The good news ...

Lack of first-round upsets means intriguing second-round matchups

You don't need a break, do you?

Good, because now is not the time in this tournament for rest. Things are about to get a whole lot more interesting, as a relative dearth of first-round upsets has produced some darn intriguing second-round games.

Sure, it would have been nice to see a UTEP or BYU advance. But that would have deprived us of Maryland-Syracuse -- Boeheim vs. Williams, Gerry Mac vs. Johnny G, 2003 champs vs. 2002 champs. Not too shabby for a 4 vs. 5.

They say there are two different NCAA tournaments -- the one that starts next week to determine the next national champion, and the one this weekend that determines the next Cinderella, Yes, we'll be keeping an eye on Wake Forest-Manhattan, Kansas-Pacific and Gonzaga-Nevada to see whether any of the three first-round upset winners can crash the Sweet 16, but it also seems like the next stage of the dance has arrived a weekend early. There will be some marquee matchups Saturday and Sunday with implications stretching all the way to San Antonio.

In addition to Terps-Orangemen, here are this weekend's top power struggles:

St. Joe's-Texas Tech

 There's something about a Bob Knight-Phil Martelli showdown that just seems so intriguing -- and no, not for the sound bites. Look closely, and you'll swear you're watching a scene from Hoosiers, with two tough, fundamentally sound opponents that play great defense and work for the open shot on offense, with help from two of the nation's best players, Jameer Nelson and Andre Emmett. The Hawks want to prove their doubters wrong. Beating a Knight-coached Big 12 team would be a step in the right direction. Knight wants to return to the Sweet 16 for the first time since grunge was still cool.

Texas-North Carolina

Football fans would refer to this as the "Mack Brown Bowl," and it might resemble a football game in the paint when Sean May tussles with James Thomas and P.J. Tucker. The Tar Heels may be the lower seed, but they've got a better big-game track record than the 'Horns, which got housed by Duke and lost all three of its games to Oklahoma State. At the same time, Texas is one of the few teams with perimeter defenders capable of slowing down Rashad McCants. Only one problem with this potential barn-burner: It's in Denver, which means narration by Billy Packer, who four of five bible scholars believe is the first voice you hear in hell.

Wisconsin-Pittsburgh

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OK, it's the event you've been waiting for since last Sunday: The Battle of the Slighted. The Badgers are peeved about being a sixth seed, and the Panthers are peeved about having to play said sixth seed in Milwaukee, but you know what? The "home" crowd couldn't keep UW from falling behind by 13 against Richmond, and while the noise level certainly rose during their team's triumphant comeback, methinks it's not quite as potent a force as the Panthers' defense. Then again, Pitt didn't exactly light up the scoreboard against UCF and they'll need to score points to keep up with Devin Harris. The Panthers' 53 points were only three less than the number of times Marquette is mentioned on the Bradley Center court.

Illinois-Cincinnati

Two words: Guard play. In one corner, you've got the explosive tandem of Dee Brown and Deron Williams, the sophomore pair that's led the Illini to 13 wins in their last 14 games. In the other, Field Williams and Tony Bobbitt, whose prolific outside shooting was the sole reason the Bearcats survived East Tennessee State. They say the Big Ten was down this year. This will be a good measuring stick, as the league's regular-season champ goes up against the tournament champ of Conference USA, which went 4-2 in the first round. It's such a big game, Bob Huggins may actually dress up for the occasion.

Mississippi State-Xavier

It's a rare regular-season rematch this early in the tourney. The Bulldogs handled the Muskies 82-70 on Dec. 13, with Lawrence Roberts and Marcus Campbell dominating inside. Ah, but that was before X's Anthony Myles sprung to life, a major reason his team has won 14 of its last 15. The Muskies looked dead in the water the first half against Louisville, then -- boom! -- it was Atlantic 10 tourney all over again, with Lionel Chalmers and Romain Sato igniting a 36-10 run. There's a good chance Mississippi State will come out smoking like it did against Manhattan, but it's clear at this point that no Xavier game is ever really over.

Hard to believe, but by the end of the day Saturday we'll know the identity of half the Sweet 16 field. Wasn't it just yesterday we were watching Lehigh and Florida A&M decide the 64th team?

No, now that I think about it that was three days and 45 snack/bathroom breaks ago.

Stewart Mandel covers college sports for SI.com.