The second round of the 2025 NCAA men’s basketball tournament concluded on Sunday, and we are now onto the Sweet 16 where No. 1 seeds and the SEC are dominating the field.
Here are some of the biggest winners and losers from Sunday’s Round of 32 action.
Winner: No. 1 seeds keep following the chalk
Not only are all four No. 1 seeds on to the Sweet 16, but outside of Florida getting a scare from UConn on Sunday, and Houston getting a tight game from Gonzaga on Saturday, all of the No. 1 seed games through the first two rounds have been more of a formality than a competition. It is not uncommon for at least one No. 1 seed to get knocked out in the Round of 32, but it did not happen this season. They are all moving on.
Loser: UConn’s three-peat attempt
The Huskies carried a 13-game NCAA Tournament winning streak into Sunday’s game against No. 1 seed Florida, and deep into the second half looked like they had a chance to continue that and keep chasing their third consecutive national championship. But Florida ended up putting together a late surge to put the game away, 77-75, thanks in large part to some big shots from Walter Clayton Jr. UConn clearly did not have the same juice that it had the past two seasons, but the fact it made it through to the Round 32 and pushed one of the top seeds in the tournament to the brink is a testament to how clutch and good this team is, and difficult it is to beat in crunch time.
Winner: The SEC
The SEC already made history at the start of the tournament when it put 14 of the 16 teams in the conference into the tournament.
Now seven of those teams are moving onto the Sweet 16, setting a new record for most teams in a conference to appear in the Sweet 16.
