand what a problem Edey can be.

Does any of this change the way I or many others will feel about Zach Edey as an NBA prospect? Of course not. Edey has obvious limitations, all which would be exploited on a possession by possession basis in the NBA. But Edey is unquestionably one of the most prolific college players in NCAA history.

Winner: Steven Ashworth 

Steven Ashworth averaged 16.2 points per game for Utah State last season, transferred to Creighton, and immediately fell into place as the fourth banana behind Baylor Scheierman, Ryan Kalkbrenner, and Trey Alexander. Ashworth is the fourth double-digit scorer on this team and the fourth option, but against Oregon in the 2nd Round, Ashworth played arguably his best game of the season given the stakes. He was only 6 for 18 from the field, but Ashworth led the Bluejays in scoring, and scored 14 of his 21 points in the 2nd half and the two overtime periods.

Loser: Florida Atlantic 

Not only did Florida Atlantic lose to Northwestern on Friday afternoon, but then on Sunday they lost their head coach Dusty May, who is off to Ann Arbor to take over as the head coach of the Michigan Wolverines. Just as quickly as Florida Atlantic burst onto the national scene, it feels like soon enough, we'll be looking at the Owls and once again saying, “Who?”

(That was a very poorly conceived owl joke. And on that note, we're out of here.)