There are sixteen teams remaining in this year’s NCAA Tournament field but one — Duke — is peaking its heads over the competition on a historic trajectory.
Just how historic?
Get this: Duke is the second team in the modern era (since tourney expansion in 1985) to lead the regular season in scoring margin and to romp through the first two NCAA Tournament rounds with a point differential exceeding 65 points.
The only other team to accomplish that: Duke, in 1999.
Those Blue Devils finished 37-2 and went on to finish as the national runner-up to UConn. They are widely considered to be one of the best teams to have not won a national championship.
Tyrese Proctor may not become a lottery pick, but he’s bloomed perfectly for Duke in March Madness
Chip Patterson
These Blue Devils improved to 33-3 Sunday with an 89-66 dismantling of Baylor. That moved Duke’s average scoring margin to 33.5 points, which would set a record for a national championship team through the first two rounds in the modern era.
But as CBS Sports’ research team dug up: big scoring margins don’t necessarily correlate to championships.
Duke is in fact the 19th team since bracket expansion with a plus-60 or better scoring margin through the first two rounds. Of the previous 18, only two of those teams – 1993 North Carolina and 1996 Kentucky – went on to win the national championship.
The takeaway here is the obvious: winning titles is hard. But Duke’s dominating at a level that, if it can keep pace, may break through into historic success.
That makes the Blue Devils the big winners of our Sunday recap of Round 2’s biggest winners and losers of the day.
Winner: Maryland advances on buzzer-beater
Maryland freshman Derik Queen delivered the first game-winning buzzer-beater of the 2025 NCAA Tournament on Sunday to lift the No. 4 seed Terrapins to a thrilling 72-71 win over No. 12 seed Colorado State. Queen’s runner over Ethan Morton trickled through the net just as the clock hit all zeroes to send the Terps onto the second weekend of the Big Dance for the first time since 2016. But did he travel? You be the judge. — David Cobb
Winner: Florida shows its mettle in comeback
The No. 1 seed Florida Gators, among the hottest teams in college basketball the last few weeks and the second-most picked team in CBS Sports brackets to win the national championship, nearly had their magical run through March cut short by back-to-back reigning champion UConn on Sunday.
Key word there: nearly.
UConn put Florida’s backs to the wall in a back and forth battle that saw six lead changes and a Huskies lead in the final four minutes. But the Gators chomped down and grinded out a run to the finish thanks to six makes on their final six shot attempts. After trailing by three, they responded with a 16-7 run to put it away before a garbage time final 10 seconds – capped by a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from Liam McNeeley – made the final a two-point margin.
It wasn’t the best game Florida has played this month but it was the most impressive it has looked in the true face of adversity during its seven-game winning streak. That could go a long way toward building this team’s confidence as it hurtles into the second weekend. — Kyle Boone
Loser: UConn’s run comes to an end
UConn’s bid to become college basketball’s first three-peat national champion since UCLA in 1971-73 ended in a firestorm of emotion as the Huskies pushed Florida to the brink before coming up just short. Huskies coach Dan Hurley was irate walking off the floor but then emotional as he reflected on the end of his program’s remarkable run of 13 straight NCAA Tournament victories.
“The players change your life when you have such special people,” a teary-eyed Hurley said as he reflected on the impact his departing seniors had on the program.
Everything an emotional Dan Hurley said after UConn’s NCAA Tournament streak ended in loss to Florida
David Cobb
Hurley was similarly emotional in his postgame chat with Tracy Wolfson. Love him or hate him, Hurley is unabashedly authentic, and his fire was on display again Sunday as his program suffered its first NCAA Tournament loss since 2022. — Cobb
Winner: Tyrese Proctor catches fire in win over Baylor
Duke cruised to an 89-66 win over No. 9 seed Baylor behind big performances from Proctor and freshman superstar Cooper Flagg. Proctor’s hot shooting night stood out, as the veteran guard shot 8 of 9 from the 3-point line and finished with 25 points. Proctor struggled to find his shot last spring in Duke’s Elite Eight loss to NC State, and this kind of performance validates that the Blue Devils need Proctor at his best to reach their top form. — Cameron Salerno
Winner: Kentucky cruises into final 16 with sweet matchup
First-year Kentucky coach Mark Pope broke BBN through to the Sweet 16 with an 85-74 win over Illinois on Sunday. The win sets him up to face a familiar foe in the tourney’s next round in SEC rival Tennessee.
