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The Big Dance at a Glance:
The Sweet 16

At the Water Cooler What happened Sunday William Avery is Duke's most valuable -- and most talented -- player ... Tulsa's Michael Ruffin wins the Kenny Thomas Memorial Tourney No-Show Award ... Oklahoma doesn't seem to understand (or care) that it's a 13 seed ... Utah had won 23 straight before losing to Miami of Ohio, but the Utes didn't seem to realize the game was slipping away until it was too late ... Wally Szczerbiak is going to make one terrific NBA player ... If it took Rick Majerus three months to recover from Utah's loss in the title game last season, how long will it take him to get over a second-round exit? When Temple flashes rare moments of good shooting to go with the always-awesome match-up zone defense, the Owls are unbeatable ... Somebody get Tennessee a shooting coach ... Who knew SW Mo St. coach Steve Alford could teach such smothering defense? ... Michigan State looks awfully vulnerable right now ... Who would have guessed the Miami still alive after the first weekend would be the one from Ohio ... Kentucky-Kansas lived up to the billing. Give Kentucky credit for being the only '98 Final Four team to make it out of '99's first weekend. Name to know Oklahoma F Eduardo Najera , the versatile forward (37 pts, 28 reb in two games) has seemed able to score at will as he's led the tourney's highest remaining seed (13) to the Sweet 16 -- and a winnable game vs. Michigan St. Top storyline Cindys under spotlight Unlikely teams regularly get to the Sweet 16. The real Cinderellas aren't blinded by the next three day's worth of publicity; they keep winning. This year's crop -- Gonzaga, Miami (Ohio), Purdue, Oklahoma and SW Missouri State -- seems grounded. Random speculation Rick Majerus will not return to Utah next season. Tourney trend One-man wrecking crews Of the players most people couldn't recognize before the tourney started, who's had the best individual tournament so far: Oklahoma's Eduardo Najera, Miami's Wally Szczerbiak, Weber State's Harold Arceneaux, Temple's Pepe Sanchez or Gonzaga's Matt Santangelo? Who's hot Oklahoma F Eduardo Najera: 37 pts, 28 reb Temple G Pepe Sanchez: 29 pts, 13 reb, 11 ast Iowa coach Tom Davis: Still has a job Miami F Wally Szczerbiak: 67 pts, 19 reb Duke G William Avery: 34 pts, 13 reb, 6 ast Who's not Tennessee No. 2 seeds Tulsa PF Michael Ruffin: 0 pts vs. Duke In case you missed it... Second round, day one First round, day two First round, day one Selection Sunday Charting the Tournament, Game by Game Second Round: S | W | E | MW First Round: S | W | E | MW The Cinderella Bandwagon Oklahoma Na-Hooray! Miami (OH) Wally's tourney SW Mo St. Found O to go with D Purdue 'Caned 'em Gonzaga Spokane-do

By Dan Shanoff, CNN/SI

The Sweet 16 is set -- and the Cinderellas have made themselves known: No. 10 Gonzaga in the West; No. 10 Purdue and No. 12 SW Missouri State in the East; and No. 10 Miami (Ohio) and No. 13 Oklahoma in the Midwest. The South advanced its top four seeds, but the matchups are so compelling, we don't mind.

Besides, the five Cindys make great stories: Gonzaga playing from the start like they belong with the big boys; Purdue, so random; SW Missouri State winning with defense and the next course for Duke (we see shades of UNLV-Ball State '90; Duke will win, but not as handily as they have been); the individual brilliance of Miami's Wally Szczerbiak and Oklahoma's Eduardo Najera in upending Utah and Arizona, both favored region contenders.

In fact the fizzle of the two seeds was one of the weekend's big stories. See ya, Utes. So long, Stanford. Florida's Miami (embarrassingly now known as the "other" Miami), we hardly knew ye. You, and the 45 other first-weekend drop-outs, are already forgotten.

It's all about the 16, and by this time next week, we expect Duke to knock off Temple in an '88 East Region final redux, Kentucky -- back to the Final Four yet again -- to end Oklahoma's miracle run, UConn to sweat out Florida, and Maryland to realize its manifest destiny -- a trip to the Final Four over Ohio State. More Madness surely to come....

All-Sub-Regional Teams:
East and Midwest

Before moving on to East Rutherford, N.J. (East) and St. Louis (Midwest) for regionals Friday and Sunday, let's show some appreciation for the finest efforts of the four Friday/Sunday sub-regionals:

Charlotte:
Kevin Ault, SW Mo St.; William Avery, Duke (MOP); Elton Brand, Duke; Danny Moore, SW Mo St.; Isiah Victor, Tennessee

Boston:
Name goes here, Purdue; Johnny Hemsley, Miami (Fla.); Kenyon Martin, Cincinnati; Pepe Sanchez, Temple (MOP); Quincy Wadley, Temple

Milwaukee:
Mateen Cleaves, Michigan St.; Eric Martin, Oklahoma; Eduardo Najera, Oklahoma (MOP); Jason Smith, Ole Miss; Galen Young, UNC Charlotte

New Orleans:
John Estick, Miami (OH); Scott Padgett, Kentucky; Ryan Robertson, Kansas; Wally Szczerbiak, Miami (OH) (MOP); Wayne Turner, Kentucky; Greg Stolt, Florida

(MOP) -- Most Outstanding Player

Second-round superlatives