The most exciting 96 hours in sports is in the books and the Sweet Sixteen table has been set. Missing from this year’s second weekend is the Cinderella story we look forward to come tournament time. The top three seeds in each region advanced to the regional semifinals. The only teams outside of top four seeds to survive the first weekend were fifth-seeded Auburn and twelfth-seeded Oregon.
Usually this would disappoint me. I generally look forward to a good Cinderella story. Last year was perfect with the emergences of Loyola Chicago and UMBC. However, what we do get is 15 teams that were really good all year, and one (Oregon) that is a good team that fell well short of expectations. But that’s the great thing about March, talent or not you can get in and really anything can happen.
The Usual Suspects
Duke, UNC, Kentucky, Gonzaga, Purdue and Michigan are all back. That’s good for college basketball. To make things better, they’ve all got absolute slugfests coming up.
Welcome Back!
Michigan State is back for the first time since their unlikely Final Four run in 2015. After three years of frustration, there’s no way they’re satisfied yet.
Virginia exorcised their demons against Gardner-Webb. It looked like the Cavaliers were on the ropes against a 16-seed again but they maintained their composure and they’re back in the Sweet Sixteen.
The New Guys
The great thing about the teams that were great all year is that they’re new faces for this stage of the tournament.
Florida State has quietly been one of the best teams in the country this year. They’re taking on Gonzaga.
Texas Tech blew by a very good Buffalo team. They get Michigan. That’s going to be a battle for 40 minutes.
Tennessee had an argument to be a 1-seed. They’ll get the chance to prove just how good they are against Big Ten co-champ Purdue.
LSU could have a lot of vacated wins looming. Can they keep their strange, improbable run alive against a resilient Michigan State squad?
Auburn won the SEC tournament. They outlasted perpetual 12-seed NMSU and blew by Kansas. They’ve got Chapel Hill next.
Houston is the first AAC team to advance to the Sweet Sixteen in quite some time. The last time it happened? UConn won the national title.
Virginia Tech is healthy again and they’ve gotta be itching for their rematch against tournament-favorite Duke.
Oregon is the big outlier here. They’re the only team to advance that wasn’t a top-5 seeded team. They may have underperformed in the regular season but they’ve got a chance to make this a really special season.
We’ve got an awesome weekend coming up. Every team that got through the first weekend has a legitimate shot to win the whole thing. All twelve games are going to be fights to the death and none of these teams are ready to go home. This could be one of the most memorable second weekends in recent memory.
