After an exciting opening weekend of March Madness, the winners get to relax and prepare for their next matchup. That gives us time to get a better sense of the teams that are still around. 

I decided to write a piece about the Men’s tournament now and write a piece about the final four for the Women’s tournament. Since the Women’s tournament is more top heavy, I believe it’s better suited to coverage of the elite teams.

All of the one and two seeds have made it to the Men’s Sweet Sixteen. 

In the packed East side of the bracket, the consensus favorite, UConn, has had an easy go of it. UConn won it all last year and had a better regular season this year. Their depth is unreal and they don’t have any weaknesses. In the first two games, the Huskies handled their business easily. They have one of the best bids for a team to go back to back in a long time. Iowa State, who easily could’ve been a one seed, got an unlucky draw having to be on the same side as UConn. State blew out Houston in the Big 12 championships. With their elite defense, they are a team that deserves to be taken seriously. Illinois, at the third seed, is also a very strong team. Terrence Shannon Jr. is one of the best scorers in the country. He has scored 23 and 30 so far in the tournament. The Illini have the ability to beat anyone when Shannon is clicking like he has in the tournament. San Diego State seems to be the weakest team in this talented side of the bracket but they shouldn’t be counted out. They have tournament experience, making it to the finals last year. SDSU vs Uconn in the Ro16 is a rematch of last year’s final. We’ll see if San Diego can change their fate this time around. 

Leading the pack in the West is the University of North Carolina. The Tar Heels had an uncharacteristically bad year last year, missing the tournament all together. They bounced back dramatically this year, securing one of the four one seeds. UNC has a unique number of veterans. Their talented players made the decision to stay on the team and make a run at winning the whole thing. RJ Davis and Armando Bacot are the two seniors and stars on the team. They were both part of the team that made a Cinderella run to the finals two seasons ago. Their talent and comfort in close games make them a tough task for anyone. They will line up against Alabama in the Ro16. The Crimson Tide averaged the most points of any D1 team. They score in so many different ways and play a really fun brand of basketball. UNC vs Bama on Thursday definitely should be a game to watch. The two seed Arizona Wildcats are also a formidable side with an impressive offense. The former UNC star, Caleb Love, who won Pac-12 Player of the year, is an elite scorer. The Wildcats line up against Clemson, who had an upset victory against Baylor. Clemson is led by Joe Girard and PJ Hall. They could be a very tough test for Arizona if those two can stay out of foul trouble and hit their shots, but a Love reunion against his former UNC teammates is likely. 

Purdue, led by the dominant force of Zach Edey, has also had a smooth run to the Ro16. The 7’4” Canadian is a matchup nightmare. He has scored 53 points in the two games. Edey understandably gets all the love, but Purdue’s three point shooting has also been elite. It’s tough for a defense to totally focus on Edey with Purdue’s great shooters always ready to let fly. After losing to a 16 and a 15 seed in consecutive years, the pressure was on. Purdue was a popular pick to be upset but they have been very solid so far. I’m interested in how they will look in a real test. That test could be the Gonzaga Bulldogs. The Mark Few led team is in the Sweet Sixteen for the ninth consecutive year, tying the record. Their talent is undeniable but the question is, can they put it all together. We are really spoiled this year. Creighton vs Tennessee is another two vs three seed game that really excites me. Creighton lives and dies by the three. They have star players but, at the end of the day, their three point play will decide their fate. If they can find and hit their shots, they are almost unstoppable. If they can’t, it is a different story. With that said, Creighton are not a fun matchup. They are experienced, they play fast, they are tough on defense and they capitalize on mistakes. The Vols’ identity is defense. Their stifling defense makes things very tough for their opposition. Holding their opposition way below 40% from the field, they are near the best in field goal percentage allowed. Dalton Knecht transferred for this season, going from playing for a mid-major to being the SEC player of the year. Knecht excelled, scoring 21 points per game in the regular season. 

In previous years, Houston was often doubted because they had a fairly easy regular season schedule. However, this year they ran the gauntlet of tough challenges in the regular season and came out on top. The Kelvin Sampson led team, which survived an overtime scare against Texas A&M,  will now play Duke. The Blue Devils have an incredibly talented roster, as they always seem to. Duke’s impressive offense is led by Kyle Filipowski but watch out for hot shooting from the familiar face that is Jared McCain. Two seed Marquette has gotten healthy at the right time. They are a dangerous team led by senior Tyler Kolek and veteran coach, Shaka Smart. No one wants to line up against North Carolina State right now. There’s getting hot at the right time and then there is whatever State is doing. The Wolfpack are absolutely roaring on the back of the athletic 6’9”,  275 pound  DJ Burns. Burns and very good guard play catapulted NC State to an ACC tournament championship and, now, to the sweet sixteen. 

There is still a lot more dancing to be done