NCAA Tournament: No. 1 seed Boston College toppled

The Men's NCAA Tournament moved to the Sweet 16 after Wednesday's second round matches and No. 1 Boston College won't be coming along for the ride.

The Eagles were knocked off by local rival UMass, 2-1, on Wednesday night, making BC one of six higher seeds to lose second-round match-ups. Bradley beat No. 4 seed Indiana in penalty kicks while Old Dominion beat No. 6 seed Brown, 2-1. South Florida (pictured above) knocked off No. 14 Akron, 1-0.

Here are Sweet 16 match-ups, along with the second-round results the teams used to get there:

• UMass (beat No. 1 Boston College, 2-1) vs. Central Connecticut St. (beat No. 16 Tulsa, 3-2)
• Illinois-Chicago (beat No. 9 Northwestern, 2-0) vs. No. 8 Creighton (beat SMU, 3-0)
• No. 5 Ohio State (beat Louisville, 1-0) vs. No. 12 UCSB (beat Washington, 1-0)
• No. 13 Maryland (beat Loyola (MD), 0-0 PKs) vs. Bradley (beat No. 4 Indiana, 1-1 PKs)
• No. 3 UConn (beat Vermont, 2-0) vs. South Florida (beat No. 14 Akron, 1-0)
• No. 11 Virginia Tech (beat California, 3-2) vs. Old Dominion (beat No. 6 Brown, 2-1)
• No. 7 Santa Clara (beat UCLA, 3-1) vs. No. 10 Notre Dame (beat Oakland, 2-1)
• No. 15 West Virginia (beat Virginia, 1-0) vs. No. 2 Wake Forest (beat Furman, 1-0)

Round of 16 Games will be played on Dec. 1 and Dec. 2. You can follow the bracket here at NCAASports.com.

So what are the juicier match-ups here? How about a loaded Ohio State team facing Eric Avila and the defending NCAA champions from UCSB? The Wake Forest-West Virginia showdown will also be a great one. The UConn-South Florida tilt might seem like a mismatch (UConn won both regular season meetings) but it's funny how conference rivalries can become unpredictable come NCAA Tournament time.

Will you be watching any of these match-ups this weekend? Which ones will you be watching? Share your thoughts on the NCAA Tournament below.

Comments

[KingSnake]

My enduring memory of the NCAA tourney is Nick Garcia headbutting an opponent, three feet away from the ref, who was looking straight at the incident when it happened. (Kind of like last week's MLS Cup.) Garcia did not even get carded, yet 6-12 months after the fact (and after he had graduated to headbutting professionals) the NCAA slapped Indiana's wrist ...

[KingSnake]

Speaking of head butts, Bob Evans, a veteran referee of professional matches, and former top instructor with the USSF, has this to say about Khano Smith: http://fortheintegrityofsoccer.blogs.com/

[Fuego Fanatico]

Let's Go UIC!

[lawrenceterp]

Great night for the Terps. Not only did they advance, but there were big upsets around them in the bracket. Things could be shaping up nicely for a young team to make a run. Don't forget, Maurice Edu and Chris Seitz both could have been juniors on this team this year. Losing that kind of talent early has been difficult to deal with.

[Fuego Fanatico]

Will any of these matches be on tv?

[Ossington Mental Youth]

How important are these games in context to the MLS? I know that the draft obviously plays into the MLS but how many of these players actually go on to our league? I have no clue with regards to NCAA soccer

[Tim]

Going to see UConn-South Florida on Sunday.

[Jason Endres]

Lawrenceterp...

Robbie Rogers would also have been this squad if he had not left for Heerenveen.

Add Rogers up top, Edu to the middle, and Seitz in the back and you have one of the best college teams in history.

Then again, think about some of the teams UCLA could have put together. Wynne, Feilhaber, Kamani Hill, etc.

[George]

I graduated from Umass (Amherst) and for the last 3 weeks I have been working with some Boston College alumni and all they ever talk about is how great BC's American Football team is.

Wait until I uncork a load of PayBack:
UMass where they play real FOOTBALL Bitches !!!!!

[aceterp]

GO MARYLAND!

You have to give props to one of the best programs and best college coach in the country. MD continues to lose players who move on to the next level early (Seitz, Edu, Twells, Rogers, etc..) but continues to be prominent in the NCAA tourney. Even after what some at MD woudl call a mediocre regular season they are now in the sweet 16!! MD vs UCSB in elite 8 (ohio state is overrated.. just like thier football team!)

[Tim Crawford]

I was at UConn - Vermont last night. It was never really interesting. UConn coasted. However, I'm going to disagree w/ UConn-USF being a potential upset. Last time they played in the Big East Tournament, USF just sat back and tried to counter, which they never got a chance to do. It was like they were playing for the shootout right from the start. Not a good idea against a UConn team that will most certainly score eventually. I think UConn'll win 2-0 again. And I am ecstatic that BC lost :-D

[USAClash]

Just under 10,000 fans for UCSB's win. If they can beat Ohio St, look for 16,000 sellout when they play in the Elite 8.

Soccer School USA!

Defending National Champs in Men's Soccer and Men's and Women's Clib Soccer....by far the best fans in the nation too!

[Ryan]

Go Bradley Braves! The school that brought you Brian Namoff, Tim Regan, and Gavin Glinton.

[Max]

UMASS! What a night for us in sports. Beating Cuse at the Carrier Dome, and knocking off the spoiled rich kids of Boston College.

[Lee]

Anyone have a feeling on Stephen King of MD? Does he have "It"? Can he take "the stand" of playing in MLS?
Ok, thats enough of that...

but seriously anyone have a feeling on him? I know he has some great assist numbers.

[jason]

my lord.
central connecticut is dreadful.
what a strange tournament

[aceterp]

Re: Stephen King

he gets high praise from coaches but to be honest its a crap shoot as to whether or not he will make it at the next level. My feeling is he won't. He is a very good player, but i wouldn't classify him as "special". Omar Gonzalez is the best prospect on the MD team

[Garrett]

UCSB v. Ohio State should be a good one... but I 2nd that an SB v. Maryland Elite 8 game might be the best college soccer games of the year.

Here's the SB winning so we can watch that Elite 8 game with 15,999 other fans. Last night's game was fun, but we beat MD and another goal will be carried into the ocean.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDUco2nMOg0&feature=related

[Robby]

UCONN will take the tournament. Look out for O'brian White and Julius James in the MLS Draft. Both will be the best Huskies to hit MLS since Damani Ralph and Shavar Thomas.