The first weekend of the NCAA Tournament was a whirlwind, filled with upsets, close finishes, and busted brackets. Who had South Carolina and Michigan making it farther than both Villanova? Or Xavier and Wisconsin lasting longer than Duke? However, it is time to look forward to the second weekend of the tournament. Although this weekend doesn’t have the pure madness associated with the first one, it may be the best of the year for college basketball. There are twelve games in four days, with every one featuring top teams fighting for their lives and a trip to the Final Four. No longer will you be forced to watch mid-majors get blown out by top teams. Now is the time for high-quality basketball between high-quality teams. With that said, let’s take a look forward and pick out some of the top story-lines for this weekend.

1. Will a double-digit seed advance to the Final Four for the second consecutive year?

Last year, tenth seeded Syracuse shocked the world first by making the tournament, and then by advancing all the way to the Final Four. This year, Xavier has an opportunity to follow their lead. All hope seemed lost for the Musketeers when Edmond Sumner went down against St. John’s and the previously ranked team finished the regular season 4-6 without him. However, Xavier has rebounded, going 2-1 in the Big East Tournament before knocking off 6 Maryland and 3 Florida State on the road to the Sweet 16. Now, the Musketeers will face off with 2 Arizona, and win will have them matched up with either 1 Gonzaga or 4 West Virginia with a place in the Final Four at stake.

2. Can Gonzaga finally get over the hump?

Time and time again, Gonzaga has taken advantage of a weak conference to post a strong record and take a top seed, only to fall short of greatness. The Bulldogs have never made the Final Four; to make this year their first, they’ll have to beat a tough West Virginia team that has played well to this point. A win there would put them up against either 2 Arizona or 11 Xavier. Gonzaga is a good enough team to win both games and advance to the Final Four. However, shaky performances against 16 South Dakota State and 8 Northwestern have fans doubting that this will be the year for the Bulldogs.

3. Who will win the East?

Before the tournament started, the East seemed fairly easy to predict. With the defending champion Villanova taking the overall number one seed and Duke taking the two, both teams seemed destined to meet in the Elite Eight. Both were upset in the first weekend, however, leaving the bracket wide open. Will 3 Baylor or 4 Florida take advantage and punch their ticket to Phoenix? Or will 7 South Carolina or 8 Wisconsin play Cinderella and advance to the Final Four?

4. Which Naismith finalist will be left standing?

Frank Mason: 42 points, 13 assists, 7 rebounds

Caleb Swanigan: 36 points, 11 assists, 26 rebounds

Those are the stat-lines of both players to this point in the tournament. Mason and Swanigan will lead their teams, Kansas and Purdue respectively, against each other Thursday night. Both players have been dominant so far in the tournament, and they will look to continue their performance. Whoever wins, watching them battle it out will be a treat to behold, and I am certainly looking forward to it.

5. Will the South continue to be all chalk?

Of the twelve games played in the South region of the bracket, ten have been won by the better seeded team. The only upsets were by 12 Middle Tennessee over 5 Minnesota, an upset so boring that the line on the game favored the Blue Raiders at tip-off, and 10 Wichita State over 7 Dayton, where Wichita was so drastically under seeded that their KenPom ranking (8) was lower than their seed (10). Although the region is rather boring, this should result in great basketball. All four teams remaining are playing high-level basketball at the right time, which should make for great games.