Kentucky swept the regular-season series vs. the Vols 2-0 with a five-point road win and an 11-point home win, and UK was not at full strength for either of those meetings. And while UK is still down a star in Jaxson Robinson, Pope and Co. have found a more than capable rotation led by Koby Brea, who had 23 points Sunday, alongside Otega Oweh, Lamont Butler and Amari Williams. — Boone
Loser: Florida postgame celebration hit too hard (literally)
No. 1 seed Florida punched its first ticket to the Sweet 16 since 2017 on Sunday. The one downside to recent success: it may have forgotten how to celebrate responsibly.
The team posted a locker room celebration postgame that featured your run-of-the-mill hooting and hollering – and ended with Alijah Martin crashing in to headbutt Gators coach Todd Golden. Ouch!
Martin ought to know better, too. He was previously a key piece of Dusty May’s Florida Atlantic team that made the Final Four in 2023. I don’t think May suffered any head wounds during that run from my recollection.
There’s plenty of reason to be jubilant if you’re Florida, though. Knocking off the back-to-back champs in UConn, and doing so after erasing a second-half lead, is the stuff of legend that will be etched into the record books in permanent marker if the Gators parlay their Sunday escape into a title. — Boone
Loser: Big East’s bid for title ends
This year’s national champion will officially not hail from the Big East after UConn, the lone remaining representative from the league, bowed out in the second round 77-75 to Florida. It’s the first time since the 2019 NCAA Tournament the league has no members still standing entering the second weekend. — Boone
Winner: Michigan State wins ugly
It wasn’t the most impressive performance of the season from Michigan State but its 71-63 win over New Mexico in the second round was enough to get it into the second weekend. The Spartans struggled shooting it — freshman Jase Richardson was 1 of 10 from the field, with the one make coming up clutch — but they capitalized on turnovers, dominated the glass on both ends and won with their defense.
Michigan State’s win sends the second Pitino packing in as many days as Richard Pitino and his Lobos join Rick Pitino and his St. John’s team among those extinguished from the field this weekend. — Boone
Loser: Saint Mary’s hits another wall
Saint Mary’s has now made eight consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances without reaching the Sweet 16 after falling 80-66 to No. 2 seed Alabama. The Crimson Tide never cooled off as they rode a strong offensive showing to become the first team to reach 80 against the Gaels since Gonzaga in 2022. Saint Mary’s drew within single digits several times in the second half but could never consistently get stops against the high-flying Crimson Tide. Six players reached double figures for Alabama, which overcame an 11-6 deficit in the turnover battle.
Bama will get No. 6 seed BYU in the Sweet 16 in what figures to be a compelling battle between two of the best offensive teams in college basketball. Meanwhile, the Gaels will go back to the drawing board and try to find a way to reach the second weekend of the Big Dance for the first time since 2010. — Cobb
Winner: Ole Miss headed to first Sweet 16 since 2001
For the first time since 2001, Ole Miss is headed to the Sweet 16 after slicing up Iowa State with an incredible offensive performance. The Rebels shot a sizzling 58.2% from the floor and made 11 of 19 attempts from beyond the arc en route to a stunningly dominant victory over the Cyclones. Ole Miss built its lead to 26 in the second half and then coasted to the finish line. Sean Pedulla led the Rebels with 20 points while Malik Dia added 18. No team posted a better shooting percentage against Iowa State this season. — Cobb
Loser: Oregon feels the Love
No. 5 seed Oregon jumped out to a 19-4 lead on No. 4 seed Arizona, but the hot start was too good to be true. Arizona and star guard Caleb Love just needed some time to get revved up en route to an 87-83 victory. Love scored 20 of his 29 points in the second half to lead the Wildcats into the Sweet 16 for a third time under fourth-year coach Tommy Lloyd. The win sets up a big-brand showdown between Arizona and No. 1 seed Duke.
You might remember: while playing for North Carolina in 2022, Love ended Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski’s career with 28 points in a legendary Final Four game. If he plays like he did against Oregon in the Sweet 16, he has the potential to end Duke’s season once again.
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