It’s the NCAA Tournament of Goliaths. David only lived a few days.
For the first time since 2019, the top eight seeded teams all advanced to the Sweet 16, with only a few close calls.
Houston, the No. 1 seed in the South, was sent to overtime in the second round against No. 9 Texas A&M on Sunday night. To beat No. 10 seed Colorado in the Midwest, No. 2 Marquette needed a big play late. Finally, Tennessee, ranked No. 2 in the Midwest, nearly blew a 12-point lead in the second half against No. 7 Texas, but was able to pull through.
The remaining five people barely broke a sweat. Two of the No. 3 seeds, Marquette and Illinois, also advanced. The total number of seeds is 53, the seventh lowest in tournament history.
Eight double-digit seeds advanced to the second round, but Cinderella wasn’t the only one to advance. The only team to survive was 11th-seeded North Carolina State, a member of the ACC.
Everyone loves an upset. Watching this little guy punch above his weight class. However, there is a downside to this as well. That’s what’s going to happen in the second half of the tournament.
Take last year’s Dance, for example, where four of the top eight seeds failed to reach the second weekend. Of the 12 games in the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight, he only had four games decided by five points or less. It was almost boring.
The Classic begins on Thursday, and there is a possibility that the best teams will face off against each other. A series of heavyweight showdowns that won’t disappoint.
Other thoughts on the first weekend of the tournament:
Much has been made of the Big East going 6-0 after receiving just three bids, but the ACC may be an even more impressive performance by the conference.
Three Big East teams – Connecticut, Marquette and Creighton – have earned the No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 seeds, respectively, with the Huskies being the only one to play a single-digit seed in No. 9 Northwestern on Sunday. Ta.
In the end, the Big East was ranked No. 2 by KenPom.com. He was fifth in the ACC, but was dismissed for most of this year as the downward spiral of recent years continued.
But the league has the most Sweet 16 teams, including No. 1 North Carolina, No. 4 Duke, No. 6 Clemson and bid-thief North Carolina State.
Clemson had the most impressive win on Sunday, defeating No. 3 seed Baylor, while North Carolina and Duke were both on track with two straight wins. Only Virginia, which didn’t deserve a bid and showed why in an ugly First Four loss to Colorado State, was a disappointment.
There are several Sweet 16 matchups that have intrigued me, but the one that sticks out to me the most is the East Regional semifinal in Boston between No. 2 Iowa State and No. 3 Iowa State. It’s the Illinois game. Featuring Illinois’ No. 1 offense vs. Iowa’s No. 1 defense.
The Cyclones are allowing 61.2 points per game, fourth-fewest in the country. The Illini are 12th in scoring with 84.6 points.
It will be a must-see to see Illinois superstar Terrence Shannon Jr., who is averaging 31.6 points in five postseason games, going up against Iowa State’s stifling perimeter defense.
In what has been a great year for the conference, five of the Mountain West’s six teams didn’t just lose this weekend. That was how they were eliminated.
Ninth-seeded Utah State looked like a No. 16 seed with a 39-point lead going into Sunday’s second-round game against No. 1 seed Purdue. No. 11 New Mexico, a trending upset pick, was trampled by Clemson. Pundits thought Boise State was a better fit than the top four schools, but it was manhandled by Colorado State. Colorado State had the good fortune to play Virginia in Dayton, but they lost to Texas State in the first round, scoring only 44 points. No. 10 Nevada took a 17-point lead over No. 7 Dayton in the final seven minutes.
Only No. 5 seed San Diego State survived the weekend, but that came after a scare against No. 12 UAB in the 12th round. Excluding the Aztecs, the Mountain West is 2-14 in the tournament since 2019. Granted, this didn’t seem like a league more deserving of a bid than the Big East or ACC.
Sweet 16 breakdown by conference.
ACC: Four
Big East: 3
Securities and Exchange Commission: 2
Big Ten: 2
Big 12: 2
Pac-12: 1
Yamanishi: 1
WCC: 1
