Sweet 16 Preview 

52 teams have been eliminated from the NCAA basketball tournament and now just 16 teams remain. With great action through the first two rounds, the whole world is waiting for more madness.

The action resumes Thursday at 5:30 pm when the 7th-seeded Michigan State Spartans take on the third-seeded Kansas State Wildcats in the East region. The Spartans are coming off an upset win over second-seeded Marquette where the Spartans were sparked by a great defensive performance. The Wildcats had a great offensive performance last round which was led by senior guard Markquis Nowell who finished with 27 points in a 75-69 win over Kentucky. 

Next up at 7:15, the fourth-seeded UConn Huskies take on the eighth-seeded Arkansas Razorbacks in the West region. UConn is coming off a dominating win over fifth-seed Saint Mary’s while Arkansas is coming off an upset win over the defending National Champions the Kansas Jayhawks in a close game that came down to free throws. 

In the 9 pm slot on Thursday one of the surprising teams of the tournament, ninth-seeded Florida Atlantic (FAU) takes on fourth-seeded Tennessee. The FAU Owls have made a lot of noise in the tournament beating a very talented Memphis team in the first round and then beating 16th-seeded Ferliegh Dickinson in the round of 32. Tennessee however, has been doubted by a lot of people in this year's tournament. Tennessee was a common upset pick in rounds one and two but they survived and even had a statement win over the Duke Blue Devils last round. 

The Final game on Thursday is between the second-seed UCLA Bruins and the third-seeded Gonzaga Bulldogs. UCLA lost their starting point guard and Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year Jaylen Clark to an Achilles injury earlier in the season. Besides the loss, the Bruins have still been rolling through the tournament so far but will face a familiar opponent in Gonzaga. Gonzaga knocked out the Bruins in their 2021 Cinderella run in the Final 4 on a game-winning half-court shot by former Gonzaga guard Jalen Suggs. Gonzaga is looking to go back to the Elite 8 after an early exit in this round last year.

The first game on Friday is between the one-seed Alabama and the fifth-seed San Diego State Aztecs. Alabama has been heavy favorites all tournament with big wins over Texas A&M CC and Maryland. SDSU, on the other hand, has been similar to Tennessee in the fact that they were a favored upset pick in the first round but they've survived and now they are playing one of the most explosive offenses in the country. 

Second up on Friday's slate is the other one seed remaining, the Houston Cougars taking on the fifth seed in the Midwest, the Miami Hurricanes. 89% of the world is taking the Cougars. The Cougars survived an upset in round one and had a big win over Auburn in the second round to advance to another Sweet 16. Miami is coming off a dominating win over fourth-seeded Indiana and junior guard Isaiah Wong has been playing out of his mind lately. It wouldn't surprise me if Miami were to pull off an upset to advance to their second straight Elite 8.

Next up on Friday is the matchup between this year's Cinderella team, the 15th-seeded Princeton Tigers, and the sixth-seeded Creighton Bluejays. This now marks three straight seasons that a 15 seed has advanced to the Sweet 16 and Princeton is looking to be the second 15 seed all time to advance to the Elite 8. What stands in the Tiger's way is a Creighton team who is led by junior center Ryan Kalkbrenner who is averaging 15 points per game to go along with shooting 33% from three. 

The last game on the Friday slate is an interesting one. The game features the two-seeded Texas Longhorns and the three-seeded Xavier Musketeers. Both teams escaped with close wins in the first two rounds with Xavier nearly getting upset by the 14th-seed Kennesaw State. Texas has fought through it all this year with the firing of their Head Coach Chris Beard on January 5th. The Longhorns come into the game the favorite but don’t be surprised when Xavier’s high-flying offense gives the Longhorns all they can handle.

Over the next four days, the field will be cut down from 16 teams to just four. The four remaining teams will make their way down to Houston for a chance at the National Championship.  

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