Round of 32 takeaways: 'Underdog' Texas takes out Gonzaga

The brackets are set, the action has tipped off, and March Madness has officially arrived. Follow along as theScore highlights key takeaways from the Round of 32 and what the results mean moving forward.

Texas, the double-digit darling

With an enrollment of 55,000 students, the nation's most valuable athletic department, and a head coach with nine Sweet 16 appearances in a 20-year career, Texas doesn't exactly qualify for Cinderella status. However, in a tournament largely void of double-digit seeds pulling off upsets, we're left with little old Texas to carry the mantle of "underdog" into the next round. The Longhorns are just the sixth team to advance from the First Four to the Sweet 16, toppling No. 3 Gonzaga on Saturday.

Scoring balance is the plan of attack for Sean Miller in his first season with Texas. The Longhorns have featured four different double-digit scorers in all three of their NCAA Tournament games thus far. Matas Vokietaitis has been a menace in the post, putting up 18 points and 11 rebounds per contest. The winner of Sunday's Purdue-Miami game now awaits the plucky underdog in the Sweet 16.

As for Gonzaga, a season-long struggle with outside shooting proved costly. This was the worst 3-point shooting team of Mark Few's lengthy tenure with the program, and it'll certainly be an area of focus ahead of Gonzaga's move to the Pac-12.

Boozer's POY favorite for a reason

Duke's issues with No. 16 Siena on Thursday carried over to the weekend against TCU, as the Blue Devils struggled on offense for the first 25 minutes of the game. The No. 1 seed actually went without a field goal for an 8:45 stretch that spanned the end of the first half and the start of the second. That seems borderline impossible given the talent on Duke's roster, but the Blue Devils seemed lost on the offensive end, allowing TCU to take a two-point lead with just over 15 minutes to play. And then Cameron Boozer took the ball and sent the Horned Frogs home.

The likely national player of the year was all of that down the stretch, scoring 17 points with five rebounds, two assists, two steals, and a block in the second half alone. Duke cranked up the intensity on the defensive end at the same time, holding TCU to just 24 points over the final 20 minutes. A commanding 43-18 run to end the game turned a tight contest into a 23-point win for the ACC champs.

It hasn't been pretty for Duke in this tournament, as the team continues life without guard Caleb Foster. Despite the early issues, Saturday's second half has to be wildly encouraging for Jon Scheyer, with his offense operating efficiently against a top defense. That'll need to continue with a Sweet 16 contest against either Kansas or St. John's waiting.

Can't have a Sweet 16 without Houston

Can a Sweet 16 exist without Houston? The answer is an emphatic 'No!' for the seventh straight year. Kelvin Sampson's Cougars have taken up permanent residency in the NCAA Tournament's second weekend and are there once again after blowing out Texas A&M on Saturday.

The Round of 32 matchup was a clash of styles. Houston, playing at one of the slowest paces in the nation, faced off against an Aggies team eager to get out and run as often as possible. That uptempo approach requires turnovers based on pressing defense - not a formula you want to rely on against the Cougars. Houston protects the ball better than any team in college basketball and gave it away only six times versus the Aggies. That forced Texas A&M to run its half-court offense, a disastrous strategy that yielded just 57 points. The Cougars outrebounded the Aggies by an eye-opening 46-29 margin and ripped down 19 offensive boards in the process.

As we've seen over the past seven years, Houston likely won't lose if it's allowed to play the way it wants - slow tempo, fierce defense, and a reckless abandon on the glass. Essentially, if you can't force the Cougars out of that style, you're going to have a bad time.

Another clash of styles awaits Sampson in the next round, where Houston will face the nation's No. 2 offense in Illinois. That Sweet 16 matchup would be another chess match, but this time with the added advantage of playing in front of a home crowd as the regional semifinals and finals are taking place in Houston.

Good luck slowing down Michigan

Pour one out for the scoreboard operator in Buffalo this week, as Michigan put them through the wringer by orchestrating an electric offensive performance in its opening two games of the NCAA Tournament. The Wolverines torched the nets versus both Howard and Saint Louis, scoring a combined 196 points across the two victories. The Big Ten powerhouse is the first team since 2008 to score at least 95 points in both the first and second rounds of the tournament, according to Josh Dubow of the Associated Press.

Red-hot shooting is required to hang 95 points in a 40-minute game - let alone in back-to-back contests - and the Wolverines have been scorching.

Saturday's meeting with the Billikens was close early, but Saint Louis simply couldn't match the play of Michigan's frontcourt - nor can 99% of the teams in the country. A lethal blend of size and athleticism gives the Wolverines a massive edge against any team in the bracket other than Florida.

Yaxel Lendeborg and Morez Johnson Jr. both stand 6-foot-9 but possess the athleticism of a ferocious wing. Aday Mara serves as the anchor at 7-foot-3, yet even he moves like a polished dancer in the post. Those three will present major problems for the winner of Alabama and Texas Tech, which will face off Sunday. Both teams have significant frontcourt issues that Michigan will certainly look to exploit in the Sweet 16.

Fears, the Point God

Michigan State has been churning out elite college point guards for a long time, but none have accomplished what Jeremy Fears Jr. did Saturday against Louisville. Fears played the role of quarterback to perfection, tossing out 16 assists in the victory to set a new program record in an NCAA Tournament game. The loudest connection came to human pogo-stick Coen Carr, with a perfect feed setting up a high-flying finish.

Between points and assists, Fears was responsible for 35 of the Spartans' 41 total points in the second half. His 16 helpers contributed to Michigan State's 22 total in the contest, with just four baskets coming unassisted. That's how a team that struggles shooting from the outside can put up 77 points.

Fears is averaging 13.3 assists across his last three games, while Michigan State has put up 84 points per contest in that span. He'll need to keep that clip rolling with a possible matchup versus UConn's 14th-ranked defense on deck.