Liberty, the largest Evangelical Christian college in the world, not only got the chance to upset a top-seeded school, but also spread God’s word to a national TV audience. After all, educating young people was the mission Jerry Falwell embarked on in 1971 when the school was founded. In its mission statement, the school says its aim is to develop “Christ-centered men and women with the values, knowledge, and skills essential to impact the world.”

Impact the basketball world they have over the past few days. Liberty coach Ritchie McKay, who has headed the program since 2015, praised his players for all their hard work.

“Man, really feel blessed to get a chance to do life with these guys… And really great sense of satisfaction and appreciation for the resiliency we showed against a really quality opponent,” he told the school’s official website after Friday’s victory. “That team is as good of a team as we've played all year long, and I was really proud of our group for the way they hung in there.”

These God connections aren’t always easy to spot during March Madness. The television coverage on CBS Sports and in your local newspaper’s sports section aren’t always there to point them out. It’s often something a player or coach will say in postgame news conferences — and highlighted by Christian news organizations — that thrusts faith into the limelight. Did you know, for example, how Duke star Zion Williamson got his name? His parents named him after the biblical location of Mount Zion near Jerusalem.

There were many religious themes to emerge over the first two rounds of this year’s tournament. Here are a few.

Villanova is dethroned, long live … Gonzaga?

Catholic colleges, who have traditionally dominated the tournament, have had a rough go of it at this tournament. A potential “all-Catholic” national title game fell apart over the weekend. No. 1 seed Gonzaga held up its end, defeating Baylor, the largest Baptist college in the world, on Saturday. No. 6 Villanova, last year’s champions, couldn’t and lost to No. 3 Purdue.

Barring any upsets — and there have been plenty so far — the Bulldogs could very well win the whole thing on April 8 in Minneapolis. Gonzaga, appearing in its 21st consecutive tournament, has never won the tournament before.

Villanova, champions twice over the past three years, are coached by Jay Wright. This is a head coach who isn’t afraid to infuse faith into his team — even though many of the players aren’t Catholic like the school that was founded and run by the Order of St. Augustine. Wright even visited Pope Francis last year at the Vatican and presented him with a basketball.