March Madness has not been as mad as it usually is. Adding up all the seeds of the teams that made the Sweet 16 this year is 53, which is the lowest since 2019, which was 49.
With that being said, we can still have some upsets this weekend.
East Region
Teams left: 1 UConn, 2 Iowa State, 3 Illinois, 5 San Diego State
Favorites: The clear favorites are the UConn Huskies. The reigning champions sent a message to the rest of the tournament in their first two games of the tournament. They outscored their opponents 92-37 in the first half of the two games before getting their starters rest in the second half.
The Huskies path gets significantly harder with San Diego State in the Sweet 16. UConn defeated the Aztecs, 76-59, in the National Championship last year. The winner of UConn-San Diego State plays the winner of two conference tournament champions.
Intriguing Matchup: The Big Ten tournament champion Illinois plays the Big 12 tournament champion Iowa State. After scoring 102 points in the Big Ten tournament, Senior Terrance Shannon Jr scored a combined 56 points in the first two rounds of March Madness. Senior Marcus Domask recorded the tenth triple-double in March Madness with 12 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists for the Fighting Illini.
Iowa State, on the other hand, has a suffocating defense that loves to trap and shift the defense to one side of the court to create transition points off turnovers. Sophomore Tamin Lipsey for the Cyclones averages 2.7 steals per game, which is tied for fourth in college basketball. If Illinois can flip the court when Iowa State traps, it could be a long night for the Cyclones.
Prediction: UConn beats Illinois in the Elite Eight to advance to the Final Four
West Region
Teams left: 1 North Carolina, 2 Arizona, 4 Alabama, 6 Clemson
Favorites: The West Region is the only region where the one seed is not a clear favorite. North Carolina and Arizona are co-favorites. Alabama had a favorable path to the Sweet 16, playing 13-seed College of Charleston and 12-seed Grand Canyon and Clemson will have to beat the top three seeds in the West to reach the Final Four. It looks like the Elite Eight in the West Region will be Senior Caleb Love’s current team, the Arizona Wildcats, against Caleb Love’s former team, the North Carolina Tar Heels.
Arizona has struggled to make it to the Final Four, with the last time being in 2001. Michigan State played North Carolina tough in the Round of 32 and Arizona fended Dayton off to make it to the Sweet 16. Both the Wildcats and Tar Heels have not played up to their potential so far in the tournament, so we will see if Clemson and Alabama can capitalize off that.
Intriguing Matchup: Both Sweet 16 matchups are intriguing. Alabama is the highest-scoring team in the nation, averaging 90.7 points per game. The issue with the Crimson Tide is they are also 356th out of 363 Division I schools in points allowed, averaging 80.9 points per game. North Carolina is 20th in the country, averaging 81.8 points per game. Alabama does not have a good enough defense to slow down North Carolina’s offense.
Clemson beat Baylor in the second round, which was one of two games where the team with the lower seed won in the second round. The Tigers are playing their best ball right now, so they are the dark horse in the region. Clemson as a team shoots 79% from the free-throw line, which is ninth in the country. To beat Arizona, they need to continue playing at the level they did in the first two games in the tournament.
Prediction: Arizona beats North Carolina in the Elite Eight to advance to the Final Four
South Region
Teams left: 1 Houston, 2 Marquette, 4 Duke, 11 NC State
Favorite: After a scare in the second round against Texas A&M, Houston continues to be the favorite. The Cougars struggle to create offense at times, only scoring 41 points in a 28-point blow against Iowa State in the Big 12 title game. Marquette is seen as the weakest two-seed in the tournament and there are questions about Duke’s toughness, which is Houston’s strength. This region fits Houston’s strengths.
Intriguing Matchup: Houston will have to look out for NC State if they face each other in the Elite Eight, but first NC State needs to face Marquette. The Golden Eagles faced the Colorado Buffaloes, who almost beat Marquette. Colorado and NC State have similar teams, guard-heavy with big men that are just south of 300 pounds.
The main difference is NC State plays through their big, six-foot nine-inch Senior DJ Burns. Burns is more versatile than Colorado’s Eddie Lampkin and passes the ball to the open man when the opponent double-teams him. Combine Burns with some explosive guards and Marquette needs to be aware of the red-hot Wolfpack.
Prediction: Houston beats NC State in the Elite Eight to advance to the Final Four.
Midwest Region
Teams left: 1 Purdue, 2 Tennessee, 3 Creighton, 5 Gonzaga
Favorites: The favorites are the Purdue Boilermakers. Senior Zach Edey averages 24.5 points per game, which is the most in D-I, and 12.1 rebounds per game, which is second in D-I. Edey is the favorite to win the National Player of the Year award. At 7-foot 4-inches and 300 pounds, Zach is hard to stop from dominating the paint. He is surrounded by guards Sophomore Braden Smith, Senior Lance Jones, and Sophomore Fletcher Loyer.
Smith is fourth in the country, averaging 7.3 assists per game and Jones is a transfer from Southern Illinois that joined Purdue to add more experience to the team. Purdue has made the Elite Eight two times in the last thirty years and lost to 15-seed St. Peter’s in the Sweet 16 in 2022.
Intriguing Matchup: Tennessee against Creighton will be an intriguing matchup to watch. The Volunteers have had offensive struggles during the SEC tournament and March Madness. Mississippi State held Tennessee to 56 points in the Vols only SEC tournament game and Texas held them to 62 points in the second round. Tennessee has always relied more on their defense than offense, but Senior Dalton Knecht scoring 14 against Mississippi State and 18 against Texas is a concern because he was brought in to add a scorer on a heavy defensive team.
Prediction: The top two seeds have struggled in the second weekend recently. They need to prove to me they can win when it matters most.
Creighton over Gonzaga to win the Elite Eight and advance to the Final Four.
