As the round of 32 comes to a close, and the sweet sixteen has been determined, I start to look back on the first weekend, and then forward to weekend number two. What comes to mind from these past four days, is that there have been many upsets, obviously, but also some very close calls from the top dogs of the sport.

Gonzaga, Texas Tech, Duke, UCLA, Arizona, and Kansas all were lucky to make it out of the first two rounds, but for the other highly regarded teams coming in, most of them did not survive. Going forward however, I believe this will benefit these teams because of the experiences they had to go through.

UCLA nearly getting taken out in the first round, but to then come back and dominate Saint Mary’s, that is the sign of a championship team, and they may be looking to finish the job this year.

Then there is Gonzaga who was losing at halftime, getting beaten up in the first half, and then it becoming the Timme show to bring them back and eventually win that game against Memphis. The other four teams gutting out close calls as well will only strengthen their confidence in close games, and also strengthen the teams’ bond too.

It will be more likely for them to trust each other in those moments, because they’ve seen success together when they have to make big-time plays. I look forward to seeing how the sweet sixteen and elite eight play out, and specifically these teams, in regard to how they perform in the clutch moments, and in winning time.