NCAA Tournament schedule: Sweet 16 set

Thankfully, the madness takes hold of us again on Thursday night, and it won’t let go until the Final Four is settled on Sunday. In accordance with this being the Sweet 16, here are 16 things you should know to prepare yourself for what’s about to go down.

1.

The final day of the NCAA Tournament’s first weekend delivered in just about every area that makes the tournament attractive. There were terrific games featuring top seeds, there were multiple contests won via made shots in the closing seconds, and there were Cinderella teams that America has fallen in love with shooting to extend their season for at least another five days.

Somewhere Vanessa Williams was nodding slowly as it all went down. That’s not a “Save the Best for Last” reference, she’s actually just an enormous fan of the Harrison twins who possesses an enviable ability to keep her emotions in check.

Like drawing a mustache on the Mona Lisa.

The best part of this video? (Other than “everything.”) The coach air-messing-up Sager’s hair before everyone else begins actually mussing the sartorial jester. Like, “Ha ha oh you scamps, I’ll play along with the-- oh. Oh, you’re actually ... oh, you’re really going for it. Hm. Well, okay.”

It didn’t quite top the instant-classic between Wichita State and Kentucky, but this game may have been the second-best of the Big Dance to this point.

Iowa State will battle UConn in the Sweet 16.

But after the ball went through the hoop, things got weird:

Things get weird, though. The clock doesn’t start for, oh, a second after he gets the ball, and it doesn’t stop when he signals for timeout with about 0.5 seconds left. Perhaps the clock operator, realizing his initial error, tried to correct his mistake ... but that’s not really how things work.

The Tar Heels would have had one final chance to send up a prayer from halfcourt, but awful clock management resulted in the referees calling the game after the clock did not immediately start upon inbounds of the ball.

In a tournament that has delivered time and time again, it was an instant-classic from San Antonio. This will be Iowa State’s first Sweet 16 appearance in 14 years.

There were 14 lead changes in a back-and-forth battle. With eight seconds left, Harrison missed his second free throw with his team leading 78-76, giving the Shockers a chance to win at the buzzer, but the shot by Van Vleet was no good.

Forward Cleanthony Early led Wichita State with 31 points, including a dominating stretch in the heart of the second half that kept the Shockers in the game.

Who cares if he has short arms and goes left every time? It is fun watching Julius Randle play basketball.

Kentucky is the team with all of the McDonald’s All-Americans, but Wichita State would like to remind you it has athletes, too. Fred VanVleet picked Aaron Harrison’s pocket late in the first half and it led to a massive Cleanthony Early dunk over Kentucky giant Willie Cauley-Stein:

Here’s another angle of the slam:

UPDATE: This may have been a false allegation:

But the fact that we believed it all makes it okay. I want it to be true. If you’re not familiar with the Stanford band, the gist of it is: while the idea of “being in a college band” conjures up staid hours of practice and marching and marching and marching, the Stanford band is just a bunch of silly goofs with instruments.

Stanford is going to need to slow down Kansas in transition to upset the Jayhawks. This is a good start.

With half of the Sweet 16 already set, Sunday should be another terrific day on the hardwood as teams look to keep their seasons alive. The tournament has been awesome up until now, and we should expect more fireworks with a handful of intriguing matchups on the slate.

For those who are unable to be in front of a TV on Sunday, there is another option to watch all of the game. March Madness Live is streaming every game of the NCAA Tournament, free of charge. There is no subscription or password required.

Here is the full TV schedule and announcer pairings for each of Sunday’s games:

12:15 p.m., CBS - No. 2 Kansas vs. No. 10 Stanford

Announcers: Jim Nantz, Greg Anthony, Tracy Wolfson.

Three top seeds are in action, as Arizona takes on Gonzaga, Virginia plays Memphis and Wichita State faces off against Kentucky. The latter matchup has college basketball pundits and fans in hot anticipation, with one of the game’s premier programs in Kentucky taking on undefeated Wichita.

Sunday’s action will kick off at 12:15 p.m. ET, when Kansas takes on Stanford.

There are eight more terrific games on the slate for Sunday after a couple of awesome days on the hardwood. Just when it seems like a game can’t be outdone, the next one delivers even more.

Here is the full schedule for Sunday’s games, with the winners moving onto the Sweet 16. All times are Eastern